In recognition of Women’s History Month, I’m devoting each Friday Five this March to shine the spotlight on women who are doing cool stuff in literature these days. This celebration begins with Tiffany M. Storrs, the editor-in-chief and co-founder of Roi Fainéant Press (RF for short). This online literary magazine, established in 2021, publishes a diverse range of voices in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, and it is one of the most enjoyable online litmags I’ve discovered over the past year.
If you’re curious about the litmag’s name, Roi Fainéant is French for “lazy king” or “do-nothing king.” It refers to the seventh- and eighth-century kings of France’s Merovignian Dynasty — kings who didn’t have much power given the way things were going in that country at that time, according to Wikipedia. On the RF website’s about page, Tiffany refers to herself and co-founders Kellie Scott-Reed and Marianne Baretsky Peterson as “3 lazy kings living the best of their worst lives.” Judging from the quality of their litmag and the works they publish, however, I would not take that description seriously. No doubt the three of them sift through scores of submissions to find just the right pieces for their publication. But as the name, the site design, the accompanying artwork, and overall vibe suggest, RF is a platform where irreverence, playfulness, and a broad range of literary voices and styles can thrive. (I’m honored to have two pieces published in RF: “Narcissus on the Deck” and “No Point.” If you’re looking for a home for your work, quirky, irreverent, or otherwise, I suggest you give RF a try.)
Read on for Tiffany’s take on RF, her suggestions for writers, her sources of inspiration, and more.
1. What sparked the idea to launch Roi Fainéant Press, and how did you turn that initial “what if” into a thriving indie litmag?
Weirdly enough, I had the idea to run my own magazine when I was 6 or so. I was a big fan of teen magazines (Tiger Beat, BOP, etc.) and I decided I would run my own, so I wrote to all of the talent managers and fan clubs of child stars and tried to convince them to let me conduct interviews through the mail. Predictably, that went nowhere, possibly because the request was written on construction paper.
In my adult life, the desire resurfaced but took on the literary angle. I have written since I learned how, and I wanted to curate a print magazine to showcase work like mine. This was the early aughts and I didn’t have access to any level of community (or knowledge of how to find it), so I shelved the idea for over 10 years.
When COVID hit, I was furloughed from my job at the time and had a lot of spare time to poke around on Twitter, and I decided to look for writers as I had the early stages of a short fiction collection I was considering shopping around traditionally. Instead, I stumbled upon the literary community there, and after following a bunch of writers and mags and being really inspired by the work done there, I decided to start my own.
2. How would you describe the vibe of Roi Fainéant?
I think I have half-jokingly described our aesthetic as “knockoff Wes Anderson meets snarky pinup girl,” and that feels pretty accurate, but the literary vibe is warmer and friendlier than that. I work in marketing and, if I thought about our “brand voice” in any real way, it’s rooted in my own voice as a person. Irreverent, tongue-in-cheek, but always kind. The foundation of it all is the written word and the creative process that brings it forth, and I want people to remember the joy in being able to do that at all. We don’t take ourselves too seriously, and I am largely not concerned with anything other than the written word.
3. As editor-in-chief, how do you balance championing diverse voices with keeping Roi Fainéant’s unique identity intact?
I think the diversity of our published authors is a huge part of RF‘s identity. One factor in starting my own mag was some level of disdain for traditional publishing as an industry, as a process — that kind of soulless, salesy, elitist nature you can find there. One of the cornerstones of what we do is simply looking at the work by itself. We don’t make editorial decisions based on publications listed in a bio, or levels of higher education achieved. It really is about the writing and how it speaks to us, and while that makes it a really individual process, it is also a very authentic and organic one.
4. Who or what inspires you most when you sit down to write? Are there any particular authors, experiences, or random quirks that light the fuse?
My personal writing tends to come in spurts that feel natural in a strange way. Hats off to the folks who are up at 5 a.m. every day getting the words down, but that has never been me. I kind of wait for that inspiration, that creative flow that comes in whatever way I can manage. Sometimes it’s just a one-liner that I throw in my Notes app and let marinate for a while, sometimes it pours out of me in a way that is more complete, but I have always joked that it feels like it has very little to do with me, like I’m an instrument. Reading a lot definitely helps, so I try to carve out time to do that to keep the well replenished, keep the creative flow coming.
5. Roi Fainéant has a reputation for playful antics alongside serious literature. How does humor shape your leadership and your own storytelling?
I have a tendency to lead with humor in my daily life. I’m quick with a joke, always trying to lighten things up, and I feel like RF being playful is just an extension of me. Which is kind of odd, because I’m not the type of person who likes to be front and center necessarily, but there are pieces of me in everything I do. Humor is a huge part of that. And again, creation should come from a place of love and should be something we’re allowed to celebrate, to have fun with.
BONUS QUESTION: What advice would you give writers who are interested in submitting to Roi Fainéant?
Go for it! We have different editors on staff with different perspectives, so I would say our publication rate is likely pretty high overall (I don’t have stats on that, just a feeling). Beyond that, we’re nice people, and even if you get a no, it’s not definitive or reflective of anything. There is a subjectivity to creative work, always. Don’t get discouraged by us or anyone else. The most important thing is to keep going.
Catch up with Tiffany on Twitter/X at @msladybrute and follow Roi Fainéant Press at @press_roi.
Andy writes! 