I found out about 52 Stories about two years ago while compiling online literary magazines for fictiondaily.org. I saw it, read it, and thought “I’d like to have a story there someday.” So I sent Cal Morgan a chapter of my unpublished first novel.
52 Stories went cold (Morgan had to take a break from doing a story a week), and I thought “Well, that’s understandable.” I didn’t know if it would be coming back.
But then a few months later I got an email from him about my submission. He said he liked it and was going to include it in a collection of stories from the backlogs of 52S’s submission pool. I thought “holy shit this is awesome.”
So this past week it launched. It’s a free PDF file at 52stories.com. So many writers I’ve read and I admire are in it. Particularly Roxane Gay and Scott McClanahan. I really love their work and want others to love it. Also there’s a porn star in the collection. (My story “Jon and Maeve” is #30.)
Next month, Forty Stories launches as an eBook through Amazon and other ebook retailers. The book has already gotten some coverage at the New York Daily News, the Journal-Sentinel, and Open Letters Monthly.
Just. Very. Exciting.
david (isaac) backer 