Taddle Creek loves meeting its public, and is happy it gets the chance to do so often, if not at its semi-annual launch parties, then at various press fairs, such as Canzine, Word on the Street, and the like. Taddle Creek has noticed, however, that it gets asked many of the same questions year after year. This can get a bit redundant. And so, in the interest of freeing up time for the discussion of more interesting topics, the magazine presents the Taddle Creek List of Frequently Asked Questions—actual queries from current, future, and lost readers.
- Do you know there’s a real Taddle Creek?
A: This may shock you, but it is no coincidence a magazine based in Toronto shares the name of a creek in said city. Yes, of course the magazine knows there is a “real” Taddle Creek. (For the record, both Taddle Creek and Taddle Creek are real.) - Do you know the real Taddle Creek runs right through here/over there/the Annex/Queen’s Park/police headquarters/Hart House/et al.?
A: (Again with the “real.”) Taddle Creek is actually something of an authority on Taddle Creek and its path, as evidenced by the very first story ever run in the magazine. - What’s Taddle Creek?
A: The magazine or the creek? Taddle Creek, the magazine, is a semi-annual, general-interest literary magazine. Taddle Creek, the creek, is a stream that once ran through the city, from Wychwood Park to Lake Ontario via the Annex and other neighbourhoods. See the above-mentioned essay for more information on the latter. - How many submissions do you receive each issue?
A: It varies, but anywhere from around fifty to one hundred. And just to head off your follow-up question: the vast majority of submissions are received via E-mail these days. - How many unsolicited submissions do you publish each issue?
A: Next to none. One to two on average. The rest are solicited. - I wish I could submit, but I don’t live in the Annex.
A: That isn’t a question, but let Taddle Creek ask you a question: Have you read any issue of the magazine published after 1999? That was when Taddle Creek stopped being an Annex-specific journal. - I wrote a story/poem that mentions the real Taddle Creek. Will you publish it?
A: Taddle Creek cannot stress enough that it, too, is “real.” In any case, the magazine suspects your actual question is: “Will the fact that I’ve mentioned your namesake in my story/poem in any way help me to get published if you don’t like the piece otherwise? ” No. - Does my story/poem have to take place in Toronto?
A: No, of course not. - Your submission guidelines say you don’t accept submissions from authors residing outside Toronto, but there’s an author in your latest issue who lives [somewhere outside Toronto]. I’ve caught you in a lie, haven’t I?
A: The magazine appreciates your taking the time to read its submission guidelines. Few do. Why not take the next logical step and read the magazine too, as Taddle Creek has addressed this question before. You are right on both counts: Taddle Creek does not accept submissions from authors who do not live in Toronto, and there are also frequent stories in the magazine by or about those residing in other cities. In fact, there has been at least one per issue since Christmas, 2002. This section is called the Out-of-Towner. The summer, 2010, issue was even devoted entirely to Out-of-Towners. In any case, these stories that have you riled are not submitted; they are solicited. Referencing the answer to Question 5, reading hundreds more submissions each year for these two slots would not be a productive use of Taddle Creek’s time, so it simply solicits stories for this section from writers it knows or has read work by. The practice has nothing to do with Taddle Creek hating writers living outside Toronto, or hating you personally. Taddle Creek loves writers of all civic affiliations. - Why do you have so many ads in your magazine?
A: Because you don’t subscribe.
Taddle Creek hopes the above questions can now be retired from the press-fair circuit.