What would it take to finance, print, and distribute a high quality literary magazine in the Shenandoah Valley? Check out this interesting discussion at Perpetual Folly between blog owner Clifford Garstang and Chris Graham of The New Dominion — here’s a sample:
I do see an untapped resource here in the Valley – in the form of many, many good writers who are in need of a publisher to be able to reach outside audiences – and would one day like to be in the position of providing an outlet to them.
In the meantime … gotta pay the bills.
At the risk of perpetuating a stereotype- “People over in the Valley actually read?” (apart from what’s required to function in society I mean. And the paperbacks that the grocery store sells doesn’t count.)
It would have to be under the auspices of James Madison University – and they don’t even have a Creative writing program. Literary magazines are very rarely a private enterprise, and are usually the trophy project of a College or University with a Creative writing program (as if having a nationally recognized lit mag equates to having a good creative writing program- it doesn’t).
I don’t think it would work, but I’d happily wish the best of luck to anyone who tried put one together.
Just to clarify, I wasn’t proposing a purely literary magazine, certainly not one by, for and of the Valley (we do have a few readers out here, thank you very much, but as you suggest, probably not enough to make that idea work). But a short story or [real] poem or two in a local magazine would widen its appeal. I think I would quarrel, also, with the notion that litmags are only “very rarely a private enterprise.” It’s true that the best ones we know about in this area are affiliated (Phoebe, VQR, Meridian, Blackbird, Shenandoah) but nationally there are lots that aren’t.
But a short story or [real] poem or two in a local magazine would widen its appeal.
I don’t know that it would widen it’s appeal that much, magazines publishers as an industry phased out that aspect of their publications, in an effort to make them more profitable (more space for advertising). Even with the non literary short stories – most of the magazines that first published Stephen King’s short stories, before he was well known and if they’re still in business, do not carry short fiction anymore.
However I can’t argue if a local magazine wanted to revive the practice of including a short fiction piece in each issue, that would be nice.
As far as private lit mags go- I’m sure there are a few Lit. mags that are able to do it privately. It just happens that of the ones I’m familiar with most are affiliated with Colleges or Universities (and I wasn’t really thinking locally- Apart from VQR- I hadn’t heard of those others. And now that I think about it- I’m more likely to class VQR as something closer to The New Dominion that happens to have some pieces of literary appeal- a strange sort of hybrid- not quite political quarterly not quite literary journal).
But that’s just my 2 cents.
Clearly it would broaden the appeal by at least one reader (me), so I’ll stick with my comment.
As for non-University magazines, I’d guess there are more than you realize. I did a complete listing of all Pushcart Prize winners from 2001-2006 (See Pushcart Prize List) and of the top 20 (21, since there was a 3-ay tie at 19), 6 are not affiliated. And the further down the list you get the more there are, as the private magazines tend to be smaller.
As for the local college-affiliated ones I mentioned, Meridian is at UVA, Shenandoah at Washington & Lee, Phoebe at George Mason and Blackbird, which is an online magazine, is at VCU. You’re right about VQR–it goes well beyond being just a literary magazine.
As for non-University magazines, I’d guess there are more than you realize.
Yeah, that’s the gist of what I was trying to say in my previous post. I’ve got an opinion on just about everything, but it’s only based on personal experiences so it’s far from being the final word.
And here’s to hoping for more short fiction in Magazine publications.
What would the cost/benefit analysis of including short fiction or poetry in, say, The New Dominion look like? They would have to build up a body of dependable contributors and have someone on staff capable of evaluating and editing fiction. How big a deal would it be to add pages to the print run, or give up pages to advertising? Is the choice as stark as Chris Graham says, between providing an outlet for fiction and paying the bills?
[...] of the letters at Romensko is from Chris Graham, editor of the New Dominion, who admits that he’s stretched the truth in the interests of humor once or twice. Let the [...]