The following is a list of 8 new literary journals. All of these journals have been around for less than six months.
In my experience, there are many reasons to seek publication in these journals. When a literary journal is new, the editors tend to be a lot more passionate. I have gotten handwritten thank you cards from editors of new publications, something that has never happened when my work was published by a more established journal.
Editors of new journals tend to be more generous with their time, energy, and enthusiasm. Plus, they are genuinely grateful that you trusted their new and untested journal with your work. Several of the journals that published my work in their first issue have gone on to permanently feature my poems on their website as their ‘sample poem’, so that other submitters get a feel for the kind of work they like to read.
New journals have recorded podcasts about my work. My work ended up getting promoted a lot more than if it had been accepted by an older, more established journal.
With a new journal, the odds that work will be nominated for a literary prize increase as well. I have been publishing in new journals for eight years and some of the journals that published my work when I was a new writer are now established and several now have a less than 1% acceptance rate. However, when I originally submitted, they were far less competitive.
During that eight-year period, a number of those new journals went under, which is one of the major pitfalls to submitting to new journals. The other major pitfall is that you don’t know what you are getting into, particularly if your work is published in the first issue. You can’t look at past issues, online and in print, because they have none. In a way it is stepping into the unknown. In my experience though, the risk is always worth it because the reward can be much greater
Below is a list of 10 literary journals that I very much like, that have been around for less than a year. The list is in no particular order.
Note: Not all of the journals are currently open to submissions, but most are.
You can read the last list that we published of this kind here.
8 Poems
A simple, well designed online journal, 8 Poems publishes 8 poems every month. Each poem is paired with an image. The website as a whole and the issues are easy to navigate and interact with. The poems themselves are powerful and clear in their intent. The first issue was published in July! You can learn more here.
Our Words Podcast
Our Words is not a traditional literary journal, but a podcast. They are just on their third episode but they seem to know what they’re doing. They publish short stories, poems, and creative non-fiction. The podcast is available on multiple platforms and the episode I listened to was rather compelling. Learn more here.
Okay Donkey
This literary journal publishes fiction, flash fiction, essays, and poetry. The website is very well designed and appealing. The writing they publish is great. They’re re-opening for submissions in January. Learn more here.
Martian
Martian is an online science fiction publication that focuses on publishing very short fiction. They only publish drabbles. Drabbles are exactly 100 words in length. They are a paying market. Learn more here.
Ethos Literary Journal
Ethos Literary Journal is a new print and online journal based out of India that publishes fiction, essays, and poetry. Learn more here.
Three Crows
Three Crows publishes dark, weird, and gritty fantasy, horror, and sci-fi that focuses on complex characters making morally ambiguous decisions. They are an online publication. The writing they have published so far shows promise. They pay $25 per story. Learn more here.
Maryland Literary Review
Maryland Literary Review was founded in the summer of 2018 and they have yet to publish their first issue. They will be publish essays, short fiction, and Poetry. Learn more here.
Thimble
Thimble is a poetry journal that launched in the summer of 2018. It is electronic but beautifully presented, easy to navigate, and contains excellent work. Learn more here.
