In Short: A New Journal of Flash Nonfiction

A Q&A with Steph Liberatore

By Andrea A. Firth

At the end of January, Steph Liberatore, a writer and a professor in the English Department at George Mason University, added another line to her cv: Founder and Editor in Chief of the new journal of flash nonfiction—In Short. Brevity Blog editor Andrea A. Firth spoke to Steph about her new lit mag and the craft of flash nonfiction.

Andrea A. Firth: What motivated you to launch a literary magazine, and why now?

Steph Liberatore:  I’ve been writing creative nonfiction a long time, but I didn’t come to flash until a few years ago. When I was finally ready to publish my work, I was surprised at how few places there were to send it. I love Brevity—love, love, love you all. But you’ve got a pretty low acceptance rate! There’s also Hippocampus and NYT’s Tiny Love Stories. But outlets like these, that take flash, tend to cap at precise word counts: 750, 800, 100. I wanted to create a journal that accepted flash nonfiction at every length. And so, In Short was born.

AAF: Tell us about your journal.

SL: In Short is an online literary magazine for flash nonfiction. We publish flash that’s 1,000 words or fewer; micros that are 400 or fewer, and what we’re calling short-shorts, which are 100 or fewer. We’ll publish two online issues each year and accept (free!) submissions through Duosuma.

AAF: I’ve heard you quote Brevity’s Managing Editor Zoë Bossiere and describe flash nonfiction as “the people’s genre.” Why does that description resonate with you?

SL: Flash has allowed me to have a writing life when a writing life should be impossible. I teach full-time at George Mason University and have two young kids at home. But because flash is short, I can finish it. I can publish it. And that’s what makes it accessible to me—and other writers with limited time and resources—which is what I love most about it.

AAF: How would you describe the literary journal landscape for flash nonfiction? And how does your journal fit within it and/or distinguish itself?

SL: The literary landscape for flash nonfiction is… sparse? We have Brevity and Short Reads and the other lit mags I named above. But there just aren’t that many outlets for flash nonfiction and even fewer devoted exclusively to it (Brevity is the only one I know of, besides us). To my knowledge, we’re the only lit mag devoted to flash nonfiction that accepts it at every length as it’s traditionally defined (1,000 words or fewer).

AAF: What will you be looking for in the flash nonfiction you publish, as far as content, craft or otherwise?

SL: I’m envisioning the magazine as a platform for all that flash can do. I’d love to publish a mix of experimental work and straight narrative and everything in between.

I also see In Short as a home for writers who feel like publishing may be just out of reach, for whatever reason. I want us to feature new writers we haven’t heard from yet, especially those from traditionally marginalized communities.

AAF: How did you get In Short started? What practical steps did you take to get the journal launched?

SL: It took me about two years to convince myself I could really do this! And then I got a study leave from my university that gave me the guts and time I needed to do so. The first thing I did was buy the web domain for In Short—I had the name and the concept from the start. Then I made a logo on Canva and interviewed a few editors, from lit mags that I love to get advice, which was invaluable.

AAF: You aren’t charging any fees to submit to In Short. How will you fund it?

SL: The eternal question! My current strategy is to do an extra admin job at my university this semester that comes with a stipend and then teach summer school (sigh, laugh, sob). But that’s not a long-term plan. We currently have a tip jar open for donations, and I’ll apply for grants this summer. I want to keep submissions free, so the journal stays accessible, but figuring out how to do so is admittedly a challenge.

AAF: The first submission period for In Short closes at the end of March. How has the submission process been going?

SL: I know—I can’t believe it! Only two more weeks to go—send us your subs! We had a flood of submissions on opening day, which was so exciting, and they’ve been steadily trickling in since. Overall, we’ve had about 150 submissions, and I’m expecting many more to come in on March 31^st.

AAF: Do you have a vision set for what the inaugural issue will look like? Will there be art?

SL: We do, and there will! We’re using Phoebe—a lit mag published at George Mason—as a model for our first issue. The layout is very streamlined: There’s a single piece of artwork and a table of contents, with pieces listed by word-count category. I’m aiming for at least five of each. We’re trying to keep the design easy because it’s just me and two incredible undergrad interns, Jasmine Haskins and Dan Piper, putting it together.

AAF: Looking ahead, what challenges, hopes, dreams do you foresee for yourself and In Short?

SL: I’m excited to see all the things I know In Short will go on to do! The funding is admittedly our biggest challenge—as is the time to manage the journal amidst my paid, full-time work. But I have faith I’ll figure that out. In terms of how we’ll grow, I see us sponsoring a flash contest in the future, offering workshops, and maybe even hosting an online festival or conference dedicated to flash. Mostly though, I see us as a home for writers who go on to do great things. Who knows, maybe one day, we’ll be as big as Brevity?

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Steph Liberatore (she/her) is a writer and professor in the English Department at George Mason University. Her writing has appeared in River Teeth’s Beautiful Things, Sweet: A Literary Confection, Cream City Review, Inside Higher Ed, and elsewhere. When she isn’t editing In Short or chasing after her two active kids, Steph is working on her first book, a memoir about confronting what we’d rather avoid. Find her on Twitter @stephliberatore or online at her website.