The Emerging Poet’s Guide To Finding Amazing Literary Magazines + list
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It can be hard to find the small literary outlets among the sea that is made up of big magazines, journals, and publishing presses, especially if all you have to go on is a search engine. And so the hunt for new magazines, literary ventures, and small but jeweled presses goes on. Often the most passionate editors are still waiting to be found in their constant mission to find writers who care about their writing and community.
Why it is important to find new literary magazines
Searches on Google often do not turn up more beyond the bigger names and, as a new writer, perhaps the big names are not what you are looking for. You are looking to find smaller places where you can build up connections, meet new people, familiarize yourself with the submission process, and refine your writing skills before sending your work to bigger presses and magazines. This is why finding new literary magazines is the move for you!
That said, please keep in mind you can and still should submit your work to places you might feel are ‘out of your league’. If you write a piece you feel strongly about and are convinced it is a good fit for the place you are sending it to, do it!
Related: A Poet’s Guide To Successfully Submitting Poetry Online
I love growing, blossoming, and booming literary journals, magazines, and presses alike. All these outlets form a space where community, no matter its size, is being nurtured between poets and writers and are a great place to find poets, artists, editors, and writers to learn from as well as make new friends and connections.
Why new literary magazines are as good as big ones
Size does not matter. I love being introduced to a small community as much as I love touching base with a large one. However, as it most often is, all the small steps lead up to the big one and this is why I find it more confidence-building and good practice to find new literary magazines while/during looking to join bigger ones.
In my experience, the best way to find new literary journals, magazines, and presses is to know other writers. The MK Blog Directory is a free blog marketing tool I recently came across. Created by Mohamad Al Karbi with the aim of supporting and connecting writers and bloggers in many niches, the Directory is a new networking tool where you can meet like-minded writers. Add your own blog/website to round out the selection and spend some time exploring the collection of writers the Directory has already documented!
If you know me, most likely you know most of the places I share my poetry/prose/fiction at. This is one of the reasons I delight in sharing publication news on Nin Chronicles; it is an opportunity for new eyes to find a home for their writing. By connecting with other writers, you can start to explore the literary outlets they love too.
How to find established and humming or new literary magazines
- Put yourself out there. Having a blog or website of your own where you share your writing is an immense help. It tells people two things: “You write. You care about writing.” In addition, it also gives people a chance to experience your writing, style, and voice.
- Network. Read the blogs and websites of poets. Most poets love to share where their latest piece has been published at! Follow the links and see if you find something you love. In the process, you will find fellow and new poets and writers as passionate as you are about finding the right place for their words. More eyes are better than one and, if you build up a relationship by reading and commenting on each other’s writing, you can search, submit, and share in company.
- Utilize social media. Ask the #writerscommunity, #PoetsTwitter, and #writingcommunity on Twitter where they submit to. Follow poets; most of them share the handles of their favorite or recently discovered literary outlets. Also search on Instagram. Most magazines and journals love to share the poetry they publish as images, and Instagram is very supportive of the visual poem community. Look on Facebook. If you start by liking the pages of your favorite poetry and prose journals, you tell the algorithm to start showing you what it thinks/you want to see: sponsored calls for poetry, prose, and short story submissions as well as relevant pages to like and groups to join.
- Explore for all you are worth. Once you find a press or journal you like, explore the archives. Read the work and bios of the poets and authors on the site. Check out their blogs. Maybe you find a link to another new magazine.
To help you get started in your search or expand your current repertoire of magazines/journals to try your hand at I have listed below a mix of thirteen magazines, journals, and presses I love for you to explore.
Thirteen poetry magazines to submit your writing to
- Visual Verse (monthly curations of poetry, prose, and flash fiction)
- Free Verse Revolution (quarterly issues in response to a theme)
- Green Ink Poetry (themed issues)
- Vita Brevis Press
- Whispers and Echoes Magazine (micro writing as well as seasonal curations)
- Spillwords Press
- Black Flowers (seasonal issues in addition to publishing poetry books)
- Rising Phoenix Review
- Mookychick (poetry and prose, as well as guides, articles, and musings)
- Indie Blu(e) Publishing (curates beautiful anthologies of poetry, prose, and art)
- Moonflake Press (curates themed print and online issues)
- Blood Moon Poetry (themed issues + a robust Instagram community)
- Emotional Alchemy Magazine (poetry, prose, and articles)
Browse my ‘published works’ category for more literary outlets, if you feel so called, and feel free to add your recommendations by way of the places you love to read creative writing as well as the places you love to share your own creative writing below!
May the words flow!
Artist/Poet_JayMoraShihadeh
Awesome! Good post, thanks for sharing this.
Jaya Avendel
Delighted to be of help!
Nancy
Totally agree with you about submitting your work into places, even if you think it is out of your league. You don’t know until you try, and don’t take one rejection as a failure. The key is to keep going. The Blog Directory sounds great for featuring blogs of all sorts! Thanks for sharing this resource 🙂
Nancy ✨ mdrnminimalists.com
brittshedhappens
This is a great resource! I have found many different options via social media that I’ve come to love, however, I can’t say that I’ve navigated most of the sites that you included. I am definitely going to check those out – so many incredible writers and creators to discover!!
Jaya Avendel
Love that you found this so useful! Enjoy doing a little networking. ☺️
aimsysantics
This is a great list Jaya. Sometimes it is hard to put yourself out there, isn’t it? But once you do, there are no regrets and only onwards building of your writing. I know this is to the writing community mainly, but definitely transferable to other creative writing!
