A question came in from one of our readers recently. I shall now turn that question over to you, my dears.
D. wants to know: Who amongst writers is actually reading all the work that has been published by other writers in free publications?
Leaving aside the costs of paid subscription and purchasing books, which most cannot easily afford, how many writers are simply interested in having their work published and show little or no interest in the work of others?
What do you think about this?
When a friend shares a link to published work, do you take the time to read it? Is this how you learn about cool new magazines and what they like to publish? Or will you just congratulate them and move on?
If you’ve shared work online, do you find that others actually read it?
As an editor, is having a readership most important? Or are you simply excited to publish and showcase the work itself?
As a writer and reader, are there lit mags you open up to read…just because?
Are writers actually reading the journals in which they hope to publish?
Oh, my. I cannot image submitting my work and NOT reading what others contribute. Every day I read a small handful of daily poetry emails as well as one or two poems from each of a number of collections. I subscribe to more than a dozen newsletters and enjoy print subscriptions to Sugar House Review and Whitefish Review. I own several poetry collections and chapbooks purchased after seeing recommendations online or (when I used to partake!) through Facebook poetry / writing groups I belonged to. Reading others' work is part of the experience of being a poet, in my opinion. I thoroughly enjoy it!
I’m the EIC of a litmag and I pay for detailed analytics, so I can tell you, yes, writers read litmags. Often someone will log on, read (or at least, open for some length of time) every piece of a particular genre in an issue, then click on the Submit tab and exit through there (which is where our analytics stop.) We also get a lot of traction from social media, either from an individual writer’s platform, or from other readers who amplify particular pieces they like. Also, a lot of readers coming in from Google searches for authors. Our biggest reader days are when an issue launches. Some people read through the whole issue, and others will stick to a single genre, or skip around. We also have some evergreen pieces that are on college syllabi. Those seem to be “one and done”—the students don’t click around and check out other pieces. Sometimes I wonder if people other than writers read litmags (I mean, besides their moms.)
I make a point of supporting 2-3 literary journals a year though subscriptions, and while I don't read the entire journal, I do read about half, and sample almost everything to see which stories/poems grab me. I do the same with online journals--sampling pieces hoping that they'll give me no choice but to keep reading until the end. Unfortunately, online reading is almost exclusively flash fiction. I have difficulty maintaining focus while reading online, a problem I don't have with print. If someone I know sends me his or her work, I will always read it. Perhaps if I knew more writers, I couldn't continue to make that claim, but I feel that if someone thinks enough of me to send me their work, I should give them the respect of reading it. Of course it's impossible to read even a small portion of all the work that is available for free online. If I win the Powerball, maybe I'll take a shot at it, but for now, reading is selective. Writers need to be thoughtful, active readers, and if a writer is only interested in their own writing, that writing isn't likely to be very good. Time to stop writing this response and go read someone else!
Discussion of the reading of literary magazines always includes confrontation — You aren’t one of those selfish writers who only promotes himself and never reads anybody else, are you? — and guilt — I try to read, subscribe, comment on everything but I get overwhelmed.
It’s not really possible to know how much gets read. We read for the same reason we write, whatever those reasons are — typically enjoyment? If you read only because you are supposed to, because you are a bad person/writer if you don’t, are you the reader any writer wants?
I find that I am far more likely to read through a print magazine that has published me (if they send a copy) than an online publication. I suppose that this is because the print rag sits on my reading table for weeks and I pick it up and leaf through it, find something interesting, and get hooked. Might be the other way around for someone younger, I don't know. It seems to me that, even though we read online magazines with a "browser,' it is easier actually to browse something you can hold in two hands and flip through while slouching on a couch.
I do read other people's works in online magazines as well, just not as much by a long shot.
To be sure, I have read immense novels on e-readers, but that's something you start and read through; it's not browsing.
Another thing I prefer about print magazines is that the individual works appear in some kind of context, as they do in poetry collections and short story collections. They have the company of other poems/stories close by. If they work best in a certain order, according to the editor, then the reader gets to be aware of that order. If I were younger maybe none of this would make a difference to me, I don't know. Seeing a screen with one piece of writing on it, as if that's the only writing that exists, is always a little disconcerting, though I do browse through online journals. My subscriptions are still with print journals.
IF you don't read... how can you consider yourself a writer? Every day, in addition to the current memoir or novel I'm listening to (Yes, listen-- because it enables me to get more "reading done" while also driving or putting away dishes etc.) I read several poems, stories and essays recently published in an array of literary magazines and when a writing colleague posts a link to a recently published piece I am curious to read it and try to provide some feedback. Because who are we writing for? There's a good feeling of satisfaction when you feel you'e written something worth sharing, but if no one bothers to read it, where's the sharing?
Since I mostly can't stomach mainstream stuff most of all my reading is small, smaller, and micro publications. And since I must read or go crazy I suppose my answer is yes I do thank you very much.
I'm not sure who is reading me but it almost doesn't matter because the stuff is going to get written whether anybody uses it or not and I am over feeling bad about rejections. The funny thing is that when my friends don't like something of mine they stay quiet and I don't think anybody in my family has ever read anything I've written. So I live in this wonderful echo chamber and it is very cozy in here.
Ya, I mean if you can't get lost in the process, the whole means-to-an-end thing is so... almost capitalist, ya know? Poet John Keats would throw things away right after writing them. He knew. But yeah, and I celebrate rejections actually, and the ones that mention poems of mine, or seem very personalized, I answer. It's so good to know there are real human beings on the other end so i always thank them for that. If recognition and fame are the motivation, I say find something else to spend all that time one, something where you get that euphoric "lost" in the process high. I like your post lots!
