Issue Two Has Arrived!

Just head over to the “Issues” tab on this site and click on the appropriate link!

Happy reading!

Issue Two Publishing Date

Hello all.

We’re afraid our airwaves have been quiet for the last week/ten days. It’s because we’ve been up to our eyes trying to get Issue Two done and dusted and we are glad to announce that we are just about ready, bar a few tweaks here and there.

At present the ETA for Issue Two on Issuu.com is this coming Monday.

So watch this space and details of Issue Three will be coming soon.

Anecdote and Curtain Call…

My personal email gets a lot of spam. Thankfully, my email provider is a pretty cool kinda dude and doesn’t let any of it hit the actual Inbox. But out of curiosity I decided to see just what was in the Spam folder the other day, remembering my days as a Hotmail customer when they either thought I was a man looking for a ‘pump-up’ or had one with similar need.

Imagine my surprise when opening my Spam this all I found was offers of cheap drugs – Xanex, Valium and Vicodin. And that was when I realised two things:

1. I have GOT to stop mentioning House MD online because it seems to be a beacon to the drug sellers – I am not a drug addict, I just have a certain fondness for the one in the programme!

2. Maybe I should have put through and order because the sheer multitude of submissions we have been hit with in this issue is destined to give me a lovely, large headache for most of the weekend, and possibly the start of next week.

Our front cover contest has proved very successful and it physically pains me that there are going to be disappointed people at the end of it but unfortunately there has to be. We will certainly be running the same initiative in next months magazine of which the theme is a huge secret but will be revealed in Issue Two as we’re planning something BIG.

Closing date is Friday, midnight, after which time we won’t even open submissions so get your work in as soon as you can.

And if anyone can recommend a good headache curer, send the answer on a postcard.

Calling All Visual Artists

Yes, that means you! No, not you, the guy behind you, wearing the flippers, yes, you!

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With just one week left for submissions, we at M9S are still on the hunt for submissions for the illusive front cover of the Zine. If you would like your work to be in with a shout of winning this illustrious and much coveted golden slot on the zine then just take down these few details, get the tracing paper and magic markers out and dazzle the bejasus out of us:

We are looking for images with the following criteria:

1. A4 size.

2. Portrait format

3. The title of the magazine (Minus 9 Squared) the title ‘Memory’ and the subtitles ‘Issue 2 – May’ somewhere on the body of the cover.

4. Something brilliant would be preferable.

We are accepting visual artistry of any kind, just as long as it’s visual and well, arty.

So get cracking folks – the front page needs you!

Immortality awaits.

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Please send all submissions to Anna at: minus9squared@gmail.com

Two Quick Updates…

One: For those who have ordered Print Copies of Issue One, I should have a fixed price by tomorrow evening and will be in contact with you all then.

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Two: For anyone submitting visual work for Issue Two’s front cover, we ask that you send it as an A4 sized piece and in PORTRAIT form. We have got a number of submissions from people who sent us landscape work which, though wonderful, we unfortunately cannot use.

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Best

Anna

Issue Two – Memory

Polling closed at midnight last night on the hunt for an Issue Two theme. The clear and comfortable winner was MEMORY with 54% of the overall votes.

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So there it is: Theme Number Two, and as editor, I feel I have to overstate the importnace of this second issue. Issue One has performed so well that really Issue Two needs to be better again if we wish to continue this venture. So please, get all of your writings, artwork and whatnot into us, we want Issue Two to be bigger and better than One.

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The magazine will be accepting the following categories:

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Short Fiction: Short fiction no longer than 3000 words.

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Flash Fiction: New Category. Short fiction no longer than 500 words, telling a condensed story. This new category is great for people who wish to write snippets. More than one of these may be accepted per writer if spacing allows.

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Poetry: Poems of no more than 50 lines.

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Visual Arts: Any form of visual artistry in one-two page spreads. Or text and visual like a couple of the submissions we had in Issue One.

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Photography: Exactly as it says on the tin!

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So there it is people, get creative and send us your work.

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Closing Date For Submissions is April 30th.

EDIT: It has been pointed out to me via comment that I am an idiot, but in nicer terms than that! All submissions should be sent to Anna at   minus9squared@gmail.com

Theming Up For Issue Two

Yes, you’ve read it right. Issue Two is already chomping at the bit in our minds and making its way to the forefront. It hasn’t even let Issue One get a celebratory drink of water yet but already it wants to be bigger and better than Place.

The question we now pose to you the readers, writers, casual passers-by and anyone else who may stumble across our site is, what’s a better theme than place? To help you out, we’ve included a poll with a few suggestions to choose from.

Help us to make Issue Two even better than Issue One.

This poll will close on Saturday 10th at midnight.

Teaming With Themes…

So everything is going swimmingly with Issue One at the moment. So swimmingly in fact that we’ve all decided our current swimming togs are bit worn from the chlorine so we’re buying brand new fluorescent ones after Easter.

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What this above nattering actually means is: we’ve had such huge interest in Issue One that we are already thinking towards Issue Two. ‘Place’ is already in the mock-up stages and we’re just waiting for that deadline to close so we can have the headache of deliberating over all of the fantastic work we’ve received, are receiving and have yet to receive.

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So things are going to be a little bit different for Issue Two. We have scores of ideas but for now, we’re just going to share the most important one, which is the choice of Theme.

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And to help us decide, we’re asking you the submitters, readers, followers, etc to comment on the end of this post with ideas for themes. From the suggestions we get, we’ll then put up a nice little poll and let you the readers and writers decide what you want to well, read and write.

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More updates to be posted soon as regards changes for Issue Two, but until then, smother us in theme.

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