The 19 Most Popular Lit Mags on Chill Subs
Let's take a look.
OK, confession off the bat. I have a personal spreadsheet where I organize all of our data and add my own notes. And, well, this list was meant to be “20 Most Popular Lit Mags on Chill Subs” but I totally prepared the entire thing not accounting for Row 1 being titles for every column. So, y’know. All of us are human. Also, 19 just sounds better, doesn’t it? It better.
If you’re dying of curiosity, # 20 was Gulf Coast.
So, how do we determine this anyway? For those who don’t know, we run a database of 3000+ magazines. We have 12,500 users. When any user ‘Bookmarks’ a magazine, it means they’ve saved it to their favorites. So, we took a look at the magazines that are most-bookmarked.
I think this data is pretty cool. It’s something only we can provide and gives you an idea of what other writers are looking at. Since a lot of writers are also readers, hey, this probably means more eyes on your work. Also, if loads of people are loving these mags, well, a little credibility & bragging rights never hurt anyone.
The percentage in brackets is the magazine’s acceptance rate. I included notes about fees, payments, response times, socials, and a bit of commentary on why I think they are popular. If you click the magazine’s name it will direct you to their website.
Let’s do it in reverse order to build up the antici……………………pation.
Eh? Rocky Horror Picture Show? Anyone? Ah, ok, I’m leaving.
19th - Poetry
Poetry (<1%) - An independent literary organization committed to a vigorous presence for poetry in our culture.
Founded in 1912. Sim-subs are fine. No fee to submit. Payment: $300+ (Responds within 240 days). They are active on socials. They have a print run. 100,000+ Twitter followers. Damn.
Pretty easy to see how they wound up on this list. Very old, established magazine and a top market for poetry.
18th - Frontier Poetry
Frontier Poetry (4-5%) - We are looking for poetry that pushes language forward, for poets and poems that strive to place themselves at the edge of what language can do.
Founded in 2010. Sim-subs are fine. No fee to submit. Payment: $50/poem (Responds within 120 days). They are active on socials. Popular on socials with 10,000+ Twitter followers.
Frontier is part of a network of magazines and does loads of promotions. It’s no surprise they’ve risen in popularity. Their website is very clean and professional. They run contests.
17th - Ninth Letter
Ninth Letter (<1%) - The award-winning literary arts journal edited and produced by the Creative Writing Program at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. The journal's mission is to present original literary writing of exceptional quality, illuminated by cutting-edge graphic design.
Founded in 2004. Sim-subs are fine. No fee to submit. Payment: $25-125 (Responds within 120 days). They are active on socials. They have a print run. They give free contributor copies to everyone they publish. 20,000+ Twitter followers.
Right there in the description. Award winning. Well regarded, beautiful design. Active editors. Easy to see where that popularity comes from.
16th - trampset
trampset (<2%) - A literary journal, trampset publishes fiction, nonfiction, and poetry on a rolling basis. We welcome diverse voices, including writers working outside academia.
Founded in 2017. Sim-subs are fine. No fee to submit. Payment: $25 (Responds within 90 days). They nominate for Best Small Fictions and Pushcart. They are active on socials. Popular on socials with 10,000+ Twitter followers.
Always knew of them but was always surprised with how popular they are since they are on Medium (not the friendliest place for creative works). But hey, they publish great poetry. So, there you have it.
15th - SmokeLong Quarterly
SmokeLong Quarterly (<1%) - We are dedicated to bringing the best flash narratives to the web quarterly, whether written by widely published authors or those new to the craft.
Founded in 2003. Sim-subs are fine. No fee to submit. Payment: $100/story (Responds within 7 days). They are active on socials. 20,000+ Twitter followers.
The tippy-top of the flash fiction market. Very engaged editors.
14th - The Baffler
The Baffler (2-3%) - The Baffler is America’s leading voice of interesting and unexpected left-wing political criticism, cultural analysis, short stories, poems and art. We publish six print issues annually, as well as online content every day of the cursed workweek.
Founded in 1988. Sim-subs are fine. No fee to submit. Payment: Yes. They are active on socials. They have a print run. 50,000+ Twitter followers.
Politics. Duh.
13th - The New Yorker
The New Yorker (0%) - Unparalleled reporting and commentary on politics and culture, plus humor and cartoons, fiction and poetry, reviews, and criticism.
Founded in 1925. Sim-subs are fine. No fee to submit. Payment: Yes (Responds within 180 days). We've noticed they're good about promoting their writers. They are active on socials. They have a print run. 100,000+ Twitter followers. Damn.
I mean, do I need to explain why I think they’re on here? No, I do not.
12th - the aurora journal
the aurora journal (2-3%) - The Aurora Journal publishes surrealistic poetry and prose. Inspired by the Aurora Borealis, we look for writing that is surreal, ethereal, and dreamy, and explores the dangerous limits of surrealism.
Founded in 2020. Sim-subs are fine. No fee to submit. Payment: $12/piece (Responds within 21 days). They are active on socials.
Love seeing a newer journal on here. Very active and has a lot of good publishing habits. No fee, pays, quick turn around.
11th - Rattle
Rattle (<1%) - A publication of the Rattle Foundation, an independent 501(c)3 non-profit organization whose mission is to promote the practice of poetry, and is not affiliated with any other organization.
Founded in 1995. Sim-subs are fine. No fee to submit. Payment: $200 (Responds within 180 days). We've noticed they're good about promoting their writers. They are active on socials. They have a print run. They give free contributor copies to everyone they publish. Popular on socials with 10,000+ Twitter followers.
One of the most well known poetry publishers, no wonder there. The editor also has discussed ways he actively promotes in certain areas by analyzing web traffic.