We are going to try something new. Once per month we are going to have open literary editors roundtables/discussions about a top that concerns literary magazines, publishing, writing, and universities. We are asking for comments from our editors. Please get involoved. Literary magazines and community of writing need more interaction from those best and brightest out there. Many of us toil away at creating our publications, and we do not participate in the community at large. Lively and intelligent discussions would be outstanding.
Our first topic, literary magazines and time. How demanding is it to run, own or edit a literary magazine? We are looking to educate people who are thinking about starting a literary magazine. Also, how do you spend your time? Are submissions the most time consuming? Layout? Promotions? Please discuss this with each other. What are some of the problems you have found with operations of a literary magazine concerning time?
Note to Editor: This marks a change in our literary magazines website. Until now we did not, for the most part, publish comments from our readers. We get all kinds of questions, comments and other messages directed at the literary magazines that we list. We recommend that you check your listing often. Many of those comments and questions can only be answered by you, our outstanding editors. We’ve put the comments widget in sidebar to help with communication. If you have not submitted an updated listing with in the last 6 month, please do so.
Order of biz, I forgot to add, if you want to update your listing, go here: https://www.everywritersresource.com/literarymagazines/submit-your-site/
I have a short story around 3,ooo words, ten pages, and would like to have it published in an anthology or separate in a magazine. The story is about human morals and is called Bag of Goodies. If you don’t want to publish it, maybe you know someone who might be interested. Thanks.
April 2, 2014
Query – Camille Pissarro
Dear Editor,
Italian Americana published one of my stories on a chance meeting with Dario Fo in Milan Italy about two years ago, and I would like to submit articles to your prestigious publication.
I have recently attended many of the art exhibitions in Milan: Warhol, Pollock, Kandinsky and Klimt just to mention a few. Yesterday I traveled to Pavia to view the paintings of Camille Pissarro. I obtained a press release, took notes and have begun writing a review on the that painting exhibition. I would be honored if you would read it and consider it for publication.
If you are interested in reveiws of the other artist I named please contact me.
Sincerely,
James Lawless
Staying with the topic “literary magazines and time” – When you start and run your own literary magazine, you have control over time, so how much you spend on it depends upon your goals, projects within it, etc. Because Sensations Magazine published new detailed footnoted research articles (some 100 pages long) within issues at times of 200-300 pages and up, and did full print production in-house (printing, collating, and binding), along with the more traditional roles of judging/selecting literature, putting out an issue took hundreds of hours of spare time. For one issue, I clocked it, and it was 250 hours of personal time – basically 90% of my spare time during issue production, while holding down a full-time salaried position as well. The in-house production end saved us a lot of money, but was the most time-consuming. The most time-wasting was the mass mailings to subscribers and potential subscribers – very hard to get people on board as paid subscribers and sustain them. I did, but that end was much more time and work than I initially anticipated. Key point: If you want to show you’re serious and dedicated to what you’re doing, you’ll find ways to make time and put in the time to reap whatever success you’re bound to see. Sensations Magazine is a three-time winner in the national American Literary Magazine Awards, and one of fewer than 300 literary magazines operating over 25 years and still in print.
David, thank you for your comments. 250 hours for a publication is a life time for some people, but I agree that if you care about what you are doing, you’ll find the time. Sensations is an outstanding magazine.
I’m sorry for the off topic comments. We see these all the time. They are not spam, they are people trying to communicate with the editors on this site, who are from other sites. We deleted from many years, but just recently decided to let them stand. This is why we say, check your listings often. I hope more literary editors will come forward and talk about the issue of time and dedication to their magazines.
If you would be interested in an interview, contact us. We are always interested in talking to editors who get involved (esp those who run long-running and outstanding magazines).
Do you look at flash?
I would be happy to be interviewed. Feel welcome to contact me at any point. Given all your own hard work in helping to connect with editors and writers, I hope that other editors also will take part in such roundtable discussions – though I recognize literary magazine editors and publishers are incredibly busy, and finding the spare time for such things is not common. As for off-topic posts, it’s the Internet – it comes with the territory.
By the way, did you get the update to the Sensations Magazine listing? I sent that when I posted my original post above, but don’t see the update here online yet.
Yes, I believe we published it. If you don’t see it, let me know.