On matchbook's Return

Plus, a fun side project for you.

Bad Night for Writing by Robert Cumming (Art Institute of Chicago’s Open Access Images)

In June 2024, after a three-year hiatus, matchbook returned to publishing flash fiction and creative non-fiction. As we mark our first anniversary back, Co-Founder and Managing Editor Brian Mihok shares what making matchbook means to him (and shares a limited-edition special project for our readers).

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When Edward Mullany and I thought up matchbook in early 2009, we wanted to create a publication that treated writers with dignity and respect, and that showcased fiction and nonfiction that was short. At that time the words flash, short-short, sudden, micro, and probably a handful of others, were all interchangeable. It was unclear which terms would become the Betamaxes of creative writing shorter than a thousand words. Not many journals published work that short at that time. But we were determined to deliberately slow down the publishing cycle because a piece of fiction or CNF that is really successful can really pack an emotional punch. And we felt they were something that should be read multiple times. We decided that what a lot of journals might publish in a day, we were going to take a year to do.

We started like all fledgling journals: tiny, no readership, just toiling away trying to make something interesting, hoping that at some point people might notice and like it. The drawback to publishing so slowly is that your growth will also be slow. The shape of the graph that showed our readership growth was going to look something like a sloping property you could build a house on with minimal land leveling. So, we toiled. We tried to make really careful edits, only what was necessary to make a piece sing. We wanted to feel like we had a secret to tell you.

Edward stepped away in 2014 and R. B. Pillay stepped up as editor. For the next nearly seven years matchbook published pieces that to this day astound me. That writers would send us work this good still confounds me. That after so many years our readership, though perhaps small, is mighty and stalwart. When we closed for a time in 2021, after R. B. and I needed a break, the outpouring of love on social media was joyous and lovely. And when I decided I wanted to bring matchbook back last year, the excitement people publicly (and privately) expressed was equally moving. I brought it back because I missed it. I missed writers. I missed helping shepherd amazing pieces into publication. And now we’re back. And you’re here. We’re both here.

We’ve had some fun side projects along the way, and now we have a new one for you. We’ve partnered with writer Kathy Fish to produce a blank notebook that contains flash writing prompts throughout. Kathy provided the prompts and we designed the book. It’s a beautiful hardcover lined notebook with a fabric bookmark and minimal branding. We’re excited about what you all might fill the pages with.

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To kick off the sales of this limited run of 100 blank notebooks, we’re giving away the first five copies!

How to Enter to Win a matchbook blank notebook

On any of our social media accounts, post and tag us or leave a comment sharing a favorite piece we’ve published at matchbook. Your post or comment will enter you into the pool of entries from which we will select five people to receive a free blank notebook. We have a presence on Bluesky, Instagram, X, and right here on Substack. A comment on any of these platforms will enter you. Winners will be chosen at random from these entries on July 1, 2025.

Don’t like to leave things to chance?

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