That Writer's Hustle: Lit Mags @ SFPL

We know you writers out there. We see you hustling to find places to read fresh fiction, essays, and poetry. We see you hustling to find good places to submit your own fresh writing, and we see you tracking those submissions relentlessly. We see you shifting from digital to print and back again. We see you eyeing the 2024 new year thinking, This is the year I get published in the New Yorker! 

 

Ok, maybe not the New Yorker (they say submitting to the New Yorker is like throwing a boomerang), but there are plenty of great lit mags out there thirsting for the unique voices of the storytellers and poets among us. 

Here are some tips for that literary life hustle from SFPL Magazines and Newspapers Center. 

Directories 

Where to publish? Where to read? Try a directory to look up information about specific magazines.

Ulrichs, a.k.a. Ulrichsweb

Ulrichsweb is an easy-to-search source of detailed information on more than 300,000 periodicals (also called serials) of all types: academic and scholarly journals, e-journals, peer-reviewed titles, popular magazines, newspapers, newsletters, and more. It's also possible to do an advanced search to identify publications in the subject of arts and literature. This is a database provided by SFPL.

DuoTrope

Duotrope is a subscription-based service that provides a searchable directory of literary publishers and agents. It also provides a calendar of deadlines and a personal submission tracker. DuoTrope is so connected to the indie writing scene that sometimes it has more accurate information about publications than Ulrichs. DuoTrope also is the proprietor of the Duosuma submission software and portal, a competitor to Submittable. This is not a resource available through SFPL, but is a resource every serious writer should consider using. There is a free trial option for the entire month of January, 2024. 

Poets & Writers Literary Magazines Database

For a free option vis-à-vis DuoTrope, check out the PW database. You can limit by genre, format, and other attributes. 

Electronic Lit Mags

Do you fancy reading lit mags online? Plenty of access options are available, whether your beloved mag is behind a paywall or not.

Periodical Finder

Option 1: Search by title for a known lit magazine

Periodical Finder is your tool for locating electronic access to magazines through the SFPL subscriptions. When you search for a title, you will be presented with access links and the date range of content available if the magazine is available through the SFPL subscriptions. 

In the case of looking up Prairie Schooner in Periodical Finder, as we see in the screenshot above, we see that all the magazine's content from the end of 1991 to the current day is available in one of several Gale databases (Gale is a vendor from which we license a lot of information). The last link, SFPL Print Collection, will take you to the classic SFPL catalog, which will give you information about the print holdings. 

Option 2: Browse the Literature and Writing discipline, available from the bottom of the Periodical Finder landing page. Explore the facets on the left side to tailor your result list to the type of lit mags you're after.

Flipster

Flipster is an e-magazine platform the library subscribes to. You can look at on your desktop as a website, or use it on an app for Android or iOS. It is possible to browse the literary category upon entering the platform to see what magazines they have on offer. It's a great interface that totally simulates the experience of paging through a physical magazine. Titles available in Flipster will also show up in Periodical Finder. Some of my favorite lit mags in Flipster include Poetry magazine and Room Magazine.

On the open web

There are so many literary mags that are free on the open web! Those ones will show up in DuoTrope, but not necessarily Ulrichs. Don't discount them just because they're free online. For example, the University of San Francisco literary journal, Invisible City, is free online (and ad-free!). Use your Google-fu (or whatever search engine you please) to find lists other writers have put together of the "best" online lit mags.

Print Lit Mags

Some prefer the prestige of physical literary magazines. Some prefer just having something physical in their hands to read. That's part of why I love the print version of Poetry magazine: it's a slim companion that doesn't take up much room wherever I go, so I often carry my personal copy in my backpack.

 

We have a rich selection of literary magazines on display in the 5th floor Magazines and Newspapers Center reading room at the Main Library. The most recent issue of each title is put on display as soon as we receive it.  

• A Public Space
• Alfred Hitchcock's mystery
• American poetry review
• American short fiction
• Analog Science Fiction & Fact
• Booklist
• Bookmarks
• Calyx
• Creative nonfiction
• Ellery Queen's mystery
• Five points
• ForeWord
• Fourteen hills
• Fourth genre
• Georgia review
• Granta
• Kirkus reviews
• Locus
• Mad
• Massachusetts review
• Meanjin
• Modern poetry in translation
• New American Writing
• New Letters
• Paris review
• Poetry
• Publisher's Weekly
• Science Fiction Studies
• Sewanee review
• Southern Cultures
• Virginia quarterly review, The
• World literature today
• Writer, The
• Yale Review
• Zoetrope
• Zyzzyva

There are more of these behind the scenes. Ask for help from the librarian nearby, or search in the classic SFPL catalog to see what else we have.

Trade Magazines for Writers 

These ones don't necessarily offer creative writing to be read, but they are trade publications for people exactly like you: writers both aspiring and established, writers of both poetry and prose. They give valuable advice on opportunities for getting published and finding time and space to write, and feature essays by other writers about the craft and experience of being a creative writer. 

Poets & Writers is available in print in the library and online in Flipster. The magazine features profiles of prominent writers, essays reflecting on all aspects of writing, prompts, and opportunities for publishing, fellowships, awards, contests, etc.

Writer's Digest  is another monthly magazine available in print in the library and online in Flipster. It is very similar to Poets & Writers in offering all manner of support for writers. The 2024 Yearbook special issue is a must-read for all writers out there!

Other (Free) Resources

So many magazines for creatives of any type offer free e-newsletters as a complement to their monthly print magazine. Whenever you encounter a magazine that speaks your language, visit their website to see if they have a free newsletter you can sign up for. 

Mslexia

Coming out of the U.K., this is a magazine "for women who write," and while SFPL does not currently subscribe to it, the magazine offers a free newsletter through their website, sponsors writing contests, and offers support and products for purchase for women writers.

Submittable 

No aspiring writer worth their salt doesn't have a Submittable account. Calling itself "A social impact platform that's good for all" nowadays, Submittable started as a solution for independent lit mag editors to manage submissions in a streamlined way. It remains the most commonly used platform for lit mags to accept submissions for publication consideration. Once you have a Submittable account, it becomes much easier to submit your work and to track your submissions.

Lit Mag News Substack

This Substack email newsletter, which you can read online like a blog and which boasts robust comments on the posts, tackles all issues germane to the independent publishing industry, from both the writer's perspective and the editor's. 

Paper dreams : writers and editors on the American literary magazine

Special shoutout to this book, which gives context, backstory, and rejuvenation to the slog through getting your work published in a lit mag.

Happy submitting and reading! MNC offers the best of luck to all the aspiring writers out there.