Lit Mag Directories

"There's a real need for a reader-focused directory of online lit mags, one with frequent reviews. - D."

this is the conclusion of a recent online conversation with another lit mag editor. the page links we exchanged in the conversation were:

- NewPages (focus: new issues of printed lit mags)
- CLMP (focus: printed lit mags that are member of CLMP)
- Lit Mag Central (focus: online lit mags, one initial entry per zine)

with all three of this portals, it takes a bit of searching to locate a specific magazine, or to find out if it's listed at all. plus, NewPages has its own systematic of sponsored/unsponsored entries, while CLMP is restricted to membership, and LitMagCentral is sorted by entry date, which turns the search for a title in a colourful tour of the whole listing page.

as an alternative, there is of course Duotrope Digest - which comes with a lot of research options and a huge database, but by nature is not designed for entertaining strolls through the realms of literary magazines.

it was only later that i thought of the StorySouth Million Writer Award, and their list of notable stories 2007 - collected by readers as well as by editors, with the intention to spread the word.

"The storySouth Million Writers Award for best online fiction of the year will help all internet-based journals and magazines gain exposure and attention. Great stories are being published online, and I hope readers will use this award as a starting off point for explorations of the online fiction realm."

of all links listed, Story South comes closest to a reader-focused directory - with the limitation that nominations are restricted to short stories over 1000 words. the intention probably is to make the award more manageable, and to make sure that all stories at least from size belong a somewhat comparable league. but considering online attemption span, this limitation rules out the very format that is predestined for e-zines: short stories under 1000 words. and with them, the magazines that feature them. still, the list and the compiling system is more than impressive.

now for the invention of a literary cyber-robot, equipped and ready to merge all those bits of information into one swift page.