We are so thrilled with this response to the first issue (originally posted to Shooter’s Facebook page by David Costello) that we are reposting it here:

“I’ve just received a copy of Issue 1. I’m not sure what I was expecting but what arrived has exceeded everything I had in mind. This is an intelligent, carefully curated journal which does great credit to the editor and her team. I’m delighted to have been included and wish all concerned my very best wishes for the future. I can see Shooter developing into one of the cornerstone publications of contemporary English literature.”

That’s not a bad goal… Feel free to subscribe to help us get there (and give Granta a run for their money)!

Hot off the press!

So, printer delays turn out to be part of the learning curve. All is forgiven, however, as Shooter Issue 1 arrived this afternoon smooth and new and ripe for reading!

Thanks to our subscribers and booksellers for their patience. We had hoped to get the issue out to everyone a couple of weeks ago but ran into a little paper/lamination incompatibility and had to make adjustments. Good lessons for next time.

We’ll be getting copies out for distribution next week as well as selling Shooter in person, at a discount, at the fabulous Liars’ League’s “Beautiful & Damned” event next Tuesday. Hope to see any London literature lovers there!

While we’re preparing to distribute Issue #1, we thought we’d get the ball rolling on submissions for Issue #2 and announce the theme, which will be Union.

After fielding stories and poetry that focused heavily on violent actions, death, destruction and difficult dilemmas in response to the first issue’s theme, we wanted to go in the opposite direction for Issue #2 and invite work that contemplates forces and situations that bring people together.

Short fiction, non-fiction and poetry should concern relationships, sex, marriage, romance, connection, bonding, forging disparate elements into a whole, bringing together different political/religious/social groups, and anything else that relates to the theme of Union. The theme can be interpreted either literally or metaphorically, and work that goes beyond the literal connotations of the theme to explore abstract concepts is very welcome. We are open to all genres, but writing should be of a literary standard, with an engaging story and distinctive style. Poetry that inclines to the observational, rather than experimental, end of the spectrum is preferred.

We seek relevant illustrations for cover art as well as the literary content. The deadline is April 1st. For guidelines and information on how to submit, please visit the submissions page.

Writers polishing or rewriting their work can now hire Shooter’s editor, Melanie White, to help with editing. See details of this new service here!

Want to read the true, personal account of a WWII officer’s critical order to fire? Or a comic take on marital relations as retirement looms? How about the pressures of maternal perfectionism, devious pharmaceutical plots, a gangster with a fast food addiction and a schoolboy with an embarrassing nun fetish?

Every piece of fiction, non-fiction and poetry in Shooter’s first issue will entertain and transport, most in less than 10 minutes a pop. Please help to spread the word and subscribe before all the copies in our limited print run are snapped up! Copies will be winging their way to subscribers in the New Year.

All those who submitted work for Shooter’s “Pulling the Trigger” issue have now been contacted, and the authors selected for publication will be listed here closer to the launch.

There were a few writers whose work it was difficult to leave out, so we’d like to acknowledge them now. All of the shortlisted pieces were extremely well written: some spun moving narratives of solitary ageing or tragic death; some flared with humour in the face of infuriating bureaucracy, evasive pinatas or zombie threats; one story was difficult to turn down solely for a joke about its protagonist’s weight. All of the shortlisted work was a pleasure to read and we hope the following pieces find a home elsewhere.

Shortlisted Fiction:

David Behrend, “Gridlock”

Angelita Bradney, “Golden Eyes”

Nicole Byers, “Triage”

Darren Lee, “On the House”

Stephenson Muret, “The Pink Donkey”

Christopher Murphy, “Veritas”

Deborah Smith, “What Happened”

Tyson West, “Nangur”

Shortlisted Poetry:

Gayle Lauradunn, “Taking Care of Things”

Thomas Pescatore, “Parking Scheduled”

Submissions are now closed for Shooter’s first issue and we’re poring over the 257 poems, short stories and nonfiction pieces received from around the globe. The bulk has come from North America, with a decent showing from the UK, but also from as far away as Australia, India, Nigeria, South Africa and China. We’re lapping up tales of heists gone wrong, maiden hunting adventures, first-hand accounts of war, poems homing in on romantic crises and even a literary dilemma faced by Emily Dickinson, the poet who inspired Shooter’s name.

Opening each submission has felt like unwrapping a Christmas present; it’s been a thrill and a privilege to read such an abundance of exciting new work, and it’s going to be a challenge to whittle down the shortlist for Issue 1. We’ll be in touch within the next few weeks to let writers and cover artists know whose work has been accepted. To all who sent in submissions for the first issue, many thanks for your contribution: Shooter will only be as good as its content. There’s a lot of literary talent out there and we’re honoured to contribute a platform for new work.

Shooter launches January 2015 with the theme of Pulling the Trigger: stories and poetry about springing into action, decisive moments, difficult decisions and the intersection of violence and creativity. More literally, stories might concern pivotal moments in war or crime, hunting excursions or gun accidents, dangerous showdowns or an act of euthanasia.

Writers and artists are invited to make submissions relevant to the theme by October 15th. All genres are welcome, but writing should be of a literary standard, with an engaging story and distinctive style. Poetry that inclines to the observational, rather than experimental, end of the spectrum is preferred. For information on how to submit, please visit the submissions page.

To become a founding subscriber of Shooter, please visit the subscriptions page.