Career Builder - Best Lit Mags of 2025

The mission of New Letters magazine is to discover, publish and promote the best and most exciting literary writing, wherever it might be found.  We publish and serve readers and writers worldwide.

The mission of New Letters magazine is to discover, publish and promote the best and most exciting literary writing, wherever it might be found.  We publish and serve readers and writers worldwide.  In recent years, New Letters has won a National Magazine Award, the industry’s highest honor, plus multiple Pushcart Prizes, and is reprinted often in the Best American anthology series.

Out of 1,762 votes, these lit mags came out on top in 2025 as the best lit mags for advancing writers' careers.

Not just words. These magazines publish paintings, comics, illustrations, and other visual art alongside or instead of traditional text-based work.

Magazines That Publish Comics, Art, or Other Visual Works

The mags in this list are competitive and publish physical print editions, so you get the satisfaction of seeing your work in print: pocket-sized, book-like, tangible. Way cooler than you'd expect.

Reputable Lit Mags with Print Issues

The top nonfiction lit mags in our database, ranked by how many users have bookmarked them.

The Ultimate List of Places to Submit Your Nonfiction

Story-focused publications with works chosen for Pushcart Prize anthologies. Less than 5% of nominated fiction typically makes the anthology.

Fiction Magazines Featured in Pushcart Prize Anthologies

A targeted resource for short story placements with potential for Pushcart recognition.

Fiction Magazines That Nominate for the Pushcart Prize

Specialized publications that recognize exceptional brief fiction through Pushcart nominations.

Publications with verse selected for America's foremost poetry anthology. These journals consistently publish poetry representing the most significant contemporary verse across styles and approaches.

Lit Mags Featured in Best American Poetry Anthologies

Publications with pieces chosen for Pushcart Prize anthologies. Recognition of exceptional quality across poetry, fiction, and nonfiction.

Lit Mags Featured in Pushcart Prize Anthologies

Looking for balance between prestige and accessibility? These magazines are competitive but attainable for poetry, fiction, and nonfiction writers.

Literary Magazines in the Sweet Spot

Journals that forward outstanding nonfiction to this respected anthology series founded in 1986. These publications identify exceptional essays that might reach the broader readership BAE provides.

Literary Magazines That Nominate for Best American Essays

A comprehensive guide to journals that regularly nominate work for the Pushcart Prize.

Literary Magazines That Nominate for the Pushcart Prize

BASS represents the most mainstream recognition for short fiction in America. These journals serve as the initial screening layer for potential inclusion in this widely-read collection.

Literary Mags That Nominate for Best American Short Stories

All-time most competitive literary magazines. Getting published in these is a significant achievement for any writer.

Most Competitive Literary Magazines of All Time

Explore the most popular literary magazines of all time. These long-established publications are a staple in the literary world for writers of all genres.

Most Popular Literary Magazines of All Time

Essay-focused publications with works selected for Pushcart Prize anthologies. These journals have repeatedly identified nonfiction that resonates with Pushcart editors and readers.

Nonfiction Magazines Featured in Pushcart Prize Anthologies

Highlights publications that regularly put forward essays, memoirs, and other creative nonfiction for Pushcart consideration.

Nonfiction Magazines That Nominate for the Pushcart Prize

Verse-centered publications with poems chosen for Pushcart Prize anthologies. These journals have consistently identified poems that stand out in this intensely competitive field.

Poetry Magazines Featured in Pushcart Prize Anthologies

Focuses specifically on poetry journals with established histories of Pushcart nominations.

Poetry Magazines That Nominate for the Pushcart Prize

New Letters

New Letters reads submissions all year long. We only accept work submitted through Submittable, our online submission manager. There is a small fee for submissions, though fees are waived for current subscribers. You may subscribe to the magazine here.  Please send no more than one novella per submission.  Send one submission at a time.  Put your name, postal address and email address at the top of the first page of the submission.  We generally publish novellas that are no more than 30,000 words or roughly 60 pages.  We consider simultaneous submissions if you (a) let us know and (b) notify us immediately if the work you sent to us has been accepted for publication elsewhere.  Like most literary magazines, our staff is small and the volume of submissions large; please be patient. We make every effort to respond to submissions within six months.

Novella Submission (non-subscriber)

Fiction Submission (non-subscriber)

Nonfiction Submission (non-subscriber)

Poetry Submission (non-subscriber)

New Letters reads submissions all year long. We only accept work submitted through Submittable, our online submission manager. There is a small fee for submissions, though fees are waived for current subscribers. You may subscribe to the magazine here.  Please send no more one chapbook per submission.  Send one submission at a time.  Put your name, postal address and email address at the top of the first page of the submission.  We generally publish chapbooks that are no longer than 30 pages.  We consider simultaneous submissions if you (a) let us know and (b) notify us immediately if the work you sent to us has been accepted for publication elsewhere.  Like most literary magazines, our staff is small and the volume of submissions large; please be patient. We make every effort to respond to submissions within six months.

Chapbook Submission (non-subscriber)

New Letters is primarily—but not exclusively—interested in reviewing excellent books (even movies and visual art) otherwise not receiving much attention in the national media. We also like books that have something important to say about culture, politics, aesthetics, or any kind of art; that includes scholarly, critical, or biographical books that could find a non-specialized readership. 

A single-book review will run 500 to 900 words, usually; essay-reviews of groups of books run longer. The review should merit its length.
If you have a potential conflict of interest, you should mention that connection in the review.
Negative appraisals can be included as part of reviews; however, if the review is substantially negative, we prefer simply to ignore the book.  
New Letters pays, typically, $25 for book reviews; payment is not guaranