1000+ Literary Magazines Have Been Founded Since The Pandemic (Here are the Top 40)
No fees, dedicated editors, and consistent publishing habits have helped these magazines thrive.
I’m always curious about what makes a magazine “successful” or “popular.” There are lists like Clifford Garstang’s Pushcart Prize winners, or Erika Krouse’s Top 500 Fiction Markets. Both are based mostly on prestige and a lot of the magazines there are 5, 10, 20 years old.
Since the pandemic, over 1000 magazines have entered the space. How have they fared? Who has risen to the top and why?
On Chill Subs, we have a ‘Bookmark’ feature where writers save the magazines they want to submit to later. So I went through 2019-2022 and pulled the Top 10 most bookmarked for each year (40 total). They might not be the most prestigious or most read but writers love them.
I plan to do a full breakdown of the data in our startup diary, but here I just wanted to share them. Who they are, what they do, and what they’re looking for.
One of the happiest consistencies I found was that none of them require submission fees. Only one (Chestnut Review) has a fee for longer prose, but also have a whole breakdown of their money philosophy and are transparent about where the money goes. So, let’s take a look.
From 2019-2022, here are the TOP 10 Magazines from each year that writers love.
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And to those current subscribers, thank you. We couldn’t do this without you.
Founded in 2022
ALOCASIA - A quarterly magazine of queer plant-based writing. Founded in 2022. Sim-subs are fine. No fee to submit. Payment: $10 (Responds within 7 days). They nominate for Best Small Fictions, Best Microfiction, Best of the Net, and Pushcart. They are popular and have been bookmarked over 200 times on Chill Subs. They are active on socials. Competitive market with a <5% acceptance rate.
Aôthen Magazine - A magazine dedicated to all kinds of Classics-inspired content! (art, poetry, essays, photography, etc.) Founded in 2022. Sim-subs are fine. No fee to submit. Payment: 10 USD (Responds within 21 days). They've been bookmarked over 100 times on Chill Subs. They are active on socials. They have a print run.
Apple a Day - A food zine for people who have a complicated relationship with it. Submissions for art, writing, recipes, and more are open on a rolling basis. Founded in 2022. Sim-subs are fine. No fee to submit. Payment: Printed copy (Responds within 60 days). They've been bookmarked over 100 times on Chill Subs. They are active on socials. They have a print run. They give free contributor copies to everyone they publish.