4 ms·

This is interesting because I am personal friends with the editorial teams of two different literary magazines that were started in the last five years. Having

This is interesting because I am personal friends with the editorial teams of two different literary magazines that were started in the last five years. Having seen the numbers, I can say they are doing quite well. I am curious as to what is going wrong in these particular magazines that is causing them to close?

x3iv130f 5y ago
My ignorant guess is that long running magazines end up targeting older readers who have a bad habit of dying off.
zebraflask 5y ago
I think a large part of it has to do with the print aspect - printing costs have been going up from supply chain issues over paper, binding material, etc. And if the outlet needs to pay staff and pay writers, that adds another layer of pressure. If it's subject to budgetary and other administrative issues because it's tied to a university, even more pressure. What this article glossed over far too quickly, in my view, is how there are thousands - literally, thousands - of online or primarily online journals and magazines that are doing just fine or better than fine. I can vouch to that because I started one last year. Granted, our editors are all volunteers and we don't pay writers, but we've had no problem pulling in all kinds of accomplished writers (and, no, they aren't "quirky" like the article somewhat dismissively referenced, whatever that means). Our largest operating costs come from submission platform fees and trade organization memberships. Grand total, around $500 per year. For everything else, free resources like Netlify hosting for the site. These types of articles could be a little more nuanced. Conventional publishing has serious issues, but it's just one piece of the literary landscape.
tssva 5y ago
Many of the literary magazines mentioned in the article have always been dependent on the financial largesse of a larger institution such as a university. As such they haven't had to concern themselves with being independently financially viable. Changing that type of culture can be extremely difficult. It is probably easier to start from scratch as your friends have.
1123581321 5y ago
Are they paying full prices for writing and staff? Unless they've stumbled across an unusual niche or business model, a subsidy is required one way or another.
- causalmodels 5y ago
  Full time staff of between 5 and 20. No idea how writer pay works but I know my writer friends are happy with it. They are both organized as 501c3s with fundraising explicitly tied into the model
  - 1123581321 5y ago
    That is excellent. I would say though that the fundraising is the subsidy; I think they will have a natural arc to their charitable support like many of the older magazines are concluding.

x3iv130f 5y ago

My ignorant guess is that long running magazines end up targeting older readers who have a bad habit of dying off.

zebraflask 5y ago

I think a large part of it has to do with the print aspect - printing costs have been going up from supply chain issues over paper, binding material, etc. And if the outlet needs to pay staff and pay writers, that adds another layer of pressure. If it's subject to budgetary and other administrative issues because it's tied to a university, even more pressure. What this article glossed over far too quickly, in my view, is how there are thousands - literally, thousands - of online or primarily online journals and magazines that are doing just fine or better than fine. I can vouch to that because I started one last year. Granted, our editors are all volunteers and we don't pay writers, but we've had no problem pulling in all kinds of accomplished writers (and, no, they aren't "quirky" like the article somewhat dismissively referenced, whatever that means). Our largest operating costs come from submission platform fees and trade organization memberships. Grand total, around $500 per year. For everything else, free resources like Netlify hosting for the site. These types of articles could be a little more nuanced. Conventional publishing has serious issues, but it's just one piece of the literary landscape.

tssva 5y ago

Many of the literary magazines mentioned in the article have always been dependent on the financial largesse of a larger institution such as a university. As such they haven't had to concern themselves with being independently financially viable. Changing that type of culture can be extremely difficult. It is probably easier to start from scratch as your friends have.

1123581321 5y ago

Are they paying full prices for writing and staff? Unless they've stumbled across an unusual niche or business model, a subsidy is required one way or another.

causalmodels 5y ago
Full time staff of between 5 and 20. No idea how writer pay works but I know my writer friends are happy with it. They are both organized as 501c3s with fundraising explicitly tied into the model
- 1123581321 5y ago
  That is excellent. I would say though that the fundraising is the subsidy; I think they will have a natural arc to their charitable support like many of the older magazines are concluding.