If you want to be a writer … buy literary magazines
It amazes me that people expect to be published in places they haven’t read. That’s like expecting the barman to pour champagne for the house on your birthday when you’ve never graced his barstool before – it might happen, but it’s unlikely: if you get lucky, then lucky you, but if you’re relying on luck for your birthday treat, you’ll probably go home one year older and a whole lot less celebratory than you’d hoped.
Of course we can’t all read everything. Apart from anything else, lit mags are not cheap and writers are not rich. On the other hand, a sample copy costs very little and at least shows you’re interested enough to explore further. Most of us can manage a subscription or two (or three, or four, or … nine?) and if we don’t keep these smaller publications alive, there won’t be anywhere for us to get published.
Which brings me to Cadenza. I’ve just read through my sample copy (pdf file, £3, an absolute bargain) and discovered that this literary magazine is not just a good venue for publication, it provides an incredible, almost invaluable, resource for writers. The commentary on competition entries is one of the best learning tools I’ve seen since I became a writer. This is not just because you’re given an explanation of why a story was chosen as a winner, but also for the insight into how judges work and the general information about what moves a story up through the ranks of entries to the shortlist – if you don’t understand why your work doesn’t win contests, then a subscription to Cadenza (www.cadenza-magazine.co.uk) will quite possibly teach you everything you need to know about what makes winning literature.
3 Comments
LMD
4th April 2007I shall have to check them out, thank you! Sounds valuable.
As always, you put your finger on the crux of the matter, i.e., we cannot begin to subscribe to all literary magazines we’d love to read. Not only is it a question of funds for most of us, but also and more importantly, a question of available time. There is simply not enough time to read everything we’re “supposed” to read, and still write.
A balancing act, for sure.
Tribeless
4th April 2007I like it when the print magazines put up sample stories online, and this seems like a good tactic on their behalf: if I like the sample stories I’m far more likely to subscribe than I would be to an unknown (indeed, I would not subscribe to any journal that I had not read something in – and in NZ I can’t go down to my bookshop to see the majority of titles). Also, the editors/readers will save time because writers are far more likely to have familiarised themselves with the content.
Outside of this though, I have to say I am an offender, tending to send stories off to literary magazines, often, that I have not read.
Kay Sexton
8th April 2007McKenna, I think you’d find Cadenza a very good read; I certainly did.
Mark, I agree – sample stories and sample copies (like the one Cadenza offers) are a brilliant way to entice readership. We all send to places we’re not familiar with, how can we not? But keeping one’s favourite magazines alive is an important ‘corrective’ to the need to send work into the void. Think of it as your literary carbon offset!