LITRO - Stories for the Underground

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LITRO is handed out for free near to London Underground stations and elsewhere around the world. The London version is published by Ocean Media (funded by advertising) in a fortnightly run of 50,000 copies. Every other week I also email a link to a PDF file of that week's issue to a list of distributors, to print and distribute as they like.

LITRO is distributed fortnightly at the following stations:

Liverpool Street

Kings Cross

Euston

London Bridge

Victoria

...and a wide selection of "floating" stations.

It is also distributed in the following non-station outlets:

Libraries in the London Borough of Lambeth
London Review Bookshop
Waterstones Covent Garden
Waterstones High Street Kensington
Waterstones Notting Hill
Foyles (Charing Cross Road)
Tate Modern
Tate Britain
Institute of Contemporary Arts, SW1Y 5AH
Saatchi and Saatchi Building (Charlotte Street)
Tate Modern Bookstore, SE1 9JR
Marcus Campbell - Art Books
Miller's Academy of Arts and Science, W2 5AJ
Crockatt and Powell, SE1
Daunts - Notting Hill
The Cartoon Museum, WC1A 2HH
The Gloucester Road Bookshop, SW7 4TE
Potterton Books, SW1W 8DA
Green and Stone, SW3 5EL
The Talking Bookshop, W1U 1PE
The Travel Bookshop, W11 2EE
Nomad Books, SW6 5HA
Kensington and Chelsea Central Library
Camden Library
The British Library Bookstore, NW1 2DB
Koenig Books - Serpentine Gallery, W2 3XA
John Sandoe Books, SW3 2SR
Donlan Books Bethnal Green
Koenig Books - Soho
Claire de Rouen - Books Soho

...and more generally or sporadically in:

Random bars/cafes in the East End
Random bars/cafes around Old Street
Centerprise, Hackney
Derby
Trams in Sheffield
Buses in Durham
Munich
Canary Wharf
Newcastle
Boston, MA
Bangor
Canterbury

Would you like to help distribute LITRO?

We are keen to expand, and hope that more people will want to get involved -- we need you! LITRO is great for any location where people might seek, or need, inspiration and entertainment: bookshops, record stores, cafes, pubs, waiting rooms, reception areas, canteens, &c. If you live in London it might be easiest for us to supply you with the printed version -- please send me an email if you would like to discuss. If you plan to distribute from a fixed location we can also provide posters and postcards for promotion. Alternatively, if you would like to be added to the the electronic distribution list, and receive a link to each issue in advance of publication so you can print your own copies, please enter your email address in the form below.

However you distribute, send me a message to let me know so I can add the location to the list above.

Sue Williams, author of the July 6 2007 issue of LITRO and regular distributor, has this to say about distributing LITRO:

Many things are free in Boston. There are newspapers, of course; there are samples of smoothies and donuts; there are squirts of perfume, and chocolates with coffee, and sometimes (if you’re lucky) there’s ice-cream.

And, as of this year, there’s fiction.

I like how it feels to liberate stories! The first time I left a stash of LITROs in a café, I sat and had a coffee before I left. While I was there someone walked across, picked up a copy and flicked the page. They stood there for a while, looked over both shoulders, then took the story to their table.

They sat there, engrossed. They were still there when I left.

I had a similar experience when I was about to leave the UK and move to America. I was at the doctors and I saw a stash of leaflets. They contained free poetry. I picked one up. I was feeling nervous about the move, but in the leaflet I found a poem: Dawna Markova’s “I Will Not Die An Unlived Life”. Amazing, really. It was quite an inspiration. I didn’t feel so jittery, after that.

So now I’ve asked a local health centre to take in some Litros every month. I like to think the stories will help others, or relieve their boredom, or give them a smile. I don’t distribute hundreds of LITROs. I just hand out a few. But believe me, if I had a snappy printer, I’d go for more.

It gives me a buzz, liberating stories. I recommend it. Let ‘em fly!

You can find more details about how a printed LITRO should look on our printing tips page. If you distribute from a fixed location, you may like to put up some of these posters: a fairly simple one, a slightly more complicated one, one with a picture of a swan or one with a picture of a small wooden person.

Finally, please do your best to avoid handing LITRO out anywhere you shouldn't (for example, the inside of London Underground stations is reserved for Metro and charities) - if in doubt, please get in touch and we'll try to find out for you.