Alex Keegan Launches The Seventh Quark

Posted on December 28, 2004

Award-winning British Crime and Literary Fiction Author Alex Keegan is the publisher and editor of the new British literary magazine, Seventh Quark, which launches in January, 2005. The Seventh Quark is a bi-monthly A4-format, color-cover magazine. The magazine will feature top quality literary and genre fiction. Every issue will feature at least one major craft article, at least one reprint of a prize-winning story and a first-publication from an unpublished or little-published beginner.

Asked why he launched the new literary publication Keegan told Writers Write, "I want to shake the market up. I have seen so many stories turned down by editors of smaller magazines only to go on to win thousands of dollars in commissions or prizes. There seems to be no middle ground between the very small presses and the likes of New Yorker and Atlantic Monthly."

Alex Keegan is creator of the five Caz Flood novels: Cuckoo, Vulture, Kingfisher, Razorbill and A Wild Justice which all feature feisty female private investigator Catherine "Caz" Flood. Cuckoo was published in the U.S. by St Martin's Press, and was nominated for an Anthony Award as best first novel. His prize-winning short stories have been featured in numerous publications including Mystery and Manners, BBC Radio 4, Blue Moon Review, Southern Ocean Review, and The Atlantic. He has also served as a judge in numerous writing competitions. Keegan is also a Contributing Editor for The Internet Writing Journal.

While primarily a literary magazine, each issue of the Seventh Quark will feature one humorous piece and one or two 'genre pieces', crime, speculative fiction, fantasy. The Seventh Quark also hopes to regularly feature one short-short story from under 12's, another for teens. The magazine will also endeavour to create discussion on its pages and on the accompanying website. There will be a letters page, reader voting, at least one full story critique.

Submissions will be free to subscribers. Non-subscribers will be charged a reading fee of £5 ($10 US). Competition entries will be cheaper to subscribers. Quality fiction will be solicited from experienced writers, for payment. Quality reprints will also be sought. A single issue will cost £6.