In the latest installment of “The Blunt Instrument” over at Electric Literature, Elisa Gabbert tackles the delicate question of bias in literary journals. Her answer? Take thoughtful reflections and make careful adjustments.
...more
Becky Tuch discusses founding The Review Review, motherhood, creativity, and the future of literary magazines.
...moreA writer friend recently asked me a brief but not-so-simple question: How do you decide where to send your work? Over at Lit Hub, Erika Dreifus answers this simple yet crucial question with some useful advice.
...moreAn essay by Daniel Harris in the most recent issue of The Antioch Review has sparked a backlash from the transgender community, with many members of the trans community feeling Harris missed the point completely, and worse—wishes they would just accept themselves as they are, in their “true” gender. At The Millions, Clarence Harlan Orsi writes: […]
...moreFor Motherboard at VICE, Joseph Cox interviews the two creators of The Torist, the first literary journal created and available solely on the dark web. Robert W. Gehl, the public liaison for the journal, noted that creating a journal on the dark web was meant “to swim against the current popular conceptions of anonymity and […]
...moreLiterary journals don’t always pay contributors. But unpaid contributions are less of a problem for writers than literary journals that conceal their pay rates. Allison Williams, over at The Review Review, takes a look at how some publications handle the issue. She points out that the issue of non-payment might be fine for some writers, but […]
...moreThe latest VIDA count might have some disappointing if unsurprising results, but there are empowered women involved in the literary community if you know where to look. Danielle Lazarin compiled a list of journals run by women over at The Review Review and reflects on her choice to focus on these journals: Most of my […]
...moreBecky Tuch, founder of The Review Review, talks about the growing diversity in literary magazines, badass female protagonists, and the problems with telling writers how to be good literary citizens: The writing world is rich and varied and it needs every one of us. It needs extroverts (who love to go to readings, conferences, book […]
...moreAs part of their series on the craft of non-fiction and the personal essay, Michael Steinberg discusses the struggles and surprises of writing his memoir in the Tri-Quarterly Review. As I kept going, there were times when it felt like I was taking dictation from my mind. And yet, I still wasn’t sure where all […]
...moreWriters don’t always use their time efficiently when it comes to submitting to literary journals. Luanne Castle, writing at The Review Review, explores strategies for improving the submission process: I began to focus on quality rather than quantity. To find the quality journals that are right for my poetry, I had to do what I’d […]
...moreIf you’re wondering just how exactly the Kenyon Review chooses what it’s going to publish, Managing Editor Abigail Wadsworth Serfass writes on the journal’s blog about one story’s journey from the slush pile to the Summer 2014 issue.
...more
Laura Cogan and Oscar Villalon, the editors of ZYZZYVA, sit down to discuss the literary journal’s 100th issue, thriving as a print publication in the digital age, and being a staple of San Francisco’s cultural community.
...moreAn editor’s first look at a writer’s work is in the query letter. Steph Auteri, writing in Ploughshares, explains how writers can improve their introductions, and why it matters when they try to publish. The best way to make an editor’s life easier is to make their decision to publish or not publish a no-brainer. […]
...moreMichael Nye, managing editor of The Missouri Review, explains some of the costs required to start and operate a literary journal. Financial issues are the fastest way to kill a journal, but money also creates a divide between writer and editor: In small presses and literary magazines, the disconnect between writers and editors often comes […]
...moreHave you been wondering what the point of the AWP conference might be to the 11,800 who attended this year? The Atlantic gives the ins, outs, and mishaps of the conference, along with tenuous or even doubtful optimism for the future of publishing: I asked the editors of two-dozen journals to briefly describe their publications and […]
...moreOnline journals have evolved into legitimate publications, and print journals are not necessarily better simply because they have physical form. But that doesn’t make all online journals equal. The Review Review details important criteria for writers trying to assess which digital markets are right for them, and offers tips on how to find those publications.
...moreThrice Fiction editor RW Spryszak has some advice for writers: rejection isn’t personal. Sending hate mail to editors is no way to get published. Writers may resent changes that editors request, but it’s all part of the process: Writers need to have the perspective to understand that most editors in the small press world also […]
...moreWe’ve written before about the blossoming Austin publishing scene, particularly the small press A Strange Object and their first title, Three Scenarios in which Hana Sasaki Grows a Tail by Kelly Luce. Now the New York Times is taking notice, too (about a year later than us, but hey, nobody’s perfect). Read their article about Austin’s flourishing […]
...moreFor emerging writers, submitting pieces to literary magazines can be like hacking through a jungle of confusion with a guess-machete. This piece from The Review Review, titled “What Editors Want,” will clear a path straight through for you. A teaser: If you get a standard rejection with something addition written on it—“Sorry” or (better) “Try us […]
...moreThe Paris Review just celebrated its sixtieth birthday—and not a gray hair in sight! But many game-changing, sterling-quality literary magazines didn’t make it to that ripe old(ish) age. At Flavorwire, Jason Diamond rounds up some of the Paris Review‘s most promising peers and their untimely deaths.
...moreFourteen Hills, a splendid literary journal that has published several Rumpus contributors, is turning twenty! Come celebrate their big 2-0 tomorrow at 7:00 PM at San Francisco’s Art Institute of California, where there will be a variety of wonderful readers and light refreshments. See more details on the Facebook event page!
...moreSubmit to the idea that submitting your work can teach you where you’ve come from as a writer, where you’re at as a writer, and where you might be going as a writer. For Gulf Coast‘s blog, Joseph Scapellato enumerates reasons to submit your creative work to literary magazines. “So that you might be productively humbled […]
...moreWhat’s the difference between a literary journal and a mayfly? The literary journal’s reputation for short lifespans might not be justified. According to Daniel Nester and Steve Black, authors of the article “Here Today, Here Tomorrow: On the Lifespan of the Literary Magazine,” literary journals are actually far more resilient than you may think. Using […]
...moreBookFox notes an interesting pattern: “In the last few years, many prestigious literary journals have moved to a two-tier model for publishing: they maintain their print journal for the big-name authors, and create an online space to publish emerging authors.” This seems to be a no-brainer for traditional journals. They can publish riskier stories while […]
...more“For me, if there’s a piece of writing that I care about, I want to have the physical object,” says Brigid Hughes, editor of the literary journal A Public Space. “There’s a permanence to it, a different kind of permanence than if you find it on a website. You’re bringing together these different voices and […]
...more