iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Elliott Silverstein | Echolocation Editorial

tshirt @tshirt.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

here's some more unsolicited advice from yours truly IN zine form. longposter.neocities.org/zineonzine.pdf please make a zine.

hi. welcome to my zine about making and distributing zines.
specifically essay zines. we will discuss:
+ how to generate ideas for zines
+ tips for writing essays
+ how to build an audience for your zines
+ a peek into my process for shipping and fulfilling zine orders
this is adapted from a series of articles i’ve written over the past
years and a talk i gave at fanworks con 2023. i won’t talk about the
details of actually making a zine (like folding paper, binding, or
software) because i don’t think i have that much special expertise
on that topic. i mean look at this booklet. but i am confident that i
can give you some food for thought on the topics above. let’s go.

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Elliott Silverstein | Echolocation Editorial @archivefeverdream.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

hi Maria! Always great to interact with other editors such as yourself, folks in Club Ed spaces, the EFA discord, etc :) People are so generous with their time and energy.

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Reposted by Elliott Silverstein | Echolocation Editorial

Dewie @judgedewie.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

OMG I had to check my work emails regarding an extra case in court tomorrow and I've just read this from an HR person. "on a knee to nose basis" A KNEE TO NOSE BASIS 😳

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Elliott Silverstein | Echolocation Editorial @archivefeverdream.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

totally get that! I wrote a bit more on the subject of this genre here also, if you're interested archivefeverdream.substack.com/p/whats-in-a...

archivefeverdream.substack.com

What’s in a Name?

Memoir Plus and its discontents

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Elliott Silverstein | Echolocation Editorial @archivefeverdream.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

ooo I'm glad you found it, then! Exciting :) What work is your memoir doing?

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Elliott Silverstein | Echolocation Editorial @archivefeverdream.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

A question I find myself repeatedly asking: what might our own proximity as writers to our objects of study do to the shape and tone of the narrative? Perhaps we should be calling this kind of thing autotheory…

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Elliott Silverstein | Echolocation Editorial @archivefeverdream.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Whatever my issues with memoir plus as a term, however, I don’t disagree that it’s naming a powerful literary force, of which I would certainly like to see more published.

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Elliott Silverstein | Echolocation Editorial @archivefeverdream.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

If you’ve read this kind of memoir before, you’ll know that separating out the strands that make it up is hardly straightforward or easy task. This is because the strands are fairly inextricable. There’s a synthesis there.

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Elliott Silverstein | Echolocation Editorial @archivefeverdream.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

There’s memoir, which is purely personal and individuated, and then there’s the plus, which is something…else. Something that’s been added on for additional market value, as though the “personal” and the “plus” are completely atomized and separate.

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Elliott Silverstein | Echolocation Editorial @archivefeverdream.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

As an industry term, it refers to a memoir that offers more than your standard personal narrative, whether that’s research or cultural criticism. But while it’s not hard to see where such a genre distinction might come in handy, I see some issues with the framing.

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Elliott Silverstein | Echolocation Editorial @archivefeverdream.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Recently, I was reading about a new-ish trend in publishing—memoir plus. And I have to say, despite being a big fan of many books that can be categorized in this way, I kind of hate the label.

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Elliott Silverstein | Echolocation Editorial @archivefeverdream.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

“you cannot write a novel without conflict” “you don’t need conflict you need tension” “you don’t need conflict or tension but this secret third thing”

cap of a tumblr post by user gerardwaist. th post reads: people b saying things so definitively. like man i think it depends

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Elliott Silverstein | Echolocation Editorial @archivefeverdream.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Some prefer the word “tension,” here, instead. Basically, what you need is something that keeps your characters active (unless their passivity is the point of the story, a subversion that’s more common in litfic and experimental), because that’s generally what sustains your readers’ attention.

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Elliott Silverstein | Echolocation Editorial @archivefeverdream.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

—particularly in non-Western storytelling forms and in more experimental narratives that aim to subvert. Even in Western story forms, conflict doesn’t need to be a massive clash. It can simply stem from two people disagreeing, which may easily come about if they have different goals.

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Elliott Silverstein | Echolocation Editorial @archivefeverdream.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Much digital ink has been spilled regarding conflict, what constitutes it, and whether you really need it to tell a story. As someone trained in the developmental editing of fiction in a Euro-American context, it’s easy for me to say that conflict is necessary, but this isn’t always the case—

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Elliott Silverstein | Echolocation Editorial @archivefeverdream.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

What did I mean when I said “characters create the plot”? The way that your characters’ goals, and their motivation for those goals, come into tension with the goals of other characters is what creates the engine of your plot.

