In my experience, there are many reasons to seek publication in journals that have been around for less than a year. 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 over a decade now, 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 decade, 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.
Some of these journals are currently closed but the majority are open to submissions. Not all of these journals are a right fit for my work, but they stood out to me as journals with a clear vision or focus.
Strange Pilgrims
From the founding editors of Only Poems, comes a new, prose focused journal that publishes short stories, essays, flash fiction, and flash creative nonfiction. The plan is to publish one piece each week alternating between the long and short form pieces. They are a paying market. They also created their own submission manager for this new publication. Their logo is a lot of fun, and they are named after one of my favourite Gabriel García Márquez short story collections. They pay.
Strange Hymnal
I did not intend to have two journals with the name strange is the tittle followed by a word associated with religion, but here we are. Strange Hymnal describes themselves as “a literary magazine of mystery, ritual, and obsession. A biome of writing and art that worships the strange and unusual. An investigation of liminal spaces, the ineffable, the profane, the god that lives inside the car wash. A made religion, consumed by possibility, the duality of self, the tension between fear and curiosity, the seen and unseen.” They are open to submissions of art, hybrid work, poetry, essays, short stories, as well as translations of the dead. They are open to submissions now, and plan to have two reading periods a year, one usually opening in November. You can get a feel for what they publish by reading their first issue here. The way the issue is presented is visually impressive.
Claudine
Claudine is a monthly online literary magazine, that publishes microfiction and micro creative nonfiction. They also publish a micro by a new writer every month, as well as at least one prose chapbook review. They pay their writers. I like how they present the journal, and their logo and cat-mascot helps make it feel distinct. I also really like that they highlight the work of new writers. You can read an issue here to get a feel for what they publish.
January House
This new online journal publishes poetry, prose (fiction and creative nonfiction), and visual art. They describe their journal by saying ” January House is a meeting place for diverse expressions, urgent conversations, and the ever-evolving landscapes of contemporary literature and art. We invite you to join us in shaping a publication that honors both craft and curiosity, rooted in a belief that storytelling, in all its forms, matters.” You can read their first issue here.
Hearts of Thunder
Their tagline is “Where sensitivity is life.” Their website is well designed and easy to use. I also really like that they want to celebrate “voices that feel the world deeply—writers and artists who notice the weight of morning light, who taste colors, who find meaning in the spaces between sounds.” They are currently seeking narrative essays, poetry, and artwork that explore the theme of sensory perception for their first issue.
Quail Eggs
Quail Eggs is a tanka journal. As such they only publish tanka and closely related forms such as tan-renga and tanka prose. Their first two issues are terrific, and you can read the most recent issue here.
Girl Dinner Digest
Not the right fit for every submitter but they have a clear focus and target audience, which always stands out to me both as a reader and a reviewer. If their tagline *bite-sized content for busy b*tches” is off putting to you please skip past to the next entry. I really admire the design of the site (particularly the “What’s on the Menu” section of the submission guidelines”, the commitment to a vibe, and the focus on short work by “women, nonbinary, queer, and any other creators who resonate with girlhood”. They haven’t published their first issue yet.
The Table Review
The editors of The Table Review founded it “with the belief that literature deserves a slower, more intimate setting”. They want the publication to feel like a place where people gather and listen. They publish fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. You can see what they have published so far you can read the fiction they published here, and the creative nonfiction here. They are currently closed to submissions as they are shifting away from weekly posts to twice a year issues. They plan to reopen soon
The Little Review
This is what they have to say about themselves: “Poetry magazines can be very dull. The Little Review is not a poetry magazine. We are a magazine – one that just happens to be entirely about poetry.” The editor’s sense of humor and attention to detail are clear throughout the website of this UK-based magazine. Any submission that includes poems, must also include at least one book review per poem! Do not submit to them unless you are able to do that. They are a print and PDF based publication, and they do not offer free samples that I could find.
Emily Harstone is the author of many popular books, including The Authors Publish Guide to Manuscript Submissions, Submit, Publish, Repeat, and The 2025 Guide to Manuscript Publishers. She regularly teaches three acclaimed courses on writing and publishing at The Writer’s Workshop at Authors Publish. You can follow her on Facebook here.
