Indie Editors Series: Night Parrot Press
I am SUPER excited to bring you our next instalment for our new Indie Editors interview series (and flash fiction might have something to do with it…).
Night Parrot Press is a small publishing press based in Western Australia that focuses on publishing - and celebrating - works of flash fiction by WA-based authors. It’s headed up by the wonderful Laura Keenan & Linda Martin, who also deliver workshops and classes in the community on writing flash fiction (yes, very cool and also where I happened to meet them both when I was living in WA).
I often get asked about how I get flash fiction pieces published, and the truth is it’s a lot of luck on my end, so I was delighted to have the chance to ask a couple of pros in the space. Laura and Linda caught me up on all things Night Parrot Press, the editorial process as they see it and some golden tips for budding writers.
Obviously, I know you from attending your marvellous flash fiction course a few years back, but let's start with a little more about you and how you got started as editors - how did you two meet?
That workshop was so fun! We loved meeting you there. So… back to the beginning. We met in 2010 when we both worked as in-house editors at UWA Publishing. At that time, UWA Publishing was housed in a two-story heritage-listed limestone building overlooking generous lawns. We worked out of the library – a desk at each end and rows of books between us. It feels nostalgic just writing about it.
During our lunch break, we would roll our office chairs to meet in the narrow passage of bookshelves and talk about books, writing, and editing. Not only did we build a strong friendship during this time, but we also learned we had very similar approaches to reading and editing books. We both also respected the author–editor relationships that grow during the editing of a book, and these commonalities in our approach to the work and the authors really connected us professionally.
What’s the story behind how Night Parrot Press got started - and how it got its name?!
After UWA Publishing, Laura returned to the U.S. before coming back to Perth with her husband, two children and a suitcase of flash fiction titles. We were in a writing group together, and with Laura’s teaching of the short form, we’d write flash fiction stories.
The two of us, in particular, loved the form so much that we decided to run a flash fiction workshop at the Centre for Stories. Twenty writers (some experienced, some emerging) would meet us on a Wednesday evening for stories, writing, cheese and wine. The stories produced from those workshops were so strong that we felt we really had to do something with them. At that time, flash wasn’t being published in Perth. Over a coffee one day, we said, ‘Let’s start up our own publishing house!’
Scraping together our own funds, we set out as a partnership. This seemed like a safe first step before becoming a not-for-profit, which we knew would open up funding opportunities for us. We were thrilled that our first book and our working relationship were both successful!
Finding the name was enjoyable. We both thought of five names each, giving us a list of ten. Being on the periphery of publishing and wanting to showcase emerging or established writers writing in new forms, we wanted a name that reflected our uniqueness and our boutique size. The night parrot is a small nocturnal bird thought to have been extinct for almost 100 years. It’s quite secretive and difficult to find. Its size and elusiveness seemed to align with the traits of our press. The name fits us perfectly.
What was it about flash fiction that stood out for you as a focus for your anthologies?
We have always been really excited about the form of flash fiction. We run workshops in libraries, community centres and schools and continue to be moved by the enthusiasm and skill of the writers who attend. Because of the constraints of flash, we found that the stories being written were so contemporary, of the moment.
We have never asked writers to write to a theme because, with all three anthologies, we’ve noticed natural themes emerge. Each collection is like a barometer of our shared consciousness.
The anthologies reflect hope, humour and joy in the solitary and collective strength of the flash writers. Also, no one else was publishing flash fiction in Western Australia. Being a micro-publisher, we didn’t want to compete with the amazing stories already being published in the state. Flash fiction and novellas became our points of difference.
Reading submissions and making decisions for your anthologies must be such a tough process! I definitely don’t envy anyone having to work through this. What are some of the key things that you try to keep central when making these decisions?
Reading submissions is our favourite part of the work. We have a great system, making our lists and notes before meeting and discussing. We mostly always agree. When reading, there are a number of elements we look for.
We first ask, is it flash fiction? We look for subtext and brevity of language in addition to voice and style. We ask if it is a story or a vignette? Does the story make sense? Has there been character growth (on or off the page)? Does it leave us thinking emotionally and intellectually? Does it move us?