If writers aren't reading lit mags, then I don't know who is! I find it hard to read as many as I'd like, but I do read them. I keep a Twitter list for this purpose, I sign up for emails, and I do purchase subscriptions or individual issues to research mags at times. I have also purchased them at book stores! Our local indie bookstores stocks a few, and a used book store also has a small selection. I consider this part of the civic duty of being a short story writer and enthusiast. And of course, if you're not reading what's getting published, you're missing out on valuable information about the marketplace you'd hoping to enter. Final thought -- I write short stories because I love the form, so it only makes sense to read them for pleasure!
I do read a variety of lit magazines and journals. I have too many subscriptions because they tempt me with a good story I want to finish, or because I want to support the work they are doing. I read some from all the sites I follow, but of course it is impossible to read as much as I would like. Just as an example, I have subscriptions to the New Yorker, Creative Nonfiction, The Atlantic, Sewanee Review, The Sun, The Washington Post, NY Times, etc. I also subscribe to various online blogs such as this one, Suleika Jouad, Writing Class Radio, George Saunders, Air Mail,, etc. I know, I know, it's ridiculous; sometimes I get overwhelmed, cancel everything and start over. LOL. But I do love reading most of these pubs.
In answer to your specific questions, I always read my friends’ published works, and yes, I read the journals in which I hope to be published. It’s one of the best ways to learn where my work might fit in, and also to gain insight into improving my own writing.
I read some of the work that is accessible online before submitting - otherwise I have no way of judging whether it's even a possibility of a good match. I also read two poem a day works from The Poetry Foundation and American Academy of Poets and follow up with more work and where the poet has been published if I enjoy that poet's work. It is difficult ro balance the "extras" of our writing life beyond the writing, but I try to think of them as condiments that enhance/support the main effort.
I subscribe to several journals, sometimes because I've published there and a subscription is part of the payment. But I also try to support lit journals I'm interested in. It only makes sense to support journals if you can afford it. Otherwise, the whole enterprise fails: Lit journals are first and foremost for writers.
I used to subscribe to Journal of the Month and would get a different literary magazine each month. I read those as a way to see if my work was a good fit. I have also subscribed as part of entering a contest. I also order back issues of the magazines that I think are a good fit and that are a dream publication for me. So yes, for me studying them is a bit of a hobby. As such, I have a stack I always I am waiting to get through, but too many to be a regular reader of any yet.
When I’ve been published, unless it’s online, people don’t read it and then still it’s spotty if they do.
Yes - Journal of the Month, which I learned about from Becky's interview with Jenn Scheck-Kahn, is a great way to get a sense of a variety of journals without committing to any one in particular. In addition, I subscribe to a few every year. And try to read on-line before submitting to get a sense of fit, and then try to read through most of any on-line issue I'm published in.
Ha! Does anyone remember the scene from THE GOOD PLACE where a character is locked in a room and New Yorker magazines fall from the ceiling, and the person is so excited they finally have time to read them, only to be buried under an avalanche of journals in no time? That's me. And since I can't throw away any of the magazines or journals or anthologies I subscribe to without at least browsing through them, my house is a verified fire hazard, and my email TBR file currently exceeds seven hundred links.
I think reading lit mags is kind of a discipline, more so than just reading the next fiction or nonfiction book that you have been hankering for. When I take the time to do so, I get a lot out of it.
Great question, but I would submit that reading great literature is the most important thing for a writer. That may be found in a lit mag—or in a novel, a short story collection, an essay collection, an anthology, a play or something else. Aim high, I say. Read the great ones, wherever they are found.
I absolutely read the journal after researching its focus and publication rate before I submit. I have purchased many chapbooks from people or journals I support because I think their work resonates. I think, as a writer, you definitely have to read others-otherwise you’re in a vacuum. I don’t know if anyone else reads my work but I hope someday they do. I really enjoy reading other’s work, though.
I subscribe to many more journals and poetry feeds than I am able to read, alas. It gets overwhelming. I’ve been submitting widely and thus reading widely (but often just selections, not an entire issue.) I do pass issues on to other poets. I will admit that if I weren’t actively submitting, there would be only 3 or 4 that I would read regularly or subscribe to.
I do read when friends share but I don't think everyone does. I've certainly gotten more "likes" or congrats than comments on the stories. :)
There are a couple of journals I have paid subscriptions to, and a handful of others I read regularly online, after that it's sporadic, either bc I'm reading a friend's work or I'm checking to see if my work seems like it might be a good match.
Yes - I read - in the search for the unusual, the individual, the insightful.
I read as a writer to be surprised, delighted, entranced.
I read as an editor to keep up with what is happening in the experimental field - I have a track record of reviewing fringe theatre, and in that vein, keep up as best I can with what small presses are doing. There are quite a few writers and Podcast creators that I make time for - Charlie Loyd (who hasn't posted in ages - where are you, Charlie?) - Terry Victor (Word Wrangling Podcast) - Thomas Wharton's small press works ... and a few small presses I check out specifically - one example is Paper View (https://paperviewbooks.pt/) - they specialise in asemic writing and related work.
If I'm submitting to a journal, I'll make sure I familiarise myself with their preference or house style - but ultimately I write, then place pieces where there seems to be a good fit, rather than writing for a specific outlet on spec.
Quality counts - originality stands out - and what delights one person will be disastrous for another - so whenever I write something, I try to use it to develop or use a particular skill or technique that the reader may never even notice, but it makes the process more enjoyable.
Since an important part of my job is reading lit mags (I run a submissions company), the answer is, yes, I read lit mags. Usually a handful of stories once a week. Mostly from smaller/newer journals. While it's not always pleasant, I do love occasionally stumbling upon a little journal publishing great stuff (they're out there). And there's probably no better way to see what's going on in the writing world. As a writer, I definitely pick up some great ideas (it's like a musician listening to college radio. This is where the shit is happening). Beyond that, I read the anthologies (Best American, Pushcart, O. Henry, Nonrequired, Best Small Fictions, Best of the Net), which is also part of my job, but generally a more pleasurable part of it. It's worth noting that a surprising number of my clients seem to have never read a literary journal. I find it odd that someone would want to submit their work to these things without really knowing what they are.