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Elliott Silverstein | Echolocation Editorial @archivefeverdream.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Last week I got into the inextricability of plot and character, so for this week I thought it could be fun to give an overview on developing plot from character. That’s right, friends, this is an intro to GMC (Goal-Conflict-Motivation).

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Reposted by Elliott Silverstein | Echolocation Editorial

s. e. smith @sesmith.lol · 26/08/2026

Self publishing and hybrid publishing comrades! I'm working on a piece about market shifts around self publishing, how self pub is influencing trab pub, and so much more. I would LOVE to talk to you. sesmith at realsesmith dot com

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Reposted by Elliott Silverstein | Echolocation Editorial

Kendra, spooky version @kendrawcandraw.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Tim Curry and Dolly Parton have taught us not only that you should be bigger, weirder, gayer, and freakier, but also that those qualities are what people will love about you. The things that make you strange and amazing are the things that will resonate with other strange and amazing people

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Elliott Silverstein | Echolocation Editorial @archivefeverdream.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

It’s not a question of “bad plot or badly-developed characters,” but rather “does this plot and do these characters support each other and the story I’m trying to tell?”

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Elliott Silverstein | Echolocation Editorial @archivefeverdream.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Thus, oftentimes a book with flat characters who have no goals can lead to a plot void, and vice versa. So, what can you do to steer clear of these issues? Recognizing that plot and character are ultimately somewhat inextricable helps.

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Elliott Silverstein | Echolocation Editorial @archivefeverdream.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Additionally, saying a book is more plot- or more character-driven can be an oversimplification, because the characters create the plot. If there’s nothing compelling happening in your story, you may actually have a character development problem just as much as a plot problem.

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Elliott Silverstein | Echolocation Editorial @archivefeverdream.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Genre is pretty inextricable from reader expectations. If I’m reading a romance and the book ends with them breaking up, that’s poor plotting…but if I’m reading an upmarket or literary love story, then the breakup may be the whole point.

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Elliott Silverstein | Echolocation Editorial @archivefeverdream.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Would you rather read a badly-plotted book, or a book with flat characters? This hotly-debated question crossed my feed yesterday. With the obvious answer being “neither,” my second answer is “what constitutes ‘bad plotting’ is a genre question,” followed closely by “sometimes, it’s the same book."

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Elliott Silverstein | Echolocation Editorial @archivefeverdream.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

I'm so glad it's not just me!! 😂 nothing like being extremely locked in, lol!

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Elliott Silverstein | Echolocation Editorial @archivefeverdream.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

They’re useful in different ways, and in different circumstances. What the lighthouse offers is a straightforward map. What the bat offers—what I offer—is a way forward drawn through your own curiosity and context. Hence the name Echolocation Editorial!

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Elliott Silverstein | Echolocation Editorial @archivefeverdream.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

In my view, both the lighthouse and the bat offer helpful models of orientation. To me, where they differ lies in responsiveness. The bat takes cues from its own environment to move forward, whereas the mechanical beam of the lighthouse remains steadfast and unchanged.

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Elliott Silverstein | Echolocation Editorial @archivefeverdream.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

I recently finished Jazmina Barrera’s On Lighthouses, translated from the Spanish by Christina MacSweeney. Towards the end of the book, she writes that the figure of the bat is the antithesis of the lighthouse: “The former emits geometrical light, the latter represents organic obscurity.”

bat flying in daylight with a tree in the background

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Elliott Silverstein | Echolocation Editorial @archivefeverdream.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

You could also say that editing is like this—making connections, slotting clues into place, and feeling a bit unhinged while doing it.

pepe silvia meme: a man, gesticulating wildly, stands in front of a board covered with papers connected by red string.

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Elliott Silverstein | Echolocation Editorial @archivefeverdream.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

I've been realizing that people probably have no idea what my pfp actually is—it's a diagram by Freud in a letter to Fleiss, in which he wrote of the sketch: “Work consists of a series of such stages at deeper and deeper levels.” This is largely what editing is like as a process!

a diagram loosely sketching out four different levels of work

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Elliott Silverstein | Echolocation Editorial @archivefeverdream.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

It continues to be really helpful, yeah! I've gotten a lot out of Jennifer Lawler at Club Ed's classes (just finishing the Certificate for Dev Editing of Fiction) and her money course is no exception www.clubedfreelancers.com/product/the-...

clubedfreelancers.com

The Money Question(s) ⋆ Club Ed

$100 (Members: $90) | How to Set Fees and More | 4 lessons | Self-paced | Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced One of the most common questions newer freelancer editors ask is, “How much should I cha...