Aimsy xoxo
Aimsy’s Antics
Jaya Avendel
Thank you so much Aimsy, for sharing the ways this guide has touched with your writing!
Simona ~ The Grumpy Olive
Such a great list, Jaya! Thank you for sharing, need to check some out for sure x
bournemouthgirl
This is a really helpful post Jaya, so much information that is helpful to the writing community. Thank you for sharing.
Love and Literature
Woah, this is such a helpful post – thanks so much for sharing! I’m saving this for later as I’m sure I’ll keep referring back to it, thanks! x
Anika
This is so cool, thanks for the tips and for sharing. I’m always looking for new poets, artists, editors, and writers to add to my reading list. It’s nice to support fellow creatives too, so I enjoyed reading this! 🙂
Jaya Avendel
Thank you, Anika! Thrilled you found this helpful.
katieemmabeauty
Twitter is such a great way to network and find all types of writers!
Katie | katieemmabeauty.com
Tom
I have a couple of works that I’m currently developing but, once they’re finished, my hope is that they might end up published. I’ll try with larger publications, but it is nice to know that they might have hope with smaller companies as well
Jaya Avendel
I love that you are aiming big, Tom! Larger publications are as a good a place as the smaller ones. May the words truly flow. 🙂
Keep Calm & Drink Coffee
Thank You dear Jaya!
Very precious and helpful advices!
i had a look on the blog directory and I had no idea of such an opportunity!
Now I only have to decide which cathegory I could be 🙂
Jaya Avendel
🙂 With an abundance of categories to chose from, I am sure you will find the perfect one! Delighted to know you enjoyed my words and are exploring the Directory!
Chloe Lauren
Awesome advice and insights. As someone who works in Digital, I can attest to the fact that connections and utilising Social Media are HUGE factors for growth. Love this. Will definitely be checking out the blog directory as well!
Jaya Avendel
Thank you so much! Love that you connected with this and are exploring the Directory. <3
ellegracedeveson
This is such a helpful guide, thank you so much for sharing! Xo
Elle – ellegracedeveson.com
Thecaskconnoisseur
Thank you for the advice Jaya, I have to admit since started blogging I have become more involved with getting to know and making bonding relationships with other writers. I will say my blog like anyone else’s is a passion, I love beer and whisky, I want to take my blog to the next stage and reach out to people who would love to see my content, there’s always room for improvement, and that’s what mine is 😁
Jaya Avendel
Best of luck expanding and evolving! Taking those passionate steps always lead to somewhere. 😉
Lisa's Notebook
This was such a helpful guide, Jaya. I know this is about sharing poetry and finding others in the same field but actually the steps you’ve suggested are applicable to any creative writer. Really well laid out step by steps, and thoughtful too – thank you! 🙂
Jaya Avendel
Love that you picked up on the way this advice applies beyond poetry! I wanted to be specific for the sake of the writing, but this advice can be applied to all creative writers.
Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts, Lisa! <3
Jessica Khater
I’ve always had a passion for writing. Whe I was a younger, I used to write poems in french. Then I started writing actuality articles in english but I never thought of showing them to anyone. Although I believe I did a good job, I’m embarassed of sharing them. Maybe this is my opportunity to do so. Thank you for your encouragements and all the info.
Jaya Avendel
I love that you wrote poems in French! French is a lovely language, though I do not know enough yet to write in it.
Writing that we hold close to ourselves begins to flourish and help us in sometimes unrealized ways. Writing recipes is one way to share your passion. 🙂
Castlesandturrets
I didn’t realise there was so much out there that could help people in the writing community. I’m bookmarking this page to help me in the future, thank you so much for sharing!
Michele Lee
One to bookmark. Thank you researcher and writer.
Ana from Canada
When I clicked the title of this post I expected to retreat quickly, as I often do with the majority of the articles that I wander to. I was surprised to see information that isn’t already plastered on many websites that I’ve already ventured to. Thank you for that little bit of extra information.
A community to specifically network with other writers is great. The online writing community is something special that isn’t like anything I’ve seen before. Writers flock together, support, and inspire each other online. I love it.
That being said, we are a tad all over the place, Facebook groups, Twitter tags, writing apps, etc. I love the idea of a website that aims to pull all of that together into a writers networking product.
Again, thank you for the refreshing knowledge.
Jaya Avendel
🥰 I am beyond happy that I was able to present something new and useful! The writing community is such a lovely place to be; the inspiration and support is both given and received.
Thanks so much for reading and sharing your thoughts!
Unwanted Life
I didn’t know there was such a thing as a journal for poetry, I’ve always associated journals with the sciences as a way to publish new research. Must be hard for small publications to compete and to be noticed, so it’s cool you’re introducing such publications to a new readership
Jaya Avendel
Literary magazines are more common in the poetry world, but I have come across journals and ‘reviews’ to.
I love a publication where discussion happens, so it is a real joy to be able to share some here!
Thanks for reading. 🙂
Dating Bitch
This is a great list! I’m a big fan of Visual Verse too.
Ingrid
Thank you for sharing this advice and the list of outlets you have found useful. This is great Jaya! You are a very supportive member of the writing community 😊
Jaya Avendel
It is my delight, Ingrid, to be able to share what others have taught me with new eyes. <3
minametry84
I still believe that reading blogs or article or any content through a book is better than using mobile or computer to read
Jaya Avendel
I have several guides on writing on my bookshelf that I truly love! 🙂
minametry84
Wonderful to hear. Keep continue reading the books