Once your journal exists, it will wing its way into a world already full of journals, like a paper airplane into a recycling bin, or onto a Web already crowded with literary sites. Why would you do such a thing?
People have been starting literary magazines for centuries—and they certainly don’t do it for the money. And thanks to the Internet, there are more small litmags than ever. At the New Yorker, Stephen Burt explores why people feel compelled to start litmags and how they can succeed.
