Poets & Writers is my favorite magazine, and I am always so happy to see it arrive every three months or so. There are always great interviews, first-person pieces by writers on some aspect of writing, and lots of news and updates on the world of lit magazines, writing programs, and retreats or conferences. It’s been invaluable to me, a writer who did not major in writing in college (though I did minor) and who does not have an MFA in the field.
Recently, they relaunched their website so that it really fulfills their tagline, “the largest nonprofit organization serving creative writers,” past the magazine itself. We have a snow day today, so while my girls watched a few cartoons, I combed through the incredible database of literary magazines, organized by genre and/or alphabetically. There’s so much information available there, from policies on simultaneous submissions to percentage of new writers published in each issue. I was looking for journals that publish poetry, welcome new authors, and somewhat fit my style as a writer, but it would also be helpful if you were looking for journals from certain regions, with certain themes, or those that publish more established writers. I’ve made myself a six-page document with all the novice-friendly journals I found that I think also fit my style, complete with guidelines and addresses. There’s also top ten topics for writers, which is also useful for writers on every part of the spectrum. I haven’t fully explored all the community aspects of the site yet, so if you do, let me know what you think.
One of my friends commenting on a previous entry recommended that this site have a subtitle which hints at the site’s purpose, which has made me think seriously about what exactly that purpose is. My initial purpose was to have a nice online place to collect all my clips for easy reference, but it has grown past that now. I want it to be useful to me as a writer, to help me keep track of what I’m reading and my goals as a writer, but I’d also like it to make the writing process and business more transparent. I have been lucky enough to have some great mentors along the way, and some great friends who help me revise my work, but I know not every new writer has those resources. So for that respect, I’d like this blog to keep readers updated on me as a writer if they enjoy my work, but also to be useful for those just starting out, to see how a working writer (but not a big-shot name) makes her way through the writing world.
Any ideas on summing that up as a catchy subtitle?
I like Poets&Writers as well. When I was compiling stories for an anthology about parenting toddlers, I advertised there and got literally hundreds of submissions (I also advertised in Mothering Magazine and got nothing. And I think that ad cost a lot more!), some of them from writers whose work ended up in the book and have gone on to do amazing things.
I remember that anthology, Jennifer. I like the reading the classifieds even just for inspiration!