1. Find a Lit Mag/Journal to use as a model for yours.
This can be a model in design, genre, audience, writing, theme, etc.
Post under category “MagModel” before class

Places to look:
1. Your Favorite Authors. Most authors have websites where they list their publication history. If I like an author and they are published in a magazine, I might like other things in the magazine.

For example, If go to the author Carmen Maria Machado’s website, I can see a list of places she has been published. One of them is Granta, which has its own website. Now, I know a specific place to look for inspiration where I know I like some of the content.

2. Online Lists: many magazines and websites have lists of journals that are easily accessible.

Poets and Writers’ website has a list of journals that I can sort by genre and subgenre.

The Writer Magazine has a series called “Literary Journal Spotlight” where they talk about a different LitMag every week. I may run into a paywall, but I can always check the Library for access.

New Pages’website also has a list of journals and magazines. On this website, I can sort by genre and medium (format: online, print, etc.)

Erika Krouse, writer and editor, has a ranked list of 500 Fiction Magazines and a general list of Creative Nonfiction Magazines.

Submittable, a website that hosts submissions to journals and magazines, has a discover feature that I can use to see magazines as well. But to see this, I have to make a free account.

4. The Library! In person or online, libraries have access to a lot of journals and lit mags.

For example, I can search any Journal or Lit Mag that I know in the CCNY “JournalSearch” and it will tell me how to access it. If I type in “The Paris Review,” it tells me that the Library has physical copies of the magazine (starting from 1953 and ending in 2010) and has access to online version of the magazines through a database. I can also search “literary journals” or “poetry journals” and it will tell me everything it has.

If I have questions about what LitMags the library has, I can pop over to the reference desk and ask.

Local libraries might have something similar.

5. Bookstores that have magazines sections, like Barnes and Noble, usually have LitMags in those sections. I can peruse and really see how lit mags look and feel . Of course, if I really like one, I can buy it.

6. Yes, I can use Google or Bing or FireFox. But the never ending list that search engines give me can be a bit overwhelming. These other options also allow me to understand the Literary Publishing world a bit more. (And I will think of my professor compiling this list of great resources and I will resist the search bar.)