Twitter? What's that?
We see Twitter as a cross between mass media and 2-way communication technologies. You access Twitter by web, phone, or both. Everyone "broadcasts" in a sense, but everyone is also in direct control of who they listen to.
Why Twitter?
escarp was conceived in July 2006, when there wasn't a Twitter. There also wasn't a cheap, easy way to administrate and distribute a journal by text-message. With Twitter, you don't have to trust us with your cell number, and we don't have to waste time adding and removing subscribers from a database as they come and go. We also don't have to pay to distribute through Twitter.
Will this cost me anything?
Twitter is free to join and escarp is free to receive--as long as you don't incur charges from your service provider. Twitter gives you control over what (if anything) you receive on your phone. For now, we won't send more than a tweet a day. If your carrier charged $0.05 per message, that's roughly $1.50 a month.
Okay, but Twitter's just another social network to keep up with, isn't it?
Yes and no. Twitter, like escarp, enjoys brevity and simplicity. On Twitter, you aren't expected to follow everyone who follows you, and among those you follow, you have the ability to choose whose updates you receive on your phone.
I like writing letters and email, why would I want a 140 character limit?
Keep writing them. Don't think of Twitter like email--think of Twitter like a personal, text-based television station. It's a broadcast medium, in brief. Just like TV, you can safely ignore it when you like, and pay attention when you want. Like the next time you're at a conference and want to know what the other attendees you know are doing now, tonight and tomorrow (or vice-versa, of course.)
Maybe. But it's really vapid and shallow, right?
Aren't television, radio, the telephone and the Internet? We see Twitter as akin to other communication technologies. Exploring the potential of the technology for the arts is one of our goals.
Do I have to receive escarp on my phone?
No. Twitter lets you choose who you follow, and among your followers, whose updates are sent to your phone.
Why would I join Twitter just to submit to escarp?
We write, too. We submit to journals. We've worked on a print journal. The online submission system many journals are moving to (Tin House, Ninth Letter and Diagram immediately come to mind) requires 9 fields during registration, and Twitter just 4 (though we also suggest you fill out your profile.) Likewise, sending print submissions takes considerably more time and effort than joining Twitter.
Why can't I just email my submission?
In short, it simplifies and streamlines our workflow. Our site creates your author's bio from your Twitter profile, automating a labor-intensive process. Twitter also restricts your message to 140 characters, so we don't have to count all of them, and we don't have to discard submissions/send notifications to someone who can't count. Most importantly, Twitter allows us to experience escarp, from the editorial side, much as you can--via text-message.
What if I don't have a cell phone?
While escarp is best experienced on your phone, it's also designed to be experienced with just a computer.
Does escarp pay its writers?
We hope to. We've got some good ideas for a business model we could use to fund payment for our writers. At the moment, though, our efforts are focused on enhancing the experience and promoting the journal.
Why 140 characters?
140 characters is the maximum length of a message someone can send us through Twitter.
How quickly does escarp process submissions?
Almost always within 24 hours, usually within 12.
What's your aesthetic? What do you want?
We want to be impressed. "Just read the journal" is a bit of a lazy cliche, but in our case it won't take you long or cost you money. We like quirks; we like powerful realizations. We shy away from "jokes" disguised as poems or stories, but not vice-versa.
Who's "We"?
Pluralis maiestatis, the majestic plural, the editorial 'we'--call it whatever you want, but we maintain our own first-person-plural identity. It's what we do.
Why's it called "escarp"?
escarp is a shortened form of the word "
escarpment." In the most specific, escarp is an homage to the
Caprock Escarpment, a
landform we are rather fond of. In a broader artistic sense, escarpments represent a zone of sharp transition and change--a place where two different things meet and mix and mingle. Our artistic mission is to create this zone of contact between art and the public.
What's with this million seconds ago stuff?
Ah, yes. We knew this would cause trouble. Because of our close association with geography, we've decided to express the age of our submissions in millions of seconds, rather than millions of years, as if they were discovered in the strata revealed at an escarpment. Indulge us. Click on the date and you can see a full calendar date and time of publication.
Can I help?
Of course! Editing is covered for now, but we always need help spreading the word. Money also helps; all donations received for now will go towards promoting escarp. In the future we'll turn our attention to providing payment to our authors. Link to us, tweet about us, tell your friends.
How should I donate?
We don't have an official method of accepting donations right now. Just contact us through Twitter if you'd like to donate.
How can I ask a question?
Feel free to tweet your questions; include @escarp in the message and we'll give it a read.