I see reading and writing as reciprocal pleasures-each begets more of the other. I subscribe to a half-dozen paper and online journals and browse/read widely. If I place in a contest, I try to read other stories that did same, and sometimes congratulate those authors. I read far more than I comment on. If friends/colleagues announce publication, I acknowledge always, and then try to read/buy/somehow support them. Thanks, Becky, for the discussion.
I absolutely read dozens of online journals as they come out, both for pure enjoyment and with an eye for future submissions. If I like what I find, I’ll explore their archives too.
Call it OCD, but I like to keep elaborate statistics in the process. I record the titles and authors of poems I love (rarely more than two in any one issue) and also the number of poets I know that I like.
For instance, Valparaiso has a score of 15 (issues): 19 (poems) / 47 (poets). A high score like that makes me likely to submit (without success, alas). A recent discovery is Black Coffee Review (7: 8/4). I’ll probably give up on a mag with a score like 6: 0/2.
I subscribe to just a couple of print mags, Tar River and Southern Poetry Review.
I absolutely do read links sent by other writers or friends, so do I other journals and Substack alike. I think it’d be absurd not to read widely when you’re a writer... At least the other pieces in the journal you submit !
Thank you asking one of my long held burning questions. My excuse for rarely submitting to lit mags is that no one reads them but a small subset of other writers. And while I have noble intentions of reading the whole journal in which my writing or that of people I may know is published, I never get through the entirety. I have found having my own newsletter or writing newspaper columns much more satisfying as to reader engagement and feedback.
Discriminating is my current mantra; before I adopted that attitude I read anything and everything about contemporary poetry but the disappointments were many and similarities b/w poets ridiculously common. See a trend? Ignore it, Puh-leese! I've narrowed the poetry-centric Substack, journal, and other sources that I read regularly. They've sustained my love of poetry, inspired me to write better, and encourage me to aim higher. SWMM, Saunders Book Club, Paris Review, The Sharpener, and the books of poets I've heard or read online make up this current go-to list. I also veer toward international poets to be inspired by the specificities and anomalies of translated works into English. I always check a journal before submitting to it; that has saved a lot of effort! Anyone who gifts me their work can be assured I will read it; I acknowledge those I follow on FB when they announce publications but read only those I enjoy; if their work doesn't resonate it will never be worthy of my time yet acknowledging their efforts is a gesture of me as a quasi-good poetry citizen. As for lost-down-the-rabbit-hole, an obit of someone I love, like the recently deceased Gerald Stern, can send me both to my bookshelf for his works I own and to many other poems and interviews of his online as if to "visit" one more time or, at least, to remind me that the printed page will last longer than beloved writers and poets and, naturally, me.
I try to read some of the other contributions in journals where I publish. It just seems like the right thing to do. I mean, I want them to at least look at my work, right? But presently it's selective. I go through different kinds of reading patterns, (sort of like eating)--sometimes I eat a lot, everything and anything, and other times small meals, and spaced out. I'm in a simpler cycle now: I'm trying to read fewer books, stay with them over a longer time, and read more carefully and slowly, and cover-to-cover of a select group of journals: Conjunctions, Arts and Letters, LRB, NYRB. daily poetry from online sites, and where ever. But this can turn on a dime and I'm plunging down a surprise rabbit hole of some journal or writer I never saw coming...
I read the work of others for generally the same reasons that have been already posted, but tend towards journals where I have been published or would like to be in the future. And sometimes I will spring for a copy of Ploughshares, Granta, The Sun, etc. at Barnes and Noble. Sort of a guilty pleasure, I suppose.
Oh yes, I have several favorite litmags I come back to again and again. I'm always looking for things to read that thrill me, and submitting my own work has made me investigate the world of litmags so thoroughly I find some i just can't resist, so I bookmark them and it's like having an ever-refreshing source of new inspiring stuff to read that's free. I don't submit to litmags that make people pay to read them, partly because I love giving links to my poems to friends/associates, and also because there's so much great stuff out there I can't imagine needing to pay for it. I have over 90 poems published, and enjoy the process so much I'd be happy just doing that forever, although friends and fellow poets all harangue me to get a book happening... But submitting to litmags keeps me super-familiar with my own work too, in always having to go over it to decide what's best for a particular submission, and before I submit i like getting familiar with what the magazine publishes, which keeps me in new ideas of what to read constantly. It's like the whole process is a wonderful circle! Could life be any better? Methinks not.
honestly? i try. as writers trying to break-in, there is SO MUCH we have to read when trying to "get out there," from the publications we pitch stories to the literary journals we have to keep up with to the works of friends and writers we love to our own writing groups. it's a lot! yes, we should always read the journals and read what other writers write – but we also should have a *bit* of compassion for ourselves and the writers just trying to get by and get out there. it's easy to shame someone for not reading EVERY JOURNAL, for making mistakes – but how many hours are there in a day? especially under capitalism, when we work more than ten hours a day and have to tend to the mechanics of our days. where is our time to write and live and simply exist *before* we get to journals? it's so seductive to say "well, i read everything – and if you aren't? you're BAD." but i think that's just callous, gate-keep-y, and very much abiding by a rigid academic system that doesn't work. trying isn't a bad thing! if you don't get to every little journal? that's fine! you're still valid. there are literally thousands of journals to read. we all have our own lives and aspirations. we do the work, yes, but the work doesn't do us.
Yes! Every magazine I've submitted to (save one, which I am very ashamed of in hindsight!), I was a regular reader. I continue to read them. The idea of someone just blindly submitting work to mags skeeves me out. If you don't like - or even read - a mag, why are you submitting at all?
