Launch of Eastown Fiction fills online publishing niche for fiction writers

Grand Rapids-based Eastown Fiction went live with its first online issue on July 1, offering a new outlet for fiction writers seeking publication. The primary goal is to publish the best new fiction from West Michigan writers. Even so, the site accepts submissions from outside the region.

Mark Derks, 25, and Adam Nannini, 26 -- both fiction writers – created Eastown Fiction to fill a publishing void.

"Mark and I have been in writers groups for a long time and edited each others' work," Nannini says. "We did a lot of looking around and felt Grand Rapids wasn't represented in the publishing game, especially in online publishing."

So they pulled in Andrew Scott, 28, a software developer, to build the back end. Nannini, a web designer at Atomic Object, designed the site.

Authors submit their original fiction online – from short-short fiction to novellas – and Nannini and Derks evaluate it for publication worthiness. An author's only payment is the satisfaction of having a work published and there is no submission fee. Presently, the site generates no income, and Nannini, Derks and Scott provide their services simply because they're passionate about publishing the work.

"We thought about accepting everything submitted, just as long as it's coherent," Nannini says, "but we decided we want to have high standards so it's an accomplishment to get in. Mark and I individually read each story and make notes, we have a standard we apply and then we discuss which stories we like and which we'll turn down."

"We want to publish the best stories we can get our hands on," adds Derks, "and for people to come to Eastown Fiction to get the best stories they've read in a while."

Photographers can get in on the act by submitting their original photographs for consideration as cover art for upcoming issues.

Source: Adam Nannini and Mark Derks, Eastown Fiction

Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected]. Her short-short story Tow Truck was published in the July issue of Eastown Fiction.