Small is beautiful and never more so with dinky new writing magazine TYPE! When friends of LPW, George and Sarah Hamilton, told us about their new project, a free ‘bookmark magazine’ which aims to champion bold new writing and illustration, we couldn’t wait to find out more! With the first edition of TYPE! available now, we caught up co-creator George to tell us more and explain how writers can get involved…
Congratulations on the launch of TYPE! How did it come about?
Thank you! My wife Sarah and I love writing creatively, and commercially
through our copywriting agency Inquisitive Type. We wanted to create a free
resource for writers and readers to share and enjoy exciting new stories.
Describe the format for us.
TYPE! is a double-sided magazine that fits onto a single sheet of A4. Anyone
can print it at home or the office, read it, fold it and then slip it into their
favourite book as a bookmark. And of course every issue will be free to
download and read.
Where can people get an issue?
At the moment, the best way is to download a copy via our website, print it
and have fun folding it yourself. Once independent shops reopen more fully
we hope they’ll print copies and stock them. They can either give issues away
to customers as an added reason to shop / visit, or ask for donations in return
for copies — we’re happy for them to keep all donations.
We’d also love to have copies available to pick up at arts venues, cultural
events and more. In fact TYPE! had a spot at our local street food market for
several weeks. It was great to see people have a read over their lunch.
Have you had many submissions?
It’s been amazing. Thanks to featuring on fantastic websites like London
Playwrights Blog and BBC Writersroom we’ve already received hundreds of
submissions. It’s a real thrill to read everyone’s work and we can’t wait to
share some of these voices in future editions.
What are you looking for?
Short stories, flash fiction, monologues, playlets, mini-screenplays, poetry,
illustrations and any other kind of storytelling that fits in a panel or a single
side of A4. Our #RuleOfSix six-word stories are a great way to dip your toe
into writing. And we have rolling submissions – just submit your work when
you feel it’s ready.
Wait, what’s #RuleOfSix exactly?
Simply tell us a story in six words. Our first edition has some great examples –
take a look on our website.
What else is in TYPE!?
Each edition has a literary quiz to get those brain cells moving and a writing
prompt that might inspire something extraordinary. Our first issue has a
wonderful poem from Claire Dyer and a flash fiction tale from Christopher
Owen.
Where can people find out more?
Simply pop over to our website https://bookmarktype.wordpress.com to read
and download our first issue, subscribe and submit work. You can also follow
us on Twitter @bookmarkTYPE.
“If you’d like to stock TYPE! please get in touch. We’re also looking for
sponsors or any organisations that would like to collaborate on future editions.
We’re open to ideas. Drop us a DM on Twitter or message us via our website”.
Download your copy of TYPE! here.