88 Writing Jobs, Lit Mag Opps, Pitch Calls, Fellowships, Internships, and More

Jobs for Writers (6.27.25) | Remote roles at HarperCollins, Words Without Borders, and Motley Bloom; pitch calls paying up to $1/word; and how to become a reader at your favorite lit mag

Jun 27, 2025

∙ Paid

Welcome to Sub Club’s Jobs for Writers!

I guess it’s not just The Atlantic on a hiring spree (btw, does this not look like major layoffs in the future to anybody? I mean…). This week, we’ve got opportunities out the wazoo at places like The New Yorker, Room, Motley Bloom, and more. If the prospect of hunkering down and applying to jobs all weekend appeals to you for some reason, you are in for a treat.

Speaking of treats! From today on, we’re making all volunteer and lit mags opportunities free for everyone to access. You’ll find those listings above the paywall today. Enjoy!

Before we get to how someone else got the gig, a quick question: How did you break in? We want stories about how people got their jobs in writing, editing, publishing, academics, or whatever else that’s writing-adjacent. Selected entries will get $50 or a one-year comp. Get the details and submit your entry here.

How to Break In: Reader-Palooza!!

You asked, they answered: Welcome to our first-ever READER-PALOOZA!! Below, we’re hearing from six folks who work as readers at literary magazines, and they’re giving us a quick dish on the lessons they’ve learned during their tenure, how to make your work stand out from the rest, and what you can do to break in as a reader yourself. There’s some good insight, no matter what side of a lit mag you’re on.

rachael vaughan clemmons: First things first: This is How to Break In. How can people break into reading for a lit mag? What’s your advice?

E.N. Couturier, Reader at Cutbank Literary Journal: Reach out to writers and editors when you like their work. Not to ask for anything, just to tell them so. In a world that's generally so online and isolated from those small organic interactions, making a point to reach out person-to-person is special.

Deborah Zenha Adams, Reader at Boomer Lit Magazine: Do it! Writers can learn so much from working on the other side of the door, and readers [can] be introduced to writers and written works they'd likely never find otherwise.

Sarah Bradley, Fiction Reader at wildscape lit: Don’t be afraid to jump in if you see an opportunity that seems like a good fit—it can be a great learning experience. Also, try to be kind; submitting requires a lot of courage, especially when you’re just starting out, and I think it’s important to remember and honor that.

Ravneet Kaur Sandhu, Reader at Exposition Review: Read the journals!! And advocate for them and share them with everyone. Most magazines have newsletters, and it's worth it to subscribe, even if you cannot pay for a membership.

Danielle Shi, Poetry Reader at The Rumpus: Read, read, read, and submit widely! See what each magazine's mission is, and how these mission values line up with your own, before going to their opportunities section. Is the magazine somewhere you would submit to or hope to see your work?

Marjee Chmiel, Reader at Flash Fiction Online: Understand that as a reader, you are there to support the vision of the editorial team. If you work for a really good editor, they will make that very clear for you and make it easy for you to understand how that translates into evaluating stories.

rvc: What are some unexpected perks or surprises you have encountered as a reader?

ENC: Reading so many submissions taught me to critically evaluate my own work much more methodically and learn how to tailor my submissions to various mags. It's also been a nice bonus having some more professional connections with readers/editors as part of a team rather than just evaluators.

DZA: The greatest surprise is how good the submissions are. About 98% of the submissions I've read over the past 15 years have been well-written, enjoyable reading.

SB: Seeing common mistakes like overwriting, too many needless adjectives/adverbs, and work that hasn’t been edited rigorously enough makes me more sensitive to these issues in my own work.

RKS: The unfettered access to how other writers are writing. Sometimes, if I get lucky, I can see the same thing I am currently struggling with in my writing be resolved in the submissions, or a random spark of inspiration that helps me polish or even finish one of my own pieces.

DS: I've really enjoyed learning more about poetic forms and the disparate but engaging ways that writers choose to express themselves. It's given me some thought on how to structure and communicate my ideas more effectively.

MC: I have a better perspective on my own rejections. That said, being a reader has allowed me to really internalize my understanding of craft in a way that nothing else has, not readings, not lectures, not workshops, etc. Reading so many [unpublished] pieces is probably the best education any writer can have.

rvc: How can submitters make themselves stand out from the crowd?

ENC: Trust your work to speak for itself. Don't use the cover letter as a sales pitch or a resume review.

DZA: Follow the submission guidelines. Follow the guidelines. Follow the frelling guidelines.

RKS: Read the journal. No, seriously, go back to the archives and find at least one piece that speaks to you. If you don't, you won't be placed in the journal.

DS: A nice cover letter with some mention of their interest in the magazine or poems they had read in it could be helpful. Also, I prefer shorter bios (one to two small paragraphs) to longer ones.

rvc: Any advice on how submitters can make their work stand out?

ENC: Know what you are trying to say and why your piece exists! I read so many stories that left me wondering why they had been written. Anything with energy and drive and a strong conclusion went right to the top of my list, because it was truly so rare.

DZA: Edit, revise, tighten, edit. READ THE JOURNAL to see what is published there. Creativity is fantastic, but in order to have your work accepted, it must fit with what the journal publishes.

SB: Honestly, just following the guidelines and sending work that’s polished and fits the vibe of the magazine. Doing your homework is the best way to stand out.

RKS: Don't send the first or second draft. Let your work breathe.

DS: Work on having strong titles that express the essence of the poem, preferably not simply one-word abstractions, as these can be overdone.

MC: I think writers get so caught up in craft, they forget that imagination and surprise are important. If you aren't saying something new, I'm not going to pass the story along.

rvc: Any parting words?

DZA: Don't give up. When the rejection notice says "not a good fit for us," that's exactly what it means. It's not you, it's the needs of the publisher.

DS: Don't be afraid to try expanding your repertoire into different areas! You can be a prose writer and a poet. All it takes is for you to try.

Is your job—or a friend’s job, or a friend’s friend’s job—looking for a writerly person to do something… writerly?

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