London Writers Network: How to get into Zines

Ever wanted to start your own Zine? Or improve your chances of getting published in one?

a composite of four faces - the Zines event lineup

Join us for an evening of all things Zine from getting started, to developing an audience and starting new ventures, as well as top tips to improve your chances of getting published.

We’re offering free tickets for creative writing / literature students in the UK for this event, or members of creative writing societies. To request a free space, please email: [email protected] with the subject ‘Free Zines event request’ and tell us your name, what course you’re studying and what institution you’re studying at.

We’ll be joined by the editors of The Selkie, Bad Form, Open Pen and whut?

Each will give a short presentation followed by a panel discussion and questions from the audience.

Access Notice

  • This event will be auto-captioned.

  • If you require BSL interpretation, please email us when booking your ticket on [email protected] no later than Thursday 2 September 2021 and we will try to secure BSL interpretation for you. Spread the Word will cover the costs of BSL interpretation.

  • All our online events have a relaxed format; you are welcome to take breaks at any point and turn your camera off. All our online sessions have breaks.

  • We’ll send through any reading seven days in advance. We can create adapted handouts to writers attending our workshops and events by request.

  • Our online workshops and events take place on Zoom. As standard, we will send the weblinks to participants a week in advance. If you require the dial in phone number, email us [email protected] and we can send it through to you. Please take a look at Zoom’s accessibility info: https://zoom.us/accessibility/faq#faq1

  • If you have additional access needs, please contact us [email protected] and we will support you to participate in this event.

About the London Writers Network
This event is part of Spread the Word’s London Writers Network series, offering free events to London Writers Network members. The series is designed to give event attendees access to the resources and knowledge they need to develop their writing craft and career. Members get free tickets – everyone is welcome to buy a ticket if they are not a member.

The London Writers Network is Spread the Word’s membership scheme, and offers a whole range of benefits. Members can attend two London Writers Network events for free each year and get 10% off our paid programme. They also receive a quarterly newsletter and special offers from our friends and partners. And all this for only £25 a year.

You can sign up / buy membership for a friend here. You will need to log in to book your free ticket. 

About the event speakers

Sam Le Butt

Chief Editor and Director of The Selkie


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Sam Le Butt is an editor and writer based near London. She is the Chief Editor and Director of The Selkie, a non-profit literary magazine and publishing company that works exclusively to support underrepresented writers. Her writing explores the intersection of feminism, bodies, the fantastic and the environment. She has been published in numerous anthologies and her debut short story collection Curious Women and Other Creatures is forthcoming this summer from Radical Bookshop. She holds a Master’s with Distinction in Creative Writing from The University of Edinburgh, and is due to start her PhD in English Literature in September ’21.

Amy Mae Baxter

founder and Editor-in-Chief of Bad Form


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Amy Mae Baxter is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Bad Form, the online and print literary review by Black, Asian, and racialised community writers. In 2017, she founded BAIT, an arts zine, as a first year student at the University of Cambridge. By day, she is an Assistant Editor at Little, Brown (Hachette). She is a lover of small dogs and good books.

Sean Preston

founding editor of Open Pen


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Sean Preston is from East London where he lives today. He is the founding editor of Open Pen, a free short fiction magazine since 2011, and a now a publisher of paperback fiction they call “novelettes". Sean is an ex-pro wrestler and has been a part of the independent record label Ninja Tune since 2010. He tweets from @SeanPrestonLDN

Selali Fiamanya

Words Editor, whut? zine


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Selali Fiamanya is an award-winning writer who has been a part of several collaborative visual art and literature zines focussed on amplifying marginalised voices. His most recent project whut?, created with Tara Benjamin-Morgan featured work from artists from around the world and can be found online (www.whutzine.com), in Housmans Bookshop in London, and The Alchemy Experiment in Glasgow.