I read as I'm able. Disability limits me. Six-seven poems come to my inbox daily, which I typically read, although I routinely consider unsubscribing as to spend said time in actual books of poetry. When I'm on social media, I spend much of that time reading poems--publications of friends, publications by others that gripped them, and publications of journals I follow. When deciding where to submit, I browse available poems in that journal. I listen to poetry podcasts--Poetry Unbound, The Poetry Exchange, and Poetry for All. And of course, I am trying to read books of poetry as I write. I feel chronically under-read but not for lack of interest and effort.
I usually read something most days. What I am looking for is an editor or writer who is better than good, they generate jealousy in me. They are publishing work I wish I had written, and they are stretching my awareness of what I could be doing. It may be similar to a beginning artist studying artists who are 1-2 years into school because the masters are working at inaccessible levels.
This means I don't often feel overwhelmed, but I often feel challenged. I usually have some familiarity with any journal before I submit work there. I develop a sense of what I like, what excites me, and what is generative for my own practice. I have tinges of guilt that this isn't enough, but I don't find that sort of guilt is useful for developing a better writing practice.
I’m basically a peripatetic poet, my eyes walking from source to source in an endless candy store of print journals, chapbooks and poetry anthologies. Occasionally I’ll get a message from someone who asks how they can become one.
Read. Very simply put. Read novels, read poetry, read essays, read journals, read newspapers and magazines. Becoming a writer of any degree requires study just as it does for any endeavor and here the crux of it all is contained in words.
When you read the mind begins to slowly accumulate a library of vocabulary, nuances, inferences and layered thoughts. You don’t just pick up a pen and write although even a blind stab in the dark can occasionally draw a bit of blood.
On a good day I enjoy reading a bit of Morrison (more Toni than Jim), become rapt in a discussion about black holes and entropy or study some Yoruba for its descriptive beauty.
The point is never to limit yourself. I’m still learning and will continue to do so until the day I pack my bags and leave on the Celestial Express. I’ve had a few of my efforts published in anthologies for which I’m always grateful but have yet to showcase my work like a showroom mannequin, hot one day, gathering dust bunnies the next.
I write more for the sheer enjoyment of life - the unexpected moments of amazement when my brain concocts a minor masterpiece (to me at least), a quiet meal of syllabic salmon served on a bed of a metaphoric mix of arugula and mango.
I might as well out myself as the instigator of this discussion and I really appreciate Becky's support in reaching a wider audience than my usual modest but loyal band of followers.
In retrospect, I realise that of course Becky's followers are going to be serious writers who read and respect the writing of others. It's a bit like asking a bunch of doctors if they think health care is important. ;-)
However, I remain convinced that there is a large cohort of would-be writers whose entire readership is litmag editors. Those who are fortunate enough to be published (God bless such editors) seem to get little or no feedback on their work from readers.
There are some litmag practices that contribute to this, including:
1. Not providing a Comments box.
2. Not providing links to writers' blogs to allow direct feedback.
Honorable exceptions include https://101words.org/ , upon which many readers comment.
As some people have said, sometimes we just subscribe to too many blogs, newsletters etc and end up being overwhelmed. But I get the impression that there's a lot of narcissistic writers out there who have no concern at all for their fellow scribblers.
I read when I can. How else am I going to meet the e-friends who'll read my stuff? Of course, when seen reading or even ganking to a print file at a public computer center or wi-fi hotspot, I always hear "It must be nice to have nothing to do but SURF all day." Hey. I'm a writer. When I do it, it's networking and/or research!
When a friend shares a link to published work, do you take the time to read it? YES
If you’ve shared work online, do you find that others actually read it? YES
As a writer and reader, are there lit mags you open up to read…just because? YES. (And by "open up" I assume you mean both print journals and online zines.)
Are writers actually reading the journals in which they hope to publish? I do; cannot speak for all writers.
I try to read all the poems in any lit mag that's published me--after all, they've proven they have good taste! Like others here, I do prefer reading in print: I thought it was because I'm an old man who can recall the joy of holding a book in his pudgy hands 70 some years ago; but it seems that there are younger folks who get that warm feeling from print, which can never be had it seems by cuddling a laptop. I will say that some of the worst poetry I've read has been in some of the 'hoity-toity' lit mags-- so often I'm left scratching what's left of the hair on my head saying, 'what the hell does that mean?' I thinking they are often infected with a serious disease: Academicitis Psuedoprofoundis. It's really an awful ailment, making writers [and too damn many editors] they more obscure the are, they better. {It's said the first outbreak was in Joyce's Finnegan's Wake.]
Usually, I will purchase a copy before I submit. Most journals will send you a copy for about ten bucks. Saves time because you discover the journal wouldn’t publish what you write or you discover that the journal looks slick on a web site but is rinky dink when it’s in your hands. Why waste your time and the editors’ time. For me it amounts to $50 a year. Can’t complain about that if you’re drinking $5 cafe lattes.
I tend to de-list them and not even open them when they come in the mail after getting rejected a couple of times. The list is steadily growing. Do unto others as they have done unto you. I read backwards historically instead. I'd rather write like Chekhov or Dostoyevsky anyway, or Toni Morrison, or Wallace Stegner, or Joan Didion than whoever has lately made the woke cut.
Oh, my. I cannot image submitting my work and NOT reading what others contribute. Every day I read a small handful of daily poetry emails as well as one or two poems from each of a number of collections. I subscribe to more than a dozen newsletters and enjoy print subscriptions to Sugar House Review and Whitefish Review. I own several poetry collections and chapbooks purchased after seeing recommendations online or (when I used to partake!) through Facebook poetry / writing groups I belonged to. Reading others' work is part of the experience of being a poet, in my opinion. I thoroughly enjoy it!
