Jade: How to Choose

The more time I spend with literary magazines, the more I want to find the one that speaks to me, the one that I can trust, the one that turns me into a loyal subscriber. Because there are so many of them, however, I can't help but wonder if there's some kind of cheat sheet, some database out there, to help people like me sort through literary magazines based on the general style of work they publish. I'm also curious as to how they all differ in terms of their ideal reader and aesthetic. And going along with this, are all of them really that unique? Why start a literary magazine? After listening to Katie Sticca in class today, I got the impression that the function of a literary magazine is almost like a mini publishing house for short story and poetry writers. There's the submissions, the editing, the production, the marketing...are they just a stepping stone for authors who hope to one day publish books wholly their own, or can they be the end goal of an author? What does the answer to this question say about the longevity of literary magazines and their impact, their core mission?

At a more personal level, I wonder to what degree the overall design influences my first impression of literary magazines. Since there is no jacket flap synopsis to peak at, literary magazines have to catch your eye based on the authors published or the cover art. I suppose I'm also interested in finding the literary magazine of my dreams because I'm not sure it exists. It's hard for me to believe that I could trust an organization's taste in writing so much so that I'd pick up every one of their issues, but if such a literary magazine exists, I would be thrilled to discover it. I think there is so much potential in literary magazines, both for writers and readers; it's an opportunity to share, to build a supportive and exciting community out of those who are like-minded.