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.

The Genre Society 
This new literary journal is focused on publishing poetry and fiction, that falls into one or more of the following genres: horror, science fiction, fantasy, mystery, magical realism, romance, thriller. This is good news, especially for romance writers who often struggle to find publishers for shorter work, as well as poets, whose work is genre focused, and often not welcome in mainstream literary journal. Their website is fun and well-designed, and you can read their first two issues here. They will reopen for submissions on 1st December. 

Port Crow Press
Another exciting new literary journal focused on genre, they are open to art, poetry, and short fiction. They do have a much more focused approach on genre and are interested only in speculative fiction including fantasy, sci-fi, and horror (they are not interested in gore, though). This is a much more common focus for lit journals to have, in terms of genre. They’ve published some good speculative pieces so far, which you can see here. They pay a token amount to contributors.

wildscape.
It’s a little harder to get an impression of this new journal, just because they are still reading for their inaugural issue that will be published in January. I do like the layout of their website. I also really appreciate how they say “we love anything that will make us feel. Anger, heartbreak, grief, joy, whimsy— all of it. ” They also list more details of what they are looking for and some of their favorite pieces by writers, if you scroll down on their submission page. They publish poetry, flash fiction, and art. They will reopen for submissions on 1st December.

Wallstrait
This new journal describes itself as a place for “hard to define fiction”. They publish new pieces every two weeks and pay $25 per story. They are open to flash fiction, longer stories, and hybrid experimental work. I like how open they are about not soliciting work. They have a large masthead, listed under the About section. You can get a feel for what they’ve published so far here. They close for submissions on 1st December. 

The Nomad
Ella Peary gave a full review of The Nomad here. I’m also very excited about this journal, and their upcoming themed issue focused on breakthroughs which they go on to say could include breakthroughs that are “literal, spiritual, symbolic, personal, public, or something else.”. They close to submissions on April 30th, 2025.

Jelly Squid
Based out of Washington State, they publish poetry, prose, and art. You can read their first issue here, to get a feel for what they publish. I personally love how they formatted and presented issue one, as well as some of the work. Their priority is publishing work from writers who have been published six times or less, including never publishing before at all. This is not a requirement, but a preference. If you haven’t published much please let them know in your query letter. They are currently closed to submissions.

Wild Peach
I love the name of this literary journal, and their mission. They are part of a UK-based organization, and its goal is “to make education and creative arts accessible for everyone”. They are also seeking volunteer readers, and encouraging people to reach out. I love how they describe what they are looking for, as well as what they are not looking for.

BRAWL
I love that they have a very original approach to editing. They are a poetry only journal, and when you submit to them, you pick which of the two editors you want to read your work. There are bios and preferences listed for both of them. You can also read the past poems they’ve published here. The website is well-designed, and I personally love their logo.