Back on the Lit Mag Gang!
Red flags at Dark Poets Club; finding community in the lit mag landscape; editing poetry for lit mags; editing long-form essays; coping with rejection; choosing not to submit; markets & more
Welcome to our bi-weekly news roundup!
Greetings Lit Magristocrats,
Usually I save deep dives into lit mags for the weekend. But someone alerted me to a lit mag that warrants attention.
Dark Poets Club “is a global collective for all inspiring, emerging, and established poets whose written expressions lean towards ‘darker’ themes…”
The magazine does not have a masthead. There is no contact name anywhere. The domain purchaser is listed as “private.” Already, as far as I am concerned, this warrants a
But there’s more.
In order to subscribe to this magazine, you need to accept the Terms & Conditions. Many of you know by now that I make it a habit to look at the T & C at online journals. Most of it is standard and uninteresting. Here, however, there appears to be no T & C whatsoever. In order to subscribe, it seems, you are meant to click the box that says “I agree to the Terms and Conditions.” But there is no way of knowing what you are agreeing to.
Should you want help, there is a chatbot. But the chatbot evidently does not answer questions. Maybe it doesn’t like me?
Meanwhile, individual poetry submissions cost £5.00 or $5.41 USD. Though many magazines are raising their fees, this is higher than average.
Now, here are the real kickers. The magazine has a page The Truth About Submission Fees: Why Paying to Submit Isn’t a Sin. As if saying it “isn’t a sin” weren’t quite condescending enough (no writers really call submission fees “a sin”), the url has “get-real” in its address.
They then say (emphasis mine):
Let’s talk about something that seems to be an unspoken taboo in the poetry community: submission fees. Specifically, why they exist, why they are necessary, and why it is frankly bizarre that some people feel entitled to have their work reviewed, published, and promoted entirely for free.
Yes. The editors are saying that if you are a writer who hopes to have your work read without paying—a practice that has taken place for hundreds of years, and which many lit mags manage just fine—your attitude is “frankly bizarre” and “entitled.”
They go on to list all their costs—site maintenance, labor, promotion, etc etc.
They then say, “Every single one of these tasks require time, effort and money. Expecting all of this to be free isn’t just unrealistic—it’s disrespectful.”
Yes, writers. Not only are you entitled. You are unrealistic! Disrespectful! Now pay up!
There’s even more:
Why Should Writers Pay?
Ask yourself: if you believe your work deserves a professional platform, why wouldn’t you contribute to the costs of running that platform? If you believe in the value of literary spaces, why wouldn’t you support them financially? You wouldn’t expect a musician to record your song for free, a designer to create your book cover for free, or a barista to make your coffee for free—so why expect poets, editors, and publishers to work for free?
It’s true—I would not expect anyone to perform services for me for free. However, submitting to a lit mag does not lead to a guaranteed service. It is not a guarantee of publication. It is not even a guarantee that the work will be read in a timely manner, or even read at all. These analogies don’t work.
Then, after all this, on their Submissions Page FAQ they write,
“Why should I pay to submit my poetry for consideration?”
Submission fees not only go towards supporting mental health charities
But also our colleagues and contributing readers time for all the submissions we receive that they go through (no one is expected to work for free)
Submission fees go…to charities? But I thought the fees were necessary to keep the journal running! I thought I was entitled and disrespectful for even wondering if this were so!
Finally, of course “no one is expected to work for free.” Except writers, presumably. I saw no mention of payment to contributors anywhere on the site.
I wanted to highlight this magazine because I find so much of this concerning. There are thousands of literary magazines that operate fairly, transparently and in good faith. There are also many wonderful magazines that, for one reason or another, do charge small submission fees. Such magazines explain their policies clearly and politely, and most importantly without contempt.
Magazines that have no masthead, which belittle writers and their financial concerns, which do not have transparency on their websites…these are all things that should give you pause when looking for homes for your work.
From Lit Mag News, this journal gets an official rating of:
On to the news:
Meanjin, one of Australia’s leading literary magazines, has announced a joint subscription with Splinter. From Meanjin’s site:
Meanjin and Splinter are thrilled to announce a new joint subscription: just one registration at one price to receive both print journals!
