FUNNY WOMEN: Submission Guidelines You Wish You’d Read Earlier
The words “behoove,” “cordially,” and “bedpan” are not looked upon favorably by the Dusty Jake staff.
...more
Posts Tagged: literary magazines
Slush Piles in White
The sensibilities of whiteness do not want us to work, do not want us to think, do not want us to imagine outside of its bounds.
...more
The Rumpus Interview with Vanessa Hua
Vanessa Hua discusses her debut collection, Deceit and Other Possibilities, writing fiction in order to understand life as an American-born child of immigrants, and the importance of literary community.
...more
The Rumpus Interview with Becky Tuch
Becky Tuch discusses founding The Review Review, motherhood, creativity, and the future of literary magazines.
...moreReading Outside the Curriculum
Unseen, a literary magazine founded by Singaporean university students, wants us to release ourselves from “the pressure-cooker environment of examinations” and all the literature we’re required to read for them. The Unseen creators believe that reading outside of the curriculum encourages literary creativity and exploration, and want to spread the wealth to their peers everywhere.
...moreSubmitting, from A to Z
I am not trying to brag, humble or otherwise, but merely establishing that perhaps the only thing I’m actually qualified to talk about in this world is literary magazine publication. Does the world need another submitting guide? Personally, I’ve found that far too many of these columns are long on vague clichés and short on […]
...moreI Get My Favorite Short Stories From the CIA
The Kenyon Review. Mundo Nuevo. The Paris Review. Check out whether you’ve been unknowingly colluding with secret agents whilst reading your favorite lit mags. Patrick Iber writes, “The CIA became a major player in intellectual life during the Cold War—the closest thing that the US government had to a Ministry of Culture.” (The Rumpus would […]
...moreNeither Seen Nor Heard
When it comes to the slush pile, nobody wins: writers lose money submitting into a void while editors lose time skimming work that barely resembles their publication’s criteria. Lincoln Michael offers a few suggestions for improving the system.
...moreTry, Try Again
Missouri Review editor Michael Nye explains the importance of persistence when it comes to submitting to literary journals, saying that editors do begin to recognize the names and writing of long-time submitters. The argument might seem self-serving, however, given that Nye has long defended reading fees as essential to funding journals. Nevertheless, he explains that […]
...moreYou Are Doing It All Wrong
The Review Review lists all the ways your submission strategy for your writing is just terrible (and how to make it better).
...moreWorking in A Public Space (of sorts)
The CLMP blog interviews the staff of literary magazine, A Public Space, for a nice, succinct take on what it’s like to be a contemporary lit editor. Contains: public confusion on the term “a public space”, answers to the age-old “is social media destroying everything?” question, and alternate career aspirations of the staff.
...moreLit-Mags in Pop Culture
“Does anybody outside of our circle care?” asks The Millions’ Nick Ripatrazone in a post about literary magazines. “What is the wider cultural influence of literary magazines?” To try to figure it out, he looks at pop-culture depictions of lit-mags, from a George Plimpton cameo on The Simpsons to a whole episode of Cheers about submitting—and then […]
...moreGiving Editors What They Want
For 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 […]
...moreWhere App Meets Litmag
Here’s an interesting way to consume new short fiction: Connu, a sort of cross between an app and a litmag, will send you one short story every weekday. The stories are brand new and written by established authors and their protégés, including Joyce Carol Oates, Sam Lipsyte, Aimee Bender, and Lydia Davis. Connu is currently […]
...morePocket Notes: Documentations of the Creative Process
“What happens between the idea and the product?” Pocket Notes is a project about compiling ideas. Their focus is not on the destination, but the journey; it is not the finished product, but the in-between stages. What results is the documentation of the creative processes of various artists and thinkers.
...moreHow to Submit
For whatever reason, this austere paper system works better for me than others, which says more about how my mind works than it does about Excel spreadsheets. Maybe I’m projecting, but no matter your system, if you’re a submitter, two things are essential: order and efficiency. For Tin House, Aaron Gilbreath reflects on how he keeps […]
...moreThree Cheers for Lit Mags!
And three cheers for LaTanya McQueen’s paean to them on The Missouri Review‘s blog. Her description of losing hours in bookstores among copies of Tin House and Conjunction will no doubt ring true to many of you: We’d come to a story we had to read and then we’d find another and another. We’d look for the author’s […]
...morePostcard Lit Mag
“‘Brevity is the soul of wit.’ And of other things, too.” HOOT is a “brief, displayable, shareable” literary magazine on a postcard. Original submissions of fewer than 150 words are accepted, and one piece is published in print each month. Check out their first issue.
...moreNew YA Literary Magazine
A new young adult literary magazine will be introduced in 2012. Each issue of One Teen Story “will feature one amazing short story about the teen experience.” A contest will determine the story for the final issue of the year. Sales open in February, and the magazine will take shape both electronically and in print. […]
...moreMagazines Everywhere
The economics of publishing a literary magazine reveal some inauspicious stats. Magazine editors have to stay crafty and constantly reinvent what it means to be innovative, just to survive. Even offering digital options as an alternative to print doesn’t guarantee any sort of sustainability. Roxane Gay is lamenting the state of the literary magazine and […]
...moreLeafing Through Old Lit Magazines
Sometimes you read a story published almost a hundred years ago in a magazine and you ask yourself, “Would this stand a chance of getting published today?” These sentences are long, tangential and laden with disruptive conjunctions. This narrator is all over the place with his emotions and his memories. It almost feels like he […]
...more