As editors, and as editors who enjoy mentoring new writers, in addition to selecting stories that we feel are perfect, we also choose stories that we feel aren’t quite publication ready but that have great potential.
We work very closely with authors new to flash or new to writing to help bring the pearl out of the oyster shell.
What have been some of your best experiences since starting Night Parrot Press?
Having books delivered from the printer is a magic moment. But the overall experiences that have really stuck with us have always been about people and community.
We have met some amazing and generous people during this experience. We continue to be blown away but the enthusiasm and support from people in and outside the industry. It’s a wonderful environment to work in. Other experiences have been receiving positive reviews and having happy authors.
We feel this all comes together on the evening of the launch. We generally have 200 writers, family and friends at our launches, and the energy and love in the room are so strong. It’s a very joyful and moving moment.
The gap between submitting work to a press and waiting on a response can sometimes feel shrouded in mystery! What are some of the misconceptions you come up against?
As a small press reliant on funding for projects, at this stage, we have one callout per year—for our flash anthology. We try to be as direct and transparent as possible with our communications following submission. Given that we are reading flash fiction, our timeframe for reading, selecting and sending responses is pretty efficient (4-6 weeks).
I think sometimes writers, especially those new to the process or industry, may expect a swift response or extensive feedback with a rejection letter. The reality of publishing anthologies is that we have to communicate with 80 or so authors, so we just don’t have the time or resources for that extent of response.
And as a follow on, what’s something you wish more people did more (or perhaps less!) of during the submission/editing process?
We understand that submissions and editing can be anxious processes for some writers, especially those new to the industry. In general, the writers we have worked with have been very polite, patient and reasonable. But on occasion, some have resubmitted multiple versions of a story, which becomes very time-consuming on our end as we are dealing with hundreds of submissions from dozens of authors.
We suggest submitting the very best version of your story the first time. If there’s an egregious error—you sent the wrong story, or a whole paragraph is missing, etc.—then resubmit. But if you’re tinkering with minor words, it can be challenging for us to keep track of all the different versions. With editing, we have found that the best relationships happen when an author is open to suggestions and is willing to collaborate on sections that may be problematic.
If there’s a willingness to work together for the best result, it always yields a stronger, more satisfying story for all involved—writer, editor and most importantly, reader.
Final question, what’s upcoming from Night Parrot Press, and how can readers find out more about getting involved with you?
We will publish our fourth collection of flash fiction in 2023. We will also focus our attention on youth flash fiction writing – running workshops in schools and publishing youth stories online and, hopefully, in print. We would also love to get a newsletter out to continue our connection with the writing and reading community. We will also judge the annual flash competition for Writing WA.
Finally, we will continue to keep our eyes open for the next unique manuscript.
And then, who knows … We like to be kept on our toes, and we like surprises!
Night Parrot Press is an independent, not-for-profit publisher based in Perth, Western Australia. Inspired by the elusive Australian night parrot, Night Parrot Press seeks to uncover writing that exists on the periphery, in obscurity, and give it a platform for recognition with a broader audience. Night Parrot Press is managed by co-publishers Laura Keenan and Linda Martin.
Laura Keenan’s career as an editor spans twenty years, working for publishers including the Perseus Books Group (USA) and UWA Publishing. She runs flash fiction writing workshops in schools, libraries and community centres, encouraging others to obsess over small, intense stories.
Linda Martin lectures in editing and publishing at ECU. She has edited for UWA Publishing, Fremantle Press and Magabala books, and her writing has been published in Westerly, Cordite Scholarly and international flash fiction journals.
Find Night Parrot Press online:
Website: nightparrotpress.com
Instagram: @night_parrot_press
Twitter: @press_parrot
Elaine Mead is a freelance writer and book reviewer, currently residing in nipaluna (Hobart), Tasmania. She is passionate about the ways we can use literature to learn from our experiences to become more authentic versions of ourselves and obsessed with showing you photos of her Dachshund puppy. You can find her online under www.wordswithelaine.com.
