The Writer 11.2019

writermag.com • The Writer | 37

Love literary magazines? Dive

into our essential reading list:

• Jane Friedman (janefriedman.com) has written extensively
  on the format. She has a great blog post (“The Business
  Model of Literary Journals (or Lack Thereof)”) on lit mag
  economics.


• Lincoln Michael penned “The Ultimate Guide To Getting
  Published In A Literary Magazine.” He would know; he
  used to be editor-in-chief of Electric Literature. Find the
  piece here: buzzfeed.com/lincolnmichel/the-ultimate-
  guide-to-getting-published-in-a-literary-magazi.


• The Community of Literary Magazines and Presses
  posted a farewell interview with the sisters who ran
  Glimmer Train (clmp.org/blog-post/glimmer-train-leaves-
  the-station).


• The book Literary Publishing in the Twenty-First Cen-
  tury, edited by Travis Kurowski, explores the ongoing trans-
  formation of the industry.


• Lit Mag Lunch (litmaglunch.com) is Patricia Colleen Mur-
  phy’s delightfully upbeat site that features pictures of her
  lunch alongside the latest lit mag she’s devouring. Come
  for the literary insights. Stay for the Mediterranean Chick-
  pea Orzo (yum).


• Want a precise financial breakdown of what it costs to run
  a literary magazine? See Tahoma Literary Review’s Trans-
  parency Index (tahomaliteraryreview.com/pages/what-we-
  pay-and-how-we-do-it).

Tara Laskowski. “Still, I’m so thrilled
that we are finally a paying market. It’s
been long overdue.”
SmokeLong isn’t alone. Atticus
Review recently offered all contributors
to an issue $25 apiece, a first since
David Olimpio purchased the journal.
Most editors are writers themselves
in their off time. They understand the
labor involved in producing a piece
worthy of publication. At the same
time, editors face financial pressure.
Gertrude, a free digital magazine
celebrating queer voices, doesn’t cur-
rently pay writers, “but that is a huge
goal for us this year,” says publisher
Tammy Lynne Stoner. She does pay for
cover art. “Our hope is to grow Gertie,
[our] book club, and use those funds
to support our contributors.”

Writers submit to unpaid markets

for many reasons. Some see them as a

potential stepping stone to bigger jour-

nals – a way to bolster their resume.

Others perceive, rightly or wrongly,

unpaid markets as less selective, offer-

ing a better chance to get published.

Either way, says Carrie Muehle, out-

going managing editor of Northwest-

ern’s TriQuarterly, if you harbor

dreams of getting rich off literary mag-

azine submissions, it’s not going to

happen. “From the artists to the people

working on the journal, this is a love,

not a money, profession,” she says.

Toni F i t zgerald is the copy editor for The Writer.

She is currently writing her first children’s book

while working out her complicated feelings

about the serial comma. Web: tonifitz76.com.

SEVEN WAYS

to support

literary

magazines

(^1)
Subscribe to one.
Or two or three.
(^2)
Share pieces you read
on literary magazine
sites via social media.
(^3)
Follow literary magazine
social media accounts.
(^4)
Engage in social media
discussions about the
medium.
5
Follow submission
guidelines carefully –
don’t waste editors’ (or
your own) time by sub-
mitting a piece that
doesn’t meet the maga-
zine’s requirements or is
formatted incorrectly.
(^6)
Enter a lit mag
contest.
(^7)
Volunteer as a reader
for a magazine.