Ryan Vance

Gutter Magazine
2014-present

As one of the editorial team and typesetter, I set the production deadlines for each issue, read fiction submissions, consult with contributors on developmental and line-level proofing edits, typeset the publication, oversee printing, and produce ePubs of each issue.Since 2019, I've designed the magazine from cover to cover, including two redesigns: for issue 30 to mark the relaunch, and issue 40 in response to an accessibility consultation. The most recent redesign also proved a great opportunity to choose a more organic and textural direction for the covers, for improved shelf impact in the age of AI-generated art.

I've worked with Gutter since 2014, firstly as reviewer, then as reviews editor, overseeing a team of freelancer reviewers covering new publications in Scottish Literature. I joined Gutter's editorial board when the magazine re-launched in 2019 as a workers collective, and have since also held the roles of social media manager, distribution assistant, and interim managing editor.

As of 2026, Gutter's small but mighty team of 8 editors distributes to 1000+ readers and retailers internationally, including 500+ subscribers. The magazine has collaborated with the Edwin Morgan Trust, the Scottish BPOC Writers Network, and the Alasdair Gray Archive.

Queer Words Project Scotland
2018 - 2025

In 2014, my first paid publication appeared in Zoë Strachan's Out There, the first major anthology of Scottish LGBT+ writing since Toni Davidson's And Thus I Will Freely Sing, published in 1989. Not content to wait another quarter-decade for the next anthology, in 2018 I conducted independent research into the needs of queer readers and writers, in support of a funding bid for a new publication. While I expected the research to outline under-representation of authentic queer experiences in literature, it also exposed a lack of faith in arts organisations to provide development opportunities that took into consideration the unique circumstances of queer writers.

Thus, Queer Words Project Scotland was born. In 2019, QWPS paired five emerging queer writers with five established queer mentors, to provide guidance on navigating Scotland's literature sector, and produce new work for publication. With Michael Lee Richardson as co-editor, we assessed 100+ applications for mentoring, read 200+ open submissions to the anthology, and selected 25 writers to appear alongside the mentees and mentors in We Were Always Here, published by 404 Ink.

In the short span of five years, the political landscape changed dramatically, with a sharp uptick in intolerance to the LGBT+ community; Michael and I felt it was time for another round. If it ain't broke, don't fix it - another five mentees were paired with five mentors in 2014, and another anthology of 35 queer writers hit the shelves in 2025, again with 404 Ink: Fierce Salvage.

Following launches in Waterstones and Lighthouse Books, and showcase events at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, Glasgow’s Centre for Contemporary Arts, the Glasgow Film Theatre, Waterstones and Category Is Bookshop, each book quickly sold out their initial print runs of 1000 copies, and continued to do so until 404 Ink's closure in 2026.

Wraithlands
2023-2024

After helping me develop An Honourable Place with many, many, many playtests, in 2023 Leckie invited me as an editor to help develop their own TTRPG, Wraithlands. A love letter to classic weird adventure games of the 80s and 90s, the game allows players to interfere in the lives of hundreds of island-living freaks, living out horrid overlapping narratives, spread across eleven distinct but interconnected districts.

During production I assisted in teasing out the shapes of the larger narratives through playtesting and structural editing, acting as a soundboard for Leckie to bounce ideas off, pushing for clarity of concept, and reigning in project creep. On the line-level, I provided proofing, and egged Leckie to delve deeper into their distinctly rotten brand of grim-dark folkloric storytelling (though admittedly, they didn't need much persuading).

It's a monumental and deeply immersive game, an utterly beautiful book, and I'm deeply thankful to Leckie for letting me be a part of it.

The Island Review:
2014-2016

For a few years before joining Gutter as reviews editor, I edited fiction for The Island Review, a website dedicated to the creativity, culture, history, and ecology of islands, launched by Malachy Tallack. (In a funny quirk of mirroring, Malachy later joined Gutter as editor from 2024 - 2026.) While in the role, I provided developmental editing and proofing to writers, wrote my own features on islands in videogaming, and reviews of island-based fiction.

The Queen's Head
2009-2016

Completely by coincidence, the same August 2009 that saw the launch of Gutter Magazine, I published the first issue of The Queens Head. Originally intended as a one-off zine between Glasgow friends, the first issue was edited and compiled at a cabin on the east coast of Scotland, printed on borrowed sugarpaper, and bound by string and beads.

It soon, however, grew legs, arms, many other unidentifiable appendages, and by its fourth issue was home to some wonderful, weird and really rather intense writing and illustration from all over the world. An unpredictable publishing schedule, non-existent budget and constantly evolving purpose were by turns charming and infuriating, but one thing held true across all eight issues: a delight in championing new writers with a knack for brilliance. The last issue, in 2016, was online only (I'd left my job at a print shop and no longer had clandestine access to cheap paper and a beautiful big magazine printer).

Across eight issues, contributors included Rachel Plummer, Elaine Gallagher, Ever Dundas, Paul McQuade, Giselle Leeb, Anstey Harris, Andrew Blair, Dic Edwards, Samuel Tongue, and Angela Meyer. A labour of love in the truest sense, it was an honour to select and showcase all the work that made it into the zine, and I thank all our featured writers, illustrators and multitudinous supporters for getting involved.