Does your ezine specialize in a specific genre?
SUW: Yes. I am constantly looking for work that somehow incorporates elements of expressionism, surrealism or existentialism, so that as a whole the zine is a fusion of the three, which I like to call Werdenism. What I want is the insane chiaroscuro world of expressionism (in such films as Metropolis, The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari, The Golem, etc), the search for identity and the ideas of 'becoming what you are' behind existentialism, and the dream quality of surrealism (such as Breton's Nadja, Dora Maar's photography etc). Sein und Werden translates as Being and Becoming, a phrase I stole from a book by Lotte Eisner on German expressionism (The Haunted Screen) and from Heidegger's Dasein. I don't want future contributors to be put off by the philosophy behind this though. It's NOT a philosophical magazine. It's an art/literary collective with an open invite.
TT: As long as the story is twisted we are pretty open to any genre, but we do lean towards sci-fi/fantasy/horror. The more twisted the piece is, the better. When I say 'twisted' I don't just mean a tale with a twist ending - send me a story that shocks me and there is a good chance it'll be published. I know the majority of magazines refuses to look at a piece if it is crammed with gore - but, if there is a good story there it could be a winner for us.
GIV: No.
GD: Not at the moment, but from issue #10 we will be introducing a theme to bring a strong and unique identity to Gold Dust. We feel this will help it carve out its own niche within the saturated small press magazine market.
How much help did you need then and how much help do you have now?
SUW: In the beginning it was just me fulfilling a personal need to get stuff out there. Then I found a particular group of artists and writers who really understood what I wanted to do with the zine, how I wanted to portray it and the direction it had naturally started to take. So I invited these people to become part of a team, people I could ask for opinions, ideas for themes etc. And then, when the print version came into being, Spyros Heniadis became the print editor and he puts all that together and I just give the nod. Without him there would be no hard copy.
TT: I have more help now than I did back then, so in a way you could say I'm very lucky. Unfortunately, I did lose two people who helped out at the beginning - the work on the magazine turned out to be too much for them. Even though their time was brief they will never be forgotten.
GIV: Composing and publishing is mostly a sole proprietorship. I have a few people that will help me sort through submissions. Other people don't have the same level of commitment to this as I do. They have real jobs and lives and it's my vision, not theirs.
GD: For the first three issues, I was a one-woman band, which was incredibly hard work, as I am a bit of a perfectionist and would carefully proof each copy for errors as well as sorting all the submissions, organising the layout, updating the website, etc.
Then something rather large happened in my life - I had a baby girl, Skyla, who suddenly took up quite a lot of my time. I hastily put the magazine on hold, thinking I would get back to it once I had got into more of a routine. But as time went on and I still seemed continually busy, it occurred to me to find out whether anyone else would like to take over the Gold Dust reins. At this point, I posted a message on the UK Authors website forum, asking if anyone had enough time and enthusiasm to manage the project. I imagined one person editing it as I had done, but various people sensibly suggested sharing the workload instead.
Karl Relf became Editor for issue #4, with invaluable help from Sub-editors Elle, Tai and Rose, who unfortunately did not wish to carry on after this issue. There were disputes over the amount of poetry we were able to fit into the magazine, which seemed to arise from the general chaos of moving from a single editor to an entire team. However, Jo Copsey, who had also been a part of issue #4, agreed to take over as Editor when Karl had to bow out (like me, due to time constraints). Claire Nixon, a fellow UKAuthor, then offered to help Jo, and is still working alongside her as Marketing Co-ordinator, Interviewer and Illustrator. David Gardiner then also got involved, initially as our Cover Designer, but now as our Prose Editor and Book Reviewer as well. For a while, I took a bit of a back seat and only looked after the website, but have now taken on the layout design and general organisation of the magazine as well. Jo has recently had to step down as Editor, again, due to lack of time, but has kindly agreed to stay on as proof-reader, while Kirsty Irving has just joined us to take over as Poetry Editor. All five of us collaborate on decisions regarding the magazine and we all pitch in here and there where needed, whether writing an article or providing a photograph.
What factors will influence continuance and development?
SUW: Naturally the main factor is readership. As long as there are people willing to buy the magazine and other publications we bring out (there are so many things I'd love to publish - anthologies, collections, novellas… One day, perhaps), I can see Sein continually evolving. I hate the fact that we have to charge anything at all because I want this to be about accessibility, which is why I have kept the e-zine going as well as the hard copy, but money makes money makes money, to quote Henry Miller, and if people are willing to fork out a few quid to keep this thing alive, then it can only get better and offer more opportunities to more people. And that goes for all zines of course, not just Sein.
GIV: The main factors are the writers and my ability to get to a computer. When the submissions dry up, I'll probably stop doing it.
GD: I think that now the magazine has so many talented people working on it, we all kind of drive each other. When it was just me, I would miss my own deadlines and not be too worried about it, but these days, we all try to be very professional about it and egg each other on when the going gets tough. I admit I didn't realise quite how much work was involved and I can only assume this is why so many other small press magazines do fail; but now that the work on Gold Dust is shared, I hope we can continue to produce the magazine for a long time to come.