I’m the EIC of a litmag and I pay for detailed analytics, so I can tell you, yes, writers read litmags. Often someone will log on, read (or at least, open for some length of time) every piece of a particular genre in an issue, then click on the Submit tab and exit through there (which is where our analytics stop.) We also get a lot of traction from social media, either from an individual writer’s platform, or from other readers who amplify particular pieces they like. Also, a lot of readers coming in from Google searches for authors. Our biggest reader days are when an issue launches. Some people read through the whole issue, and others will stick to a single genre, or skip around. We also have some evergreen pieces that are on college syllabi. Those seem to be “one and done”—the students don’t click around and check out other pieces. Sometimes I wonder if people other than writers read litmags (I mean, besides their moms.)
I make a point of supporting 2-3 literary journals a year though subscriptions, and while I don't read the entire journal, I do read about half, and sample almost everything to see which stories/poems grab me. I do the same with online journals--sampling pieces hoping that they'll give me no choice but to keep reading until the end. Unfortunately, online reading is almost exclusively flash fiction. I have difficulty maintaining focus while reading online, a problem I don't have with print. If someone I know sends me his or her work, I will always read it. Perhaps if I knew more writers, I couldn't continue to make that claim, but I feel that if someone thinks enough of me to send me their work, I should give them the respect of reading it. Of course it's impossible to read even a small portion of all the work that is available for free online. If I win the Powerball, maybe I'll take a shot at it, but for now, reading is selective. Writers need to be thoughtful, active readers, and if a writer is only interested in their own writing, that writing isn't likely to be very good. Time to stop writing this response and go read someone else!
Discussion of the reading of literary magazines always includes confrontation — You aren’t one of those selfish writers who only promotes himself and never reads anybody else, are you? — and guilt — I try to read, subscribe, comment on everything but I get overwhelmed.
It’s not really possible to know how much gets read. We read for the same reason we write, whatever those reasons are — typically enjoyment? If you read only because you are supposed to, because you are a bad person/writer if you don’t, are you the reader any writer wants?
I find that I am far more likely to read through a print magazine that has published me (if they send a copy) than an online publication. I suppose that this is because the print rag sits on my reading table for weeks and I pick it up and leaf through it, find something interesting, and get hooked. Might be the other way around for someone younger, I don't know. It seems to me that, even though we read online magazines with a "browser,' it is easier actually to browse something you can hold in two hands and flip through while slouching on a couch.
I do read other people's works in online magazines as well, just not as much by a long shot.
To be sure, I have read immense novels on e-readers, but that's something you start and read through; it's not browsing.
Another thing I prefer about print magazines is that the individual works appear in some kind of context, as they do in poetry collections and short story collections. They have the company of other poems/stories close by. If they work best in a certain order, according to the editor, then the reader gets to be aware of that order. If I were younger maybe none of this would make a difference to me, I don't know. Seeing a screen with one piece of writing on it, as if that's the only writing that exists, is always a little disconcerting, though I do browse through online journals. My subscriptions are still with print journals.
IF you don't read... how can you consider yourself a writer? Every day, in addition to the current memoir or novel I'm listening to (Yes, listen-- because it enables me to get more "reading done" while also driving or putting away dishes etc.) I read several poems, stories and essays recently published in an array of literary magazines and when a writing colleague posts a link to a recently published piece I am curious to read it and try to provide some feedback. Because who are we writing for? There's a good feeling of satisfaction when you feel you'e written something worth sharing, but if no one bothers to read it, where's the sharing?
Since I mostly can't stomach mainstream stuff most of all my reading is small, smaller, and micro publications. And since I must read or go crazy I suppose my answer is yes I do thank you very much.
I'm not sure who is reading me but it almost doesn't matter because the stuff is going to get written whether anybody uses it or not and I am over feeling bad about rejections. The funny thing is that when my friends don't like something of mine they stay quiet and I don't think anybody in my family has ever read anything I've written. So I live in this wonderful echo chamber and it is very cozy in here.
Ya, I mean if you can't get lost in the process, the whole means-to-an-end thing is so... almost capitalist, ya know? Poet John Keats would throw things away right after writing them. He knew. But yeah, and I celebrate rejections actually, and the ones that mention poems of mine, or seem very personalized, I answer. It's so good to know there are real human beings on the other end so i always thank them for that. If recognition and fame are the motivation, I say find something else to spend all that time one, something where you get that euphoric "lost" in the process high. I like your post lots!
If writers aren't reading lit mags, then I don't know who is! I find it hard to read as many as I'd like, but I do read them. I keep a Twitter list for this purpose, I sign up for emails, and I do purchase subscriptions or individual issues to research mags at times. I have also purchased them at book stores! Our local indie bookstores stocks a few, and a used book store also has a small selection. I consider this part of the civic duty of being a short story writer and enthusiast. And of course, if you're not reading what's getting published, you're missing out on valuable information about the marketplace you'd hoping to enter. Final thought -- I write short stories because I love the form, so it only makes sense to read them for pleasure!
I do read a variety of lit magazines and journals. I have too many subscriptions because they tempt me with a good story I want to finish, or because I want to support the work they are doing. I read some from all the sites I follow, but of course it is impossible to read as much as I would like. Just as an example, I have subscriptions to the New Yorker, Creative Nonfiction, The Atlantic, Sewanee Review, The Sun, The Washington Post, NY Times, etc. I also subscribe to various online blogs such as this one, Suleika Jouad, Writing Class Radio, George Saunders, Air Mail,, etc. I know, I know, it's ridiculous; sometimes I get overwhelmed, cancel everything and start over. LOL. But I do love reading most of these pubs.
In answer to your specific questions, I always read my friends’ published works, and yes, I read the journals in which I hope to be published. It’s one of the best ways to learn where my work might fit in, and also to gain insight into improving my own writing.
