“Best sign that perhaps the end of the publishing industry as we know it won’t be the utter disaster we’re all dreading”

–The L Magazine

 

Electric Literature’s mission is to use new media and innovative distribution to return the short story to a place of prominence in popular culture.

We are a quarterly anthology of five top-notch short stories, delivered in every viable medium.

As A.O. Scott wrote in the New York Times:
“The blog post and the tweet may be ephemeral… but the culture in which they thrive is fed by a craving for more narrative.”

Fiction transports us. It uniquely captures the experience of human consciousness like no other art form, revealing underlying truth and opening us to life’s possibilities. Like any creative act, writing fiction carries within it an implicit belief in the future. Electric Literature was created by people who believe in the future of writing.

We’re tired of hearing that literary fiction is doomed. Everywhere we look, people are reading—whether it be paperbooks, eBooks, blogs, tweets, or text messages. So, before we write the epitaph for the literary age, we thought, let’s try it this way first: select stories with a strong voice that capture our readers and lead them somewhere exciting, unexpected, and meaningful. Publish everywhere, every way: paperbacks, Kindles, iPhones, eBooks, and audiobooks. Make it inexpensive and accessible. Streamline it: just five great stories in each issue. Be entertaining without sacrificing depth. In short, create the thing we wish existed.

Here’s how our model works: To publish the paperback version of Electric Literature, we use print-on-demand; the eBook, Kindle, iPhone, and audio versions are digital. This eliminates our up-front printing bill. Rather than paying $5,000 to one printer, we pay $1,000 to five writers, ensuring that our writers are paid fairly. Our anthology is available anywhere in the world, overruns aren’t pulped, and our back issues are perpetually in print. We hope that this model can set a precedent: more access for readers, and fairness for writers.

Publishing is going through a revolution. There’s opportunity and danger. The danger lies in ignoring or resisting the transformation in media. New platforms present an opportunity to adapt. We believe the short story is particularly well-suited to our hectic age, and certainly for digital devices. A quick, satisfying read can be welcome anywhere, and while you might forget a book, you’ll always have your phone.

To us, literature is what is important, not the medium. If eBooks, Kindles, or iPhone apps help literature survive, then we’re all for them.

People of our generation—with one foot in the past and one in the future—must make sure that the media gap is bridged in a way that preserves and honors literature. We don’t want to be sentimental old folks in a world where literary fiction is only read by an esoteric few.

Andy Hunter & Scott Lindenbaum
Editors
editors@electricliterature.com

Contact Us

Andy Hunter, editor-in-chief: editors@electricliterature.com

For editorial questions, or to apply to become a reader or intern, email Halimah Marcus at halimah@electricliterature.com.
Please use Submishmash’s submissions manager to check your submission status, or wait six months before inquiring via email.

For questions regarding subscriptions, distribution, advertising and events, email Sarah Codraro at sarah@electricliterature.com

For questions about The Outlet, the blog of Electric Literature, email Benjamin Samuel at benjamin@electricliterature.com

For questions about Electric Dish, literary events coverage on The Outlet, email Julia Jackson at julia@electricliterature.com

For questions about animating for Electric Literature, email Emma Barrie at emma@electricliterature.com

 

Mailing Address:

Electric Literature
325 Gold St.
Suite 303
Brooklyn, NY 11201

 

Masthead

Andy Hunter … { Co-publisher, Editor-in-Chief
Scott Lindenbaum … { Co-publisher, Editor
Benjamin Samuel … { Online Editor
Sarah Codraro … { Associate Publisher & Advertising Director
Halimah Marcus … { Managing Editor
Julia Jackson … { Dish Editor
Molly Auerbach, Charles Logan … { Assistant Editors
Bill Smith, Sheryl Scott, designsimple.com … { Designers
Katie Byrum … { Copy Editor
Ilya Lyashevsky … { Mobile Development Consultant
Christopher DeWan … { Technical Advisor
Penelope Lin, Jodi Price … { Editorial Interns

READERS
Eve Asher, Lois Bassen, Mackenzie Brady, Laura Clark, Leah Clark, Martin Cloutier, Debbie Colombini, Sarah Cox, Dan Coxon, Carolyn DeCarlo, James Flaherty, JT Hill, George Kamide, Susan Kendzulak, Jennifer Kirkoler, Sharon Knauer, Daniel Knowlton, Travis Kurowski, James Langlois, Rebecca Leece, Emily Lyons, Casey O’Neil, Kate Peoples, Anna Rowser, Doug Silver, Samantha Sommers, Michael Stutz, Lindsay Tigue, Rodion Trulov, Bradley Warshauer, Aaron Weiner, Shanna Yetman, Aaron Zwintscher

SPECIAL THANKS
The Community Bookstore, Jason Diamond, Jesús Ángel García,
David Greenwood, Jordan Holberg, Judson Merrill, Anna Prushinskaya

Electric Literature is published quarterly by Electric Literature, LLC. 325 Gold St. Suite 303, Brooklyn, NY 11201.
Copyright 2011 by Electric Literature. Authors hold the rights to their individual works. All rights reserved.

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