Mike French, editor of The View from Here, explains the magazine’s niche in the writing marketplace
Editor Mike French
After following an unconventional career path that took him through banking, optical engineering, being a stay-at-home-Dad and writer, Mike French established The View from Here, a print and online literary magazine with author interviews, book reviews, and original fiction with a unique voice. He tells us how the magazine aims to inspire writers to test their talent.
What is the motivation behind The View From Here?
To give emerging talent a platform to take their work to a wider audience and to inspire and inform writers and readers. That’s the rational behind it. On an emotional level it’s driven by getting a huge kick out of seeing people thrive given the right conditions.
How did you become involved with the magazine?
I actually started it up myself after pulling together an initial small team of writers that I knew and respected.
How do you think The View From Here differs from other literary magazines?
It looks great visually - I didn’t want a stuffy “bookish” looking magazine - and it had to be exciting. I’ve seen enough pictures of stacks of books as logos or a bland photo of an author on front of other magazines - it’s like people don’t even try.
Books open up a world full of excitement, intrigue and passion yet all to often the magazines and websites that are about books fail to convey that and focus on pictures of books or authors instead of the imaginative worlds that lie under the covers. When we do use an author picture, we try whenever possible to bleach it to give a house style.
We also differ in that we never, and will never, push or promote self-publishing and we give a mix of new authors and famous authors across a wide spectrum of styles.
At the moment I think we have “hobby” magazines for writers that are low quality and dull and high art magazines. We aim to fill the middle ground and talk to writers as artists rather than stamp collectors.
I want people to open the magazine and to read stories that make them think, “Blimey I could never do something as amazing as that” and then inspire them in the rest of the magazine that given time, if the talent is there, they probably can. That comes from articles and reading interviews with other authors who they might look up to.
What do you look for in a submission?
I’ll have to defer on that I’m afraid as Michael J. Kannengieser, our Managing Editor, deals with all our submissions. But I know he looks for quality; we have high standards!
Do you write poetry or short stories yourself?
I have written a few short stories and a novel called The Ascent of Isaac Steward but no, no poetry.
What are the most challenging aspects of putting The View From Here together?
Keeping to the 36 pages we produce - somehow we always seem to fill it all in okay, but I often worry that we won’t have enough or that we will have way to much stuff to cram in and what I don’t want to end up with is loads of text so we have no room for pictures.
Getting the interviews in on time is always a challenge. We do roughly two a month which is quite a high turnover and often publishers only contact us shortly before one of their author’s book come out. We could cheat and interview blind, but we always read the book first and do the research so it can be tricky sometimes getting the timing right.
What do you enjoy most about it?
Interviewing famous authors and creating something from nothing. I love being creative and the magazine allows me to do this and to pull together talent from around the world from writers, artists, photographers and cartoonists to share in the creative process.
I always let the contributors shape the magazine as much as possible with as little control as possible from me - I’m a great believer in providing a creative atmosphere with wide boundaries and am constantly surprised at the natural cohesion that seems to come about from such an organic approach.
Whose writing do you admire?
Paul Torday and Markus Zusak are two that come to mind. They are fully in control of their craft and know how to tell a good story.
What inspires you?
People who put their creativity out there against the tide of blandness in way that entertains and dazzles. Terry Gilliam’s work would be an example. I like the way he mixes the surreal with the normal world around us. That is what I look for in a book: something that shows me something magical that lies beneath the surface of the normal day to day stuff that most people do and connects with me emotionally.
What advice would you offer an aspiring writer?
Learn your craft, read a lot and give it time. Don’t feel that you are on a treadmill that the imagination and passion inside you can get churned out like a line of baked beans on a conveyor belt - if you want to produce something that will stand the test of time then don’t write for the market. Be prepared to learn through your mistakes and setbacks as well as your successes.
What comes next for The View From Here?
A smarter web presence in terms of financial stability and a magazine that is priced more competitively. In short a growth spurt that will ensure we are here for the long run and continue to plug the gap in the market in the UK and further afield for a magazine of quality and breadth that remains accessible to new talent on the basis of quality.
For more on The View from Here, please visit www.viewfromheremagazine.com
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Mike, you give as good as you get–interview wise!
As one of TVFH crew, I’d like to add that Mike encourages us to have fun and take chances. He took a wild chance on me, letting me write flash fiction, which I had never tried before. Nor would I have tried it, if he hadn’t opened the door. Turns out, I loved writing it, although I’ve grown particular and post less often.
His energy and sense of humor serve as hallmarks for TVFH. Stella, another crew member, once wrote a piece when Mike was on vacation. What kind of wild party should we throw while “the boss” was away? She offered great ideas for mischief, and insights on authority figures but she–and we–finally agreed, Mike doesn’t act like a boss. He works constantly, even on vacation, but nobody could imagine a party without him there.
Hi, I’m a publicist at Random House and I work with Mike to get authors interviewed for TVFH. I’ve just arranged for Kate thompson to write a guest article which is currently up on the website. I love the way the magazine is so creative and Mike always looks for something quirky and fun - that’s inspiring for our authors and for the audience to read. We hope to work with TVFH to spread word about new talent and amazing novels in the future. Thanks for all your support Mike, we need more people like you out there!
Great job, Mike! Your energy and creativity shows in each issue.