I read some of the work that is accessible online before submitting - otherwise I have no way of judging whether it's even a possibility of a good match. I also read two poem a day works from The Poetry Foundation and American Academy of Poets and follow up with more work and where the poet has been published if I enjoy that poet's work. It is difficult ro balance the "extras" of our writing life beyond the writing, but I try to think of them as condiments that enhance/support the main effort.
I subscribe to several journals, sometimes because I've published there and a subscription is part of the payment. But I also try to support lit journals I'm interested in. It only makes sense to support journals if you can afford it. Otherwise, the whole enterprise fails: Lit journals are first and foremost for writers.
I used to subscribe to Journal of the Month and would get a different literary magazine each month. I read those as a way to see if my work was a good fit. I have also subscribed as part of entering a contest. I also order back issues of the magazines that I think are a good fit and that are a dream publication for me. So yes, for me studying them is a bit of a hobby. As such, I have a stack I always I am waiting to get through, but too many to be a regular reader of any yet.
When I’ve been published, unless it’s online, people don’t read it and then still it’s spotty if they do.
Yes - Journal of the Month, which I learned about from Becky's interview with Jenn Scheck-Kahn, is a great way to get a sense of a variety of journals without committing to any one in particular. In addition, I subscribe to a few every year. And try to read on-line before submitting to get a sense of fit, and then try to read through most of any on-line issue I'm published in.
Ha! Does anyone remember the scene from THE GOOD PLACE where a character is locked in a room and New Yorker magazines fall from the ceiling, and the person is so excited they finally have time to read them, only to be buried under an avalanche of journals in no time? That's me. And since I can't throw away any of the magazines or journals or anthologies I subscribe to without at least browsing through them, my house is a verified fire hazard, and my email TBR file currently exceeds seven hundred links.
I think reading lit mags is kind of a discipline, more so than just reading the next fiction or nonfiction book that you have been hankering for. When I take the time to do so, I get a lot out of it.
“It is the job of a real poet in this diseased culture to be an audience, not to have an audience.”—Jack Butler, “Essay: Po-Biz,” https://towncreekpoetry.com/FALL09/ESSAY_PO-BIZ.htm
Great question, but I would submit that reading great literature is the most important thing for a writer. That may be found in a lit mag—or in a novel, a short story collection, an essay collection, an anthology, a play or something else. Aim high, I say. Read the great ones, wherever they are found.
I absolutely read the journal after researching its focus and publication rate before I submit. I have purchased many chapbooks from people or journals I support because I think their work resonates. I think, as a writer, you definitely have to read others-otherwise you’re in a vacuum. I don’t know if anyone else reads my work but I hope someday they do. I really enjoy reading other’s work, though.
I subscribe to many more journals and poetry feeds than I am able to read, alas. It gets overwhelming. I’ve been submitting widely and thus reading widely (but often just selections, not an entire issue.) I do pass issues on to other poets. I will admit that if I weren’t actively submitting, there would be only 3 or 4 that I would read regularly or subscribe to.
I do read when friends share but I don't think everyone does. I've certainly gotten more "likes" or congrats than comments on the stories. :)
There are a couple of journals I have paid subscriptions to, and a handful of others I read regularly online, after that it's sporadic, either bc I'm reading a friend's work or I'm checking to see if my work seems like it might be a good match.
Yes - I read - in the search for the unusual, the individual, the insightful.
I read as a writer to be surprised, delighted, entranced.
I read as an editor to keep up with what is happening in the experimental field - I have a track record of reviewing fringe theatre, and in that vein, keep up as best I can with what small presses are doing. There are quite a few writers and Podcast creators that I make time for - Charlie Loyd (who hasn't posted in ages - where are you, Charlie?) - Terry Victor (Word Wrangling Podcast) - Thomas Wharton's small press works ... and a few small presses I check out specifically - one example is Paper View (https://paperviewbooks.pt/) - they specialise in asemic writing and related work.
If I'm submitting to a journal, I'll make sure I familiarise myself with their preference or house style - but ultimately I write, then place pieces where there seems to be a good fit, rather than writing for a specific outlet on spec.
Quality counts - originality stands out - and what delights one person will be disastrous for another - so whenever I write something, I try to use it to develop or use a particular skill or technique that the reader may never even notice, but it makes the process more enjoyable.
Since an important part of my job is reading lit mags (I run a submissions company), the answer is, yes, I read lit mags. Usually a handful of stories once a week. Mostly from smaller/newer journals. While it's not always pleasant, I do love occasionally stumbling upon a little journal publishing great stuff (they're out there). And there's probably no better way to see what's going on in the writing world. As a writer, I definitely pick up some great ideas (it's like a musician listening to college radio. This is where the shit is happening). Beyond that, I read the anthologies (Best American, Pushcart, O. Henry, Nonrequired, Best Small Fictions, Best of the Net), which is also part of my job, but generally a more pleasurable part of it. It's worth noting that a surprising number of my clients seem to have never read a literary journal. I find it odd that someone would want to submit their work to these things without really knowing what they are.
I see reading and writing as reciprocal pleasures-each begets more of the other. I subscribe to a half-dozen paper and online journals and browse/read widely. If I place in a contest, I try to read other stories that did same, and sometimes congratulate those authors. I read far more than I comment on. If friends/colleagues announce publication, I acknowledge always, and then try to read/buy/somehow support them. Thanks, Becky, for the discussion.
I absolutely read dozens of online journals as they come out, both for pure enjoyment and with an eye for future submissions. If I like what I find, I’ll explore their archives too.
Call it OCD, but I like to keep elaborate statistics in the process. I record the titles and authors of poems I love (rarely more than two in any one issue) and also the number of poets I know that I like.
