I’m a proud contributor to an anthology releasing this week from the University of Chicago Press, The Little Magazine in Contemporary America, edited by Ian Morris and Joanne Diaz.
The collection features 23 prominent editors whose magazines have flourished over the past 35 years. You’ll find insights into how their publications sometimes succeeded, sometimes reluctantly folded, but mostly how they evolved and persevered. Other topics discussed include the role of little magazines in promoting the work and concerns of minority and women writers, the place of universities in supporting and shaping little magazines, and the online and offline future of these publications.
My essay, perhaps unsurprisingly, speculates on what’s ahead for little magazine publishing. It’s titled “The Future of the Gatekeepers.” (Read advance reviews of the entire book here.) Other contributors include:
- Andrei Codrescu, Exquisite Corpse
- Dave Eggers, McSweeney’s
- Keith Gessen, n+1
- Lee Gutkind, Creative Nonfiction
- Amy Hoffman, Women’s Review of Books
- Don Share, Poetry
- Betsy Sussler, BOMB
- and other excellent authors and editors
I’ll be discussing this topic at a panel this week at the annual AWP Conference in Minneapolis, on Friday, April 10, at 10:30 a.m. Official description:
The Little Magazine in America: Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? (Jeffrey Lependorf, Don Share, Ian Morris, Jane Friedman). A diversity of literary magazine experts discuss and debate the sometimes secret history and roles of “the little magazine” in America. Where do literary magazines seem to be headed now? What other routes might they take?
You can catch me on another panel related to literary journals on Saturday, April 11, at 3:30 p.m.:
Literary Publishing in the 21st Century (Travis Kurowski, Daniel Slager, Jane Friedman, Emily Smith, Gerald Howard). In 1980, Bill Henderson assembled The Art of Literary Publishing, an anthology that defined the challenges publishers would face for the next thirty years. In recognition of the seismic change in the industry over the past decade, Literary Publishing in the 21st Century brings together a diverse group of publishing professionals to explore challenges the next thirty years may hold. This panel assembles four contributors to the anthology to explain how publishing will thrive in the 21st century.
If you’re also headed to AWP this year, I’ve curated a list of sessions focused on the business side of writing and publishing.
Jane Friedman has spent nearly 25 years working in the book publishing industry, with a focus on author education and trend reporting. She is the editor of The Hot Sheet, the essential publishing industry newsletter for authors, and was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World in 2023. Her latest book is The Business of Being a Writer (University of Chicago Press), which received a starred review from Library Journal. In addition to serving on grant panels for the National Endowment for the Arts and the Creative Work Fund, she works with organizations such as The Authors Guild to bring transparency to the business of publishing.