To be non-profit, or not to be…
That is our question, to you. One of the biggest initial decisions we have to make in order to start a literary magazine, is non-profit versus for-profit. Which one best fits our needs, our goals, our growth and mobility as a lit mag? Why?
We don’t pretend to know all the nitty-gritty details of non-profit inner workings… yet. What we do know is general information, and what we have is a boatload of questions. Along the way to our own enlightenment (which, as always, we gladly share with you, dear readers, in the off chance there are other lit mag dreamers out there), we’ll be researching everything we can get our hands on, as well as interviewing fellow lit-org folk who have already made their way in the non-profit world swimmingly.
So far, we’re leaning toward a non-profit lit mag, based on some very general and ideological values:
1.) Grants. As a non-profit, we can apply for grants, and hopefully have more security that way in the literary world. Minnesota has a decent number of grants available, and this is how all the non-profits I have worked for are able to get by with making choices based on the value of the art, instead of the pressure of what makes the moolah.
2.) Which brings me to our next reason: less focus on the green stuff. This means more focus on content (ideally, anyway). We are OK with not making money in this endeavor. We’d like the journal to be a true reflection of our interests: the literature and art by y’all that we want to see published, letterpress printed, gabbed about. We do not want the nasty pressures of having to make money, if we can possibly help it. We just want to break even someday.
3.) Less focus on competition. Non-profit status also takes away the edge of cut-throat competition. I suppose we will be “competing” to some extent with other magazines, but in non-profits, there is more of an emphasis on community, on helping each other out. Seeing as that is the whole point to this here blog, it’s obviously an important aspect for us.
Or, maybe I’m just being an idealist. Let’s find out. (It’s OK, you can disagree with me!) Do you have non-profit experience? What are your thoughts on the matter?
These three literary magazines are ones that I either subscribe to, or visit often. They vary in subject matter, so browse around – my hope is you find one that sticks with you.
Believer
This is my go-to in the lit world. Full of witty banter, honest essays, interviews, and provocative insight, my literary-o-meter goes sky-high after reading each issue. It’s also a great deal – 9 issues for $45, which is largely unheard of in the print literary magazine world. A great monthly column is by Nick Hornby (of About A Boy and High Fidelity fame) – and his book to read this month is The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot, which is also the Books and Bars selection of this month (Mar 29)! Check out our calendar for more info.
Versal
I discovered this literary magazine at AWP in Denver last year, skimming the tabletops at the book fair for anything intriguing. Versal’s covers immediately drew my eye. I later attended a panel about starting your own literary magazine, in which the founder of Versal was a panelist – and a very insightful one at that. While I paid more attention to her trade pointers at the time, I quickly fell in love with the journal itself. Pleasing design, startling beautiful art, and starkly strong poetry (although they’re branching out to other genres now, too) – through and through, this is a solid investment. Or do what I did: put it on your birthday/Christmas/Hanukkah list. Makes an excellent gift to yourself.
Alice Blue Review
I’ve recently been gorging myself on prose poetry, in efforts to write the form better myself (I’m a firm believer that the more you read, the more prepared you are to write). This online journal is where I go for prose poetry. The website is simple, perhaps too simple for some, but the poems stand for themselves. Also take a look the poets’ bios – they are teeming with wonderful presses to check out.