For instance, Valparaiso has a score of 15 (issues): 19 (poems) / 47 (poets). A high score like that makes me likely to submit (without success, alas). A recent discovery is Black Coffee Review (7: 8/4). I’ll probably give up on a mag with a score like 6: 0/2.
I subscribe to just a couple of print mags, Tar River and Southern Poetry Review.
This is a good idea! Thanks for sharing it.
Yes -- a good idea! I've though about doing something like that, and I'm now motivated to!
I absolutely do read links sent by other writers or friends, so do I other journals and Substack alike. I think it’d be absurd not to read widely when you’re a writer... At least the other pieces in the journal you submit !
Thank you asking one of my long held burning questions. My excuse for rarely submitting to lit mags is that no one reads them but a small subset of other writers. And while I have noble intentions of reading the whole journal in which my writing or that of people I may know is published, I never get through the entirety. I have found having my own newsletter or writing newspaper columns much more satisfying as to reader engagement and feedback.
Discriminating is my current mantra; before I adopted that attitude I read anything and everything about contemporary poetry but the disappointments were many and similarities b/w poets ridiculously common. See a trend? Ignore it, Puh-leese! I've narrowed the poetry-centric Substack, journal, and other sources that I read regularly. They've sustained my love of poetry, inspired me to write better, and encourage me to aim higher. SWMM, Saunders Book Club, Paris Review, The Sharpener, and the books of poets I've heard or read online make up this current go-to list. I also veer toward international poets to be inspired by the specificities and anomalies of translated works into English. I always check a journal before submitting to it; that has saved a lot of effort! Anyone who gifts me their work can be assured I will read it; I acknowledge those I follow on FB when they announce publications but read only those I enjoy; if their work doesn't resonate it will never be worthy of my time yet acknowledging their efforts is a gesture of me as a quasi-good poetry citizen. As for lost-down-the-rabbit-hole, an obit of someone I love, like the recently deceased Gerald Stern, can send me both to my bookshelf for his works I own and to many other poems and interviews of his online as if to "visit" one more time or, at least, to remind me that the printed page will last longer than beloved writers and poets and, naturally, me.
I try to read some of the other contributions in journals where I publish. It just seems like the right thing to do. I mean, I want them to at least look at my work, right? But presently it's selective. I go through different kinds of reading patterns, (sort of like eating)--sometimes I eat a lot, everything and anything, and other times small meals, and spaced out. I'm in a simpler cycle now: I'm trying to read fewer books, stay with them over a longer time, and read more carefully and slowly, and cover-to-cover of a select group of journals: Conjunctions, Arts and Letters, LRB, NYRB. daily poetry from online sites, and where ever. But this can turn on a dime and I'm plunging down a surprise rabbit hole of some journal or writer I never saw coming...
I read the work of others for generally the same reasons that have been already posted, but tend towards journals where I have been published or would like to be in the future. And sometimes I will spring for a copy of Ploughshares, Granta, The Sun, etc. at Barnes and Noble. Sort of a guilty pleasure, I suppose.
No.
I read mostly stories in the New Yorker, The Sun, Smokelong Quarterly. I don't pay for any journal however.
Oh yes, I have several favorite litmags I come back to again and again. I'm always looking for things to read that thrill me, and submitting my own work has made me investigate the world of litmags so thoroughly I find some i just can't resist, so I bookmark them and it's like having an ever-refreshing source of new inspiring stuff to read that's free. I don't submit to litmags that make people pay to read them, partly because I love giving links to my poems to friends/associates, and also because there's so much great stuff out there I can't imagine needing to pay for it. I have over 90 poems published, and enjoy the process so much I'd be happy just doing that forever, although friends and fellow poets all harangue me to get a book happening... But submitting to litmags keeps me super-familiar with my own work too, in always having to go over it to decide what's best for a particular submission, and before I submit i like getting familiar with what the magazine publishes, which keeps me in new ideas of what to read constantly. It's like the whole process is a wonderful circle! Could life be any better? Methinks not.
I read a lot of them but because I follow lots of ezines etc. I can’t keep up with all of them.
honestly? i try. as writers trying to break-in, there is SO MUCH we have to read when trying to "get out there," from the publications we pitch stories to the literary journals we have to keep up with to the works of friends and writers we love to our own writing groups. it's a lot! yes, we should always read the journals and read what other writers write – but we also should have a *bit* of compassion for ourselves and the writers just trying to get by and get out there. it's easy to shame someone for not reading EVERY JOURNAL, for making mistakes – but how many hours are there in a day? especially under capitalism, when we work more than ten hours a day and have to tend to the mechanics of our days. where is our time to write and live and simply exist *before* we get to journals? it's so seductive to say "well, i read everything – and if you aren't? you're BAD." but i think that's just callous, gate-keep-y, and very much abiding by a rigid academic system that doesn't work. trying isn't a bad thing! if you don't get to every little journal? that's fine! you're still valid. there are literally thousands of journals to read. we all have our own lives and aspirations. we do the work, yes, but the work doesn't do us.
Yes! Every magazine I've submitted to (save one, which I am very ashamed of in hindsight!), I was a regular reader. I continue to read them. The idea of someone just blindly submitting work to mags skeeves me out. If you don't like - or even read - a mag, why are you submitting at all?
I read as I'm able. Disability limits me. Six-seven poems come to my inbox daily, which I typically read, although I routinely consider unsubscribing as to spend said time in actual books of poetry. When I'm on social media, I spend much of that time reading poems--publications of friends, publications by others that gripped them, and publications of journals I follow. When deciding where to submit, I browse available poems in that journal. I listen to poetry podcasts--Poetry Unbound, The Poetry Exchange, and Poetry for All. And of course, I am trying to read books of poetry as I write. I feel chronically under-read but not for lack of interest and effort.
