Hello all, and welcome to what could very possibly be swallow::tale’s new home. By now, we’re all aware of the disastrous death of Twitter, and many of us in the literary world have carefully –– and nervously –– considered the implications of a Twitterless life for our already-struggling small presses. Co-editor FEYXUAN and I have thought deeply about this, too, and have for now made the decision to pilot this newsletter as a means of connecting with readers and advertising new opportunities and products.
Here’s the plan.
There will be periodic free issues with store updates and, most likely, a poem, story, excerpt, or other media object. See below for submission info.
I’ll also be sending out updates regarding pre-orders, review opportunities, submission windows, and author/editor Q&As. These will be paid subscriber-only. The funds we receive from paid subscriptions will go directly to keeping the press running and paying authors, including authors whose works are featured in this very newsletter.
If you’re a Mad creator interested in sharing your work:
Email cavar@swallowtale.icu with the subject line “Newsletter Sub - Lastname”
Send <2000 words of prose/hybrid work or 3 poems/micros maximum. Previously unpublished only.
Multimedia submissions are welcome. Image/video descriptions for audio/visual media, and transcripts for audio media (which will be hosted on our Bandcamp) are required, and submissions without these will be deleted without a response.
We can offer a minimum of $10 per piece accepted. We will increase the pay in accordance with number of paid subscriptions, and aim to go as high as we can!
In the meantime, where are we at?
We’re in a period of transition –– transitioning either off of twitter, or to a slow twitter retirement. I am speaking about swallow::tale on my Mastodon, @cavar@zirk.us . I’m going to try to update semi-frequently on [ugh], the ChillSubs platform, which seems really promising.
We’re also in the process of switching up some of our printing methods, in the hopes of getting some swallow::tale books up for sale on Bookshop and more widely distributed in general –– more on that soon. For now, our other big shipping piece of shipping news is that we’re seeking a new (volunteer) distribution/shipping manager! Our beloved product possum, Noelle, is moving on, and we’re in search of a replacement to fill their shoes. You’d be receiving shipments from our printer and sending them out, keeping track of inventory and updating order fulfillment stats on our squarespace commerce page. If this sounds interesting to you, shoot me an email at cavar@swallowtale.icu.
Details: A resume/CV is preferred, but not required. In your email, talk to me about your interest in swallow::tale and this particular role, and why you’re a good fit for the job. A mailbox/P.O. box that is safe and accessible, as well as access to a post office and shipping boxes, is a must. Of course, we cover all of the shipping costs.
Looking forward to hearing from you!
Lastly…Our Books
Thanks for reading this far. Now, have some links:
Buy TK VISION by a.c.d. on Bandcamp –– the audiozine and text zine are available now!
Check out our bookstore - especially DEATH by Omar Zahzah.
When you spend $7 on the digital edition of Zahzah’s chapbook, $5 goes to Gaza Mutual Aid.
Those interested in reviewing any of our books and/or interviewing authors can email cavar@swallowtale.icu for review PDFs –– we’re always happy to share work with you.
Thanks so much for reading and for sticking with us!
More soon. I can’t tell you how awesome it’s been to share Mad wordwork with you all for more than a year (!!!) now, and look forward to much more.