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7 Unique Lit Mags to Read and Send Your Stuff To

A lot of literary magazines have basically the same deal. There are slight variations in the genre, length, and vibe of the things they publish, but you’ll find the submission guidelines of most journals are 90% identical (sometimes even repeating the exact same phrases), and their format is equally homogeneous: prose and/or poetry, published either in a book-like form or as web pages.

And not that there’s anything wrong with that. A straightforward, expected format keeps the reader’s focus mostly on the work itself, and that’s where it should be. But I’m always excited when I’m scrolling through open calls and I stumble across a market that breaks this mold. Even if it’s not a place any of my current work will fit, I find I’ll often add these to my list of journals I go to just as a reader—which is a much shorter list, that’s much more difficult for a journal to land a place on, than the magazines I read with the goal of deciding if my work would fit in their pages.

So for other folks out there who appreciate places that do things differently, here are a few journals that stand out from the rest for you to be hip to if you’re not already.

The Keepthings

Lots of literary journals have an Instagram, but The Keepthings is the only one I know that actually publishes on the platform (they also have a Substack, if you’re not a social media person). The content on The Keepthings follows a very specific format. Each post is a photo of a keepthing, which they define as “an object you hang on to because it connects you to someone dear to you who died,” accompanied by a brief (600 word or less) narrative about the person and how the object related to them.

While this obviously isn’t a place you’ll want to send your usual array of stories and poems, they do take submissions from anyone with an object and a story to tell about it. This is one that creative nonfiction writers and readers will want to take particular note of.

Plotopolis

There isn’t a ton on this site yet—but based on what they do have, I’m very excited to see what they plan to do in the future. Plotopolis is a journal for interactive fiction, specifically those that follow a choose-your-own format. They have fairly specific guidelines about the work sent their way, but they are actively seeking submissions for their debut issue (and they’ve even posted a few story ideas/wishlists on their blog if you’re intrigued but need some ideas to get you started).

Voidspace

This is another one for interactive art, and a broader variety of it than you’ll find on Plotopolis. This includes stories that are played like games, suites of hyperlinked poems, stories told in diagrams, and other works that make the reader/viewer a part of the experience.

Voidspace has been around for a minute, with 10 issues and other projects in between them, so they’ve got a good amount of stuff to check out. That’s also handy if you’re thinking about submitting to them because you can get a good sense of the variety of interactive things they publish (they also do non-interactive things in their unnumbered issues, if you like the cut of their jib but don’t play in an interactive sandbox).

Sixfold

The published issues of Sixfold don’t look any different than your typical online literary journal. What’s unique about this one is how the work in those issues are chosen. Instead of an editor board picking stories and poems, submitters vote on each other’s pieces over three rounds. At the end, the top story and poem win $1,000 each, and the top 15 stories and top 30 poems are published.

The best part of this from a submitter’s perspective is that other writers don’t just vote on your entry. They also get the option to provide feedback, which gets passed along to you after the voting finished. This means you can get comments from as many as 78 different people if your work makes it through all 3 rounds. While not everyone will leave comments, that’s still a lot of potential eyes and comments, and ones you can count on to provide a somewhat objective opinion.

Total Quality Reading

Another journal to be aware of if you’re looking for transparency in the work selection process. Total Quality Reading (or TQR) also has a unique conceit—as they say, stories are their business, and they veer into the lingo associated with that claim. Stories are “capital gains” or “assets”, submitters are “venture capitalists”, and there’s a host of other lingo you can find on their website.

TQR still uses readers and editors, and isn’t fully open-voted like Sixfold. But the comments from reviewers are posted publicly on their “New Free Market” forum, so if your work is under consideration you’ll get to see exactly what the readers thought throughout the process. Reading through past comments can also give you some useful insights into the types of stories the editors are looking for and what catches their attention (in a good or bad way).

After Dinner Conversation

This is another one that looks and reads like your standard literary journal. What’s unique about it is the theme of its content, which all asks “thought-provoking questions about ethics, philosophy, and social issues.” They publish one issue a month, and subscribers also get stories emailed to them, usually accompanied by a poll or question to prompt further thought about the ethical quandary raised in the piece.

Workers Write!

I’ll finish out the list with one more that’s unique because of the type of stuff they publish. Workers Write! is dedicated exclusively to—you guessed it—writing about work. Each issue centers on a different profession. Their upcoming Issue 21 will be Tales from the Cleaners, featuring stories from the POV of janitors, housekeepers, and other folks who clean up after the rest of us. Past editions have focused on construction sites, desk jobs, classrooms, and other places where people work. In between their full issues they release the Overtime series, which are standalone stories on the longer side.

I have a soft spot in my heart for blue collar poetry and prose, which is what made Workers Write! first catch my attention. It also touches on a major issue I often see in fiction: writers forget that their characters, for the most part, will need to have jobs. That will never be a concern with something you read in Workers Write! (and, for writers with day jobs, it’s nice to think there’s a home for whatever you write about it).

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