Splinter is a new literary journal that explores the gaps between perception and reality. It is created in Tarntanya (Adelaide) and publishes new writing from around the world, including poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and whatever falls in between those definitions.
In Finding Community by Publishing With Literary Magazines and Small Presses at Writers’ Digest, Dennis James Sweeney offers hopeful takes. He observes,
Literary magazines and small presses are the go-to communities for writers who are looking for authentic connection, with or without a creative writing degree. If you’re interested in being part of the literary world, getting involved with these kinds of publications is more than just a strategy for getting published. It’s a strategy for finding a sense of belonging beyond institutions.
(I’ll be interviewing Dennis in June!)
At the
, Erin Michaela Sweeney, Managing Editor of Inlandia: A Literary Journey—has posted about the challenges of editing poetry for publication. In #0074 How Editors Approach Poetry Versus Prose, Part One, Sweeney writes,A poem don’t follow the grammar rules. Is the poet reflecting the spoken word…or missed something during proofreading their revision?
There’s inconsistent spacing after periods. Intentional? Or did the poet fall back on old typing training (the two spaces after a period of the typewriter age…)?
Half a word is CAPitalized. Did the poet accidentally hit the caps lock, or did they intend this presentation?
And on and on and on…
At
, ONE ART Editor Mark Danowsky has opened up a conversation about themes in lit mags. In The Pros and Cons of Themes, he asks,Do you think that themes offer a good way for readers to find work they want/need to read? Or, do you find that themed issues are a turn off and you may miss out on good work hidden within an issue that may fall under the umbrella of the overarching theme?
What are your feelings about aligning publication with meaningful dates, times of year, holidays, awareness months? Would you like to see more or less of this in lit mags?
At Electric Literature, Michigan Quarterly Review Fiction Editor Polly Rosenwaike introduces a short story by Kevin Wilson, and discusses why she chose this piece:
The bold title of Kevin Wilson’s submission intrigued me immediately. “All Stories.” What was this getting at? Would the story attempt to assert some kind of universal literary claim? I’m wary of cleverness, metafictional tricks, self-indulgent writing about writing. But when it rings true, I love a heartfelt meditation on storytelling itself.
(Note the importance of a good title for your work! For more on titles, check out my session here.)
At
’s Word Hoard, Swait has posted Why I Never Submit to Literary Magazines. Swait writes,Lit mags are arbitrary.
I mean this in both senses of the word. For one, you are submitting yourself to the arbitration of people who don’t know you or respect you. That is relatively harmless, certainly if you have a thick skin. The other meaning is the more harmful. I have been in and around the literary and book world for many years. Many small magazines do work hard to give each submission its due, but the pressures of efficiency always dominate. And the bigger the reputation and reach of the publication, the more subject to factory efficiencies will their process be. Even knowing this, many people submit their writings to such magazines. It’s like playing the lottery. Is the prize worth the effect the process has on your art and your psyche?
If you’re looking for inspiration, back in November A Sarungano wrote I’m Thankful for Simone Biles’ Quilt: What Writers Can Learn about Rejection from an Olympic Gymnast in
:I also want to make a quilt of rejections to reflect on all the No’s that came before the one Yes I needed, to remind me that rejections are part of the journey as well. Being a writer means having an intimate relationship with rejections, they often come after a long wait and it is painful and disheartening to hear those No’s. When you send your work out into the world, you’re shooting your shot and sometimes that shot can be a miss. So how do we become okay with misses? To answer that, I turn to the people who take shots for a living: basketball players…For every legendary shot, there is a long line of misses around it.
Several interviews also caught my eye:
At
Erika Hayasaki interviews Camille Bromley. Bromley is the Features Editor for The Believer. Bromley edited the essay “Ghosts,” by Vauhini Vara, which appeared in The Believer and later in Best American Essays 2022, and which was written partly with AI. Says Bromley of the essay,It worked because she had a specific question she was trying to answer with the essay. It wasn’t just “let's see what happens” or “let’s see how good or bad the AI writing is.” She had a real motivation: I don't know how to write about my sister's death, so can this machine do it for me? The reaction to that piece was so overwhelming. People were so affected by it.