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Elliott Silverstein | Echolocation Editorial @archivefeverdream.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Hi everyone! For the next hour I'll be going through lesson two of a professional development course on money management for editors #StetSprint

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Reposted by Elliott Silverstein | Echolocation Editorial

Weeknight Writers @weeknightwriters.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

In 2023, NaNoWriMo put out a statement about supporting AI I created my own challenge, #FirstDraftFall, in three wild weeks Now we're about to enter our third year and we've got SO many amazing things in the works Join our community waiting list/newsletter to be the first to hear about them!

weeknightwriters.com

Weeknight Writers Waiting List - Weeknight Writers

Unblock your writing Become part of a vibrant community With over 100 active members, Weeknight Writers is THE place to be for writers of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. We’ll provide everything...

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Elliott Silverstein | Echolocation Editorial @archivefeverdream.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Thanks! Hope that went well for you, I managed to finish and send out my newsletter as well as draft an email to a former grad school colleague I haven't talked to in a decade!

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Reposted by Elliott Silverstein | Echolocation Editorial

d h @deeholloway.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

LOST COAST is a pamphlet exploring the Weird & occult influences of three 1970s-made and/or -set media: Greenwitch (Cooper), The Fog (Carpenter) & Enys Men (Jenkin). brief but (I hope) thoughtful spooky summer reading! #WriterShareWednesday greenstreetpress.itch.io/lost-coast

greenstreetpress.itch.io

Lost Coast: Notes on Greenwitch, The Fog, and Enys Men by Green Street Press

An examination of common themes and tools in three pieces of weird media.

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Reposted by Elliott Silverstein | Echolocation Editorial

Indie Book Spotlight @bookspotlight.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

I get so happy when I find out folks are being contacted for jobs via my blog recs! Happened today and I'm so chuffed for them. :') rebeccacrunden.com/resources-fo...

rebeccacrunden.com

Resources for Indie Authors

General/Disclaimer I thought I’d share some links and communities for indie authors looking for resources as I know it can be difficult to even know where to start. Starting off without a reader ba…

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Reposted by Elliott Silverstein | Echolocation Editorial

Kate✨ @ksummerfield.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

Queer Prompts is a daily prompt for queer writers and focuses primarily on queer fiction. Quote repost the day's question with your response and the hashtag #QueerPrompts

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Elliott Silverstein | Echolocation Editorial @archivefeverdream.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

thank you!! stay tuned....it'll only be a few more years surely 😅

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Elliott Silverstein | Echolocation Editorial @archivefeverdream.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

but unlike with developmental editing, you don't need to give potential solutions or even point out exactly what's going wrong. So I'd recommend paying attention to what you notice on a first read, your instinctive responses, and going from there! #WeeknightWriters

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Elliott Silverstein | Echolocation Editorial @archivefeverdream.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

beta reading is primarily grounded in your own reactions and responses to a piece of writing. When you're beta reading, you can note things like "the pace of this chapter feels slow to me" or "I didn't connect with [x character] because they didn't seem to be driven by anything"

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Elliott Silverstein | Echolocation Editorial @archivefeverdream.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

thank you! me too...though I'd like it more if it hadn't given me so much trouble over the years lol

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Elliott Silverstein | Echolocation Editorial @archivefeverdream.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

I don't want to totally give away the premise until I have more of it written but it's basically about a con job on the neoliberal university—along with a smidge of fake dating 😁 basically I enjoy writing unlikeable characters that readers want to root for anyway!

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Elliott Silverstein | Echolocation Editorial @archivefeverdream.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

I haven't made time to work on it in a while and I have a couple of other (smaller) projects going on right now, but this is inspiring me to pick it back up #WeeknightWriters

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Elliott Silverstein | Echolocation Editorial @archivefeverdream.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

Hi everyone! Jumping in late, but excited to be here. I have a wip I've been keeping on the back burner for a couple years now that's about 15k in. It's a slightly dark queer romantic comedy that dares to ask, how far would YOU go for academic job security? #WeeknightWriters

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Elliott Silverstein | Echolocation Editorial @archivefeverdream.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

Really cool that you've managed to write even with editing work! I'm trying to find that balance myself and still haven't really managed it 😅 [my dusty wip is currently looking at me with doleful eyes from the doc I've stuffed it into] #WeeknightWriters

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