Short Èdition for writers/artists Innovates—and RETURNS!

Great place to submit!

Shortédition dispenser

The dispenser was Short edition’s first innovation: Folks in banks, airports, rapid transit can press a button for 1, 2 or 3-minute reads—Bart, the San Francisco Bay area’s rapid transit, one example—and fine writing comes out and in the hands of readers.

Are you looking for a fab place to publish short works of fiction, poetry, comics (artists all!)? A fab place that pays its creators.

Here’s more on their innovative story:

Originally based in France, they expanded to the US and Canada—with the help of director Francis Ford Coppola, who discovered them. See this 2016 article in The New Yorker. Coppola became their “godfather” with a big donation and installed his first dispenser in 2017 in his Zoetrope café.

If Short Édition accepts, you not only get read the way lit mags work (see Literary Magazines: Why Bother?) but all over the world where the dispensers spit out free literature instead of candy and sodas.

Short Édition’s favorite picks appear online and are sent to all subscribers in Short Circuit that was published every quarter, and they were up to #11 when Covid hit.

Here I am in Short Circuit for a poem and as winner of “America: color it in”— the latter, a contest on diversity. I not only got paid but was an editorial reviewer for them.

What a fab idea Short Circuit is!

After Covid hit, the company had to close submissions—but the reopen is happening as you read this!

Why and what now?

Kristan Leroy

To find out why they closed submissions, I talked to Kristan Leroy, International Sales Director. When Covid hit, the dispensers that began in France where the company is based and are now all over the US, Canada and Europe were not being accessed for reasons we’ve all experienced during the pandemic.

Leroy said they were getting 150-200 submissions per month when Covid hit. But how could they respond to writers when the dispensers were on pandemic-hold? She said, “In a sense, we were a victim of our success” when Covid hit, and they decided the best temporary solution was to put a “hold” on submissions in the summer of 2022.

Hurrah for the re-opening!

Before I explain, and while you’re think about getting your submission ready, here’s a question that may be roiling:

You may be asking, How do they make money? The answer? Universities, banks, shopping centers, airports, rail like BART buy a dispenser. Harvard Medical School bought one on the grand idea that art builds empathy. The buyers subscribe for a continuing stream of narrative and imagery to make the heart sing.

Photo by Aimee Fairbank Brown on Unsplash

Literacy and art join hands with Short Édition: serious writing that matters, easy to access.

And there’s a new version of the dispenser for schools and libraries: The Cube.

Jason Reynolds, author, with the Cube

Author Jason Reynolds, the U.S. ambassador for teen literature, is one of the well-known proponents of “The Cube”.

Let’s talk about literacy and art: Think of a child who paints a painting you love and hang it above your piano as I have—or a child writes a poem and you save it and read it at their bat mitzvah or confirmation as I did. Literacy and art hold hands like children in a circle. They dance together.

Here’s the newest Innovation: The Disc.

Shortèdition’s newest innovation

The disc has QR codes that allow readers to hold up a cell phone, capture a code and read.

That may have already rolled out! The relaunch occurred while I was writing this essay to help them.

So!

Submit now in these categories:

·      Check out the English site where you’ll also find the French site, now open again, too.

·      Think short (1 to 5 minute reads)

·       Tell your muse: general audience. Children have access. And Short Édition is looking for comics for all ages. And don't forget children’s stories.

Note that response times, as they get going again, will be 4-5 months for a reply, but if you’d like to be a part of the review team, write them at contact@short-edition.com, and the delays will be shortened!

Get Set!

Get Ready!

Hit Go!

Love,