(I will be interviewing Bromley and Vara about this essay and AI-writing in April!)
At
Howard Lovy speaks with Sally Wiener Grotta about his novel and his work with Judith Magazine. Writes Lovy,Our discussion also turned to my work at Judith Magazine, where Jewish writers—many of whom are being sidelined in today’s publishing world—can find a home. As nonfiction editor, I’ve seen how difficult it has become for Jewish voices to be heard, even in stories that have nothing to do with Israel or the Middle East. We discussed why this is happening and how Judith is stepping in to fill the gap.
And at The Bookshelf Conversation, Ron Kaplan interviews Scott Bolohan, Founder of The Twin Bill, “a literary baseball magazine.” Says Bolahan in the interview, “It’s the stories of baseball that I really love.”
For those of you seeking homes for your latest & greatest:
posts new opportunities each week.Erica Verillo has 91 Calls for Submissions in March 2025 - Paying markets and 77 Free Writing Contests in March 2025 - No entry fees
’s Practicing Writer has an “ever-steady array of fee-free, paying/funded opportunities…”Authors Publish has 27 Literary Journals Open to Publishing Reprints and 37 Themed Submission Calls and Contests for March 2025
And SubClub has so many valuable lists, upcoming workshops, work opportunities, jobs, fellowships, pitch calls and are generally so organized and useful that I want to weep in gratitude and ecstasy.
As for us! Big couple of weeks ahead. There’s a Lit Mag Chat next week, then our discussions of Post Road and Ploughshares, plus interviews with editors of same.
If you are in the Lit Mag Reading Club, did you receive your issues? Did you find the discounts for the magazines? Are you stunned, shocked, awe-struck, slayed, or just pleasantly satisfied by the work therein? I can’t wait to discuss it all with you!
To learn more about upcoming events this month and to register, visit here:
And that you rainbow-sliders climbing and gliding right into that waiting pot of gold, you lucky leprechauns with your fairy mischief and fun, you adventurous wanderers into the greenly depths, you clover hunters ever in search of that evasive fourth leaf, you of fortune and fortuity, you of effort and fumbling, you of saintly patience for all the snakes that never seem to want to leave, you and you, out there everywhere, confused and consumed by the changing of the clocks, the rotation of the days, dark where light should be and light just where you least expected it, you with happy green beads and a happy green beer, or maybe just plants, you in the midst of seasonal change, you in the midst of letting go to take charge, you with your spirit rising and grass growing and yes, yes, sure, sometimes the grass is greener elsewhere but you are you and you, everywhere, know, there is only one grass that matters, and it’s not the kind you smoke but the kind you are and will become, is the news in literary magazines.
Have a most vibrant week, pals.
Fondly,
Becky
**UPDATE: Within minutes of this newsletter going out, I received a message from Dark Poets Club that they added a Masthead page and Terms and Conditions page. Both pages are now easily accessible on their site. I am waiting to see if they make any further changes, and will update you all as this develops.
RE: Dark Poets Club & submission fees and contest fees - - - - check out the results of their 1st contest for the Dark Poets Prize (with 200+ Honorable Mentions, all of whom paid a $ FEE): https://www.darkpoets.club/dark-poets-prize-results . . . . . . .. Heh-heh! And this $ $ $ money grab was such a lucrative success that the Dark Poets Prize then had a 2nd round . . . . . . . once again please note the hundreds of names under Honorable Mentions again: https://www.darkpoets.club/edition-ii-results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , . . . . . . . Thank you always, Becky!
Just one look at Dark Poets web site and I'm gone. I prefer simple, easy to read. Well, to each their own, I always say sometimes.
However, a domain having a private listing isn't anything special. These days, it's pretty much the default and many (some? all?) include it in the domain registration automatically and at no extra cost. Back in the day, a lookup for this info could be useful. These days, it's pretty much useless. I do lookups on a fairly regular basis and can't remember the last time it wasn't a hidden/private thing.
Thanks for the heads up!
By the way: https://www.darkpoets.club/masthead