And The Wind, It Cries, "Lit Mags!"

Lit workers fight back, big lists of lit mags, work opportunities, advice for writers and more.

Greetings Lit Magi,

Across the literary world, workers are speaking up. Last Thursday, members of The New Yorker union undertook a twenty-four hour work stoppage. In a statement, they said, “We are withholding our labor to demand fair wages and a transparent, equitable salary structure, and to protest management’s unacceptable response to our wage proposal and their ongoing failure to bargain in good faith. These negotiations have gone on long enough.”

The union conducted a pay study, whose results are as follows:

The New Yorker Union @newyorkerunion

The main conclusion of our analysis is that ​most unionized employees of @NewYorker​ are underpaid​, many severely so. Here are some other takeaways: newyorkerunion.com/pay-study

The union has received support from many literary organizations and politicians, including LitHub, congresspeople Jamaal Bowman and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders.

The New Yorker Union @newyorkerunion

Thank you, @BernieSanders!

Bernie Sanders @BernieSanders

I stand with @newyorkerunion workers walking out today and fighting for a first union contract. The New Yorker should sit down with its workers and negotiate a fair contract in good faith. https://t.co/ScafTMmi0B

Meanwhile, Small Press Distribution (which distributes several lit mags) has undertaken an investigation in order to address claims of wage theft and worker abuse. Yet the anonymous Twitter account @damagedbookworker, who first came forward with accusations of wage theft from SPD, has stated, “Over the last 24 hours, my consent, anonymity, and boundaries have been violated by @spdbooks, following an invitation from [Board President] Alan Bernheimer to participate in an ‘investigation’ process chosen by the board. I do not endorse this & was not consulted.” Several publishers have withdrawn their books from SPD in recent weeks.

In other news, the guest editors for 2021’s Best American Series have been announced. Lit Hub notes, “Each volume’s series editor selects notable works from hundreds of magazines, journals, and websites, and a special guest editor, a leading writer in the field, then chooses the very best pieces for the anthology.” The editors for fiction and nonfiction will be Jesmyn Ward and Kathryn Schulz, respectively.

Are you hoping to apply for a fellowship and needing guidance? Grub Street is offering a free session, So You Want to Be a Writer: Tips on Applying to GrubStreet's Emerging Writer Fellowship & Other Opportunities, to take place on January 27th. As of this writing, the session had one spot left!

Do you need motivation to get your work out there? Wondering if online magazines can do anything for you? Writer’s Relief has posted 13 Great Reasons To Submit Writing To Online Literary Journals. Say they, “By submitting your writing to online literary journals, you have the best odds of getting your work in front of the largest audience.”

If it’s excerpts of your novel you are trying to place, Emily Harstone has posted Thirteen Literary Journals that Publish Novel Excerpts. She writes, “Literary journals are one of the best ways to build a publication history. They give agents and publishing houses a reason to take your manuscript submission seriously. However, most literary journals publish short stories, poems, non-fiction, and flash fiction, not novel excerpts. That is fine as many novelists also write other work. Some do not. This is why it is great to find literary journals that publish novel excerpts.”

If you’re looking for more magazines generally, this Big Big List of Literary Magazines from The Noncomformist Magazine came onto the radar recently. Say they, “The following list consists of magazines big and small, long-established and recently founded, yet all of them looking for great writing.”

Wondering how to find out about even more magazines? Hunter Liguore has some advice on How to Find and Get Published in Literary Journals. He writes, “If you think of literary journals as not a 5-star hotel that only a few privileged people can get into, but more of a public park where you can have a picnic anytime, anywhere, then submitting becomes far easier.”

Finally, getting more involved behind the scenes at lit mags is always a great way to learn about the process. Another Chicago Magazine is seeking an AV Editor as well as a Business Manager, “someone who wants to get (more) experience in seeking and applying for grants and awards, who doesn’t mind doing a few mundane tasks like paying our very few bills.” They are also looking for fiction readers and a Poetry Editor. See all positions here.

And that you toilers and tryers, you thinkers of thoughts and you trekkers through the sticky dark thick of all things, you who continue to push forward in the midst of mountains of unforeseen obligations and you who keep plugging along, even as you long to unplug from all the repugnance, you forging new paths! (to the kitchen), you discovering unique journeys! (around the pile of Legos on the living room floor), you blazing trails! (up and down your front steps), and you! so boldly venturing along new avenues! (inside your body, where you stifle a million screams), you who are having it all (or not), and making it work (or not), living your best life (or no no definitely not), and yet, still, somehow, you, magically showing up, here, there, daily, just as you are, which is all and exactly as you need to be, is the news in literary magazines.

Have a fine week, pals.

Fondly,

Becky

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