Talking with Stephanie about an open call, she put forward the idea of publishing an author who wasn’t as established – hence, the call for a debut flash collection from an unpublished author. Stephanie Hutton’s novella was a huge success, selling much more than any of the other zines and so it was natural to try and replicate that success. Much like everything with Ellipsis, the expansion into publishing Novella-in-Flash and collections stemmed from wanting to try something new. This will help set the work apart from others.Ĭan you tell us a little about the expansion into areas such as the Novella-in-Flash, collections, and zines celebrating LGBTQ writers? I’d suggest that anyone who approaches these subjects to think a little differently. I have written pieces on these subjects myself, and although, individually they are brilliantly written, when I receive a lot of them, they can lose their impact. I’ve also noticed that I can receive a large amount of work based on death, relationship breakdown, dementia etc. I sometimes get a batch of work that hasn’t made the longlist/shortlist of a competition, because they are all on the same theme. I’ve published sci-fi, horror and humour and I do notice trends with submissions. That’s a tough question, because I tend to want to publish a wide mix of work, but it is important to note that it is all subjective. This is usually a week or two before publication.ĭo you have any advice for authors sending you submissions? At this point, writers have the opportunity to make any last minute changes. Once the zine is compiled, I will send page proofs to all writers, to ensure I’ve copied everything over correctly. Again, once chosen, we ask for minor edits to the work.
With the last few zines, I’ve had one or more of the editorial board compile the list of published work for me. With the print publications, the time between submission and selection is a little longer. This is usually scheduled around a month or so later, depending on the time of year. If selected, I may put forward minor edit suggestions and then provide a date for publication. With print online submissions, I try to get back to everyone within seven days. We want a great piece of flash to be something that will be read again and again, and something that will linger.Ĭan you tell us about the process from submission to publication in the online and print zines?
In the same way a great song, novel or film, hangs around with the audience.
We want to publish stories that make us forget where we are, stories that introduce us to people, places and things we’ve never seen before and stories that stick with us long after we leave them. What are you looking for in a piece that you hope to publish? Working in a bubble can be difficult at times, so having a team of writers to work with has been invaluable. It was Richard who first suggested putting together a team, to help strengthen the website and have a team to help compile the zines, and as a sounding board for ideas and advice. Stephanie Hutton, Amelia Sachs, Richard De Nooy, Helen Rye, Jennifer Harvey and Christina Dalcher. I have a great team of flash writers helping me behind the scenes. Can you tell me who is on the team and how or why they were chosen? I work in a marketing department, with a background in design, and so the setting up of the magazine and print zines has been a fairly smooth process. What do you do with your time outside working on the Zine? If a piece submitted deals with the break up of a relationship, for example, I would generally pass on it if I’ve published a similar piece recently. Timing can also be important – and not always something that a submittor can do anything about. There can also be any number of factors for a piece being declined, it’s not always because the piece isn’t ready. I’ve declined work that has almost immediately been snapped up by other publications and reading them again, it was clear I was wrong to pass on them. What have you learned from your experience as Founding Editor? Following on from the wave of excitement during the first month, I took the plunge and opened a call for work to be published in print and I was completely overwhelmed with the response. I wasn’t sure how well that was going to be received but pretty soon I was swamped with great submissions. I hadn’t been writing flash very long and thought that a website with a mixture of work I enjoyed reading would help improve my own writing, while also offering a new space for writers to submit to.
I set up Ellipsis Zine in June 2017 and initially wanted to create an online space for flash fiction I liked to read. How and why did you begin Ellipsis Zine, and how long has it been running? Ellipsis Zine is an online and print literary magazine for beautifully written fiction & creative nonfiction.
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