I usually read something most days. What I am looking for is an editor or writer who is better than good, they generate jealousy in me. They are publishing work I wish I had written, and they are stretching my awareness of what I could be doing. It may be similar to a beginning artist studying artists who are 1-2 years into school because the masters are working at inaccessible levels.
This means I don't often feel overwhelmed, but I often feel challenged. I usually have some familiarity with any journal before I submit work there. I develop a sense of what I like, what excites me, and what is generative for my own practice. I have tinges of guilt that this isn't enough, but I don't find that sort of guilt is useful for developing a better writing practice.
I’m basically a peripatetic poet, my eyes walking from source to source in an endless candy store of print journals, chapbooks and poetry anthologies. Occasionally I’ll get a message from someone who asks how they can become one.
Read. Very simply put. Read novels, read poetry, read essays, read journals, read newspapers and magazines. Becoming a writer of any degree requires study just as it does for any endeavor and here the crux of it all is contained in words.
When you read the mind begins to slowly accumulate a library of vocabulary, nuances, inferences and layered thoughts. You don’t just pick up a pen and write although even a blind stab in the dark can occasionally draw a bit of blood.
On a good day I enjoy reading a bit of Morrison (more Toni than Jim), become rapt in a discussion about black holes and entropy or study some Yoruba for its descriptive beauty.
The point is never to limit yourself. I’m still learning and will continue to do so until the day I pack my bags and leave on the Celestial Express. I’ve had a few of my efforts published in anthologies for which I’m always grateful but have yet to showcase my work like a showroom mannequin, hot one day, gathering dust bunnies the next.
I write more for the sheer enjoyment of life - the unexpected moments of amazement when my brain concocts a minor masterpiece (to me at least), a quiet meal of syllabic salmon served on a bed of a metaphoric mix of arugula and mango.
I might as well out myself as the instigator of this discussion and I really appreciate Becky's support in reaching a wider audience than my usual modest but loyal band of followers.
In retrospect, I realise that of course Becky's followers are going to be serious writers who read and respect the writing of others. It's a bit like asking a bunch of doctors if they think health care is important. ;-)
However, I remain convinced that there is a large cohort of would-be writers whose entire readership is litmag editors. Those who are fortunate enough to be published (God bless such editors) seem to get little or no feedback on their work from readers.
There are some litmag practices that contribute to this, including:
1. Not providing a Comments box.
2. Not providing links to writers' blogs to allow direct feedback.
Honorable exceptions include https://101words.org/ , upon which many readers comment.
Ironically CafeLit https://www.cafelitmagazine.uk/search?updated-max=2022-11-03T16:00:00Z&max-results=7 provides for comments but rarely generates them, even when views are over 100.
I am also a regular contributor to the 99 word challenge at Carrot Ranch https://carrotranch.com/blog/ and the Six Sentence Challenge https://girlieontheedge1.wordpress.com/2018/10/31/its-six-sentence-story-thursday-link-up-27/ , both of whom have a number of generous commenters.
As some people have said, sometimes we just subscribe to too many blogs, newsletters etc and end up being overwhelmed. But I get the impression that there's a lot of narcissistic writers out there who have no concern at all for their fellow scribblers.
I read when I can. How else am I going to meet the e-friends who'll read my stuff? Of course, when seen reading or even ganking to a print file at a public computer center or wi-fi hotspot, I always hear "It must be nice to have nothing to do but SURF all day." Hey. I'm a writer. When I do it, it's networking and/or research!
When a friend shares a link to published work, do you take the time to read it? YES
If you’ve shared work online, do you find that others actually read it? YES
As a writer and reader, are there lit mags you open up to read…just because? YES. (And by "open up" I assume you mean both print journals and online zines.)
Are writers actually reading the journals in which they hope to publish? I do; cannot speak for all writers.
I read them. I have subscribed in paper and online. But.
I read them (with interest) cyclically. I find that my exploratory reading goes in bouts, and that includes lit mags, especially because….
They change drastically, often. Issue to issue or year to year. Quality, focus, feel. (Especially true outside of the biggest.)
Few methods of announcing a new issue (here thinking online) compel me to read it.
It’s hard for me to keep track of them. Again mostly online. Bookmarks here, newsletters there, almost never a grabbable (or meaningful) RSS feed.
Combine these together. And so, but.
I try to read all the poems in any lit mag that's published me--after all, they've proven they have good taste! Like others here, I do prefer reading in print: I thought it was because I'm an old man who can recall the joy of holding a book in his pudgy hands 70 some years ago; but it seems that there are younger folks who get that warm feeling from print, which can never be had it seems by cuddling a laptop. I will say that some of the worst poetry I've read has been in some of the 'hoity-toity' lit mags-- so often I'm left scratching what's left of the hair on my head saying, 'what the hell does that mean?' I thinking they are often infected with a serious disease: Academicitis Psuedoprofoundis. It's really an awful ailment, making writers [and too damn many editors] they more obscure the are, they better. {It's said the first outbreak was in Joyce's Finnegan's Wake.]
Usually, I will purchase a copy before I submit. Most journals will send you a copy for about ten bucks. Saves time because you discover the journal wouldn’t publish what you write or you discover that the journal looks slick on a web site but is rinky dink when it’s in your hands. Why waste your time and the editors’ time. For me it amounts to $50 a year. Can’t complain about that if you’re drinking $5 cafe lattes.
I tend to de-list them and not even open them when they come in the mail after getting rejected a couple of times. The list is steadily growing. Do unto others as they have done unto you. I read backwards historically instead. I'd rather write like Chekhov or Dostoyevsky anyway, or Toni Morrison, or Wallace Stegner, or Joan Didion than whoever has lately made the woke cut.
I read lots but can’t help up with all of them.
Thanks to this comment, I found your blog and your piece in Cleaver. My god. Stunning, powerful, necessary. Thank you.