We just opened our issue 15 submissions call. As usual we will be accepting work for five weeks, so you have until September 20th. But this call is a little different—we are asking everyone who sends in work for consideration to also show us that they have bought a literary magazine recently.
If you are currently thinking something along the lines of ‘what the hell?’, then the following Q&A is for you! And if you have other questions or comments do please drop us a line or use the comments section below.
— Euan
What the hell?
A couple of great literary magazines recently announced their closure. The Alarmist and PANK couldn’t be more different, but with the news of their closing, we realised how easy it is for even our favourites to disappear if we forget to support them. As the Alarmist’s editors said in their wonderfully honest final editorial, the vast majority of independent magazines are staffed by volunteers, and many of them operate at a loss. And that’s how it’s always been: literary magazines come and literary magazines go.
Structo is no different: the magazine just about breaks even, and none of us are paid for our work.
Of course, we don’t do it for the money, we do it because we love the writing we publish, and enjoy the process of creating magazines. But—and here’s where our plan comes in—if you send writing to literary magazines, we reckon you should support the ones you enjoy; that way they are more likely to be around the next time you want to send them work.
You’re saying I should buy these magazines even though I almost certainly won’t get paid for the work of mine they publish?
You should if you like those magazines. If their publishers don’t pay you, they should be working extra hard to get your work seen by a wide audience. We certainly are.
What if I can’t afford, or don’t have access to, any literary magazines?
This is important, as some literary magazines are expensive. On the other hand, others are an absolute bargain! One of our recent favourites is Belville Park Pages, which costs £3 including postage from Paris. You can also buy a large proportion of magazines digitally, from anywhere in the world. This is often a cheaper option.
Do I have to buy Structo?
No. The point of this isn’t to raise funds for us. It could be anything from The Paris Review to Popshot to a literary ‘zine made by a local school kid. As long as you paid for it, it counts.
That said, if you want recommendations, keep an eye on the blog over the next few days for a post about some of our favourite magazines.
So this is basically a submission fee?
In a way, but one distributed throughout the entire literary magazine community.
What exactly do you want me to do?
We want you to take a photo of the current issue of any literary magazine you own and upload it with your submission. This can be anything from a simple photo of the cover, to a selfie with the issue, to photo of your cat and/or other cute animal sitting on a pile of subscriptions. You get bonus points for the last one.
If you’re reading digitally, you can send in a screenshot or photo of that issue’s contents page.
How do I send in my photos?
There’s a place to upload the images on the submissions form, a link to which you can find on our submissions page.
Update as of 18/08:
Does the magazine have to be in English?
No, any language is great.
What about a magazine I support via Patreon or a similar system?
This totally counts. We’re looking into the best way to handle this without you having to disclose any personal information.
Well done, and thank you for coming up with this innovative idea which will spread the word for many magazines! As someone who recently established my own digital magazine, Reading Ireland:The Little Magazine, I agree completely with your comments about the whole enterprise being a labor of love. One of the things I do each month is to focus on a little magazine from the past,(just to honor the editors and writers who slaved away on their publications, and also to bring their work to contemporary audiences). I wrote and essay on The Klaxton (1923/24), in the spring, and Envoy (1949-1951)in the summer. For our autumn issue, we will be doing something different as I will be reviewing the special Yeats issue that Poetry Ireland will be publishing in the hope of attracting more readers to their publication. Finally, as someone who regularly publishes my own poems in small poetry journals, I always subscribe to the publications my work appears in and wish that more poets also did this. Best wishes with you forthcoming issue. Adrienne Leavy.
That’s a really lovely idea, and many thanks! There is so much wonderful writing in older journals and magazines. Great that you’re giving it another chance to be read and appreciated.
Thank you Structo. What a delightful idea. We are absolutely sharing this on our website.
Much appreciated Briony.
Really lovely idea, Structo! Nicely done.
Great idea, Euan! And thanks for including Firewords in the photo 🙂
Have enjoyed Firewords since issue one.
Brilliant idea!It is also nice for us writers to see people buy magazines; instead of being asked by friends to give them free copies :))
PANK folded? I can’t find anything about that on their website, and they are not listed as defunct on Duotrope.
It was a brief note on their blog: http://pankmagazine.com/2015/07/30/so-long-farewell-auf-wiedersehen-adieu/
Ah. It’s as of the next issue/end of year. That would explain why it’s not yet listed as defunct, and why my submission is still listed as in progress…
Shame. It’s a great journal. Would love it if I could be in their last issue. I was in issue 10 and was very impressed.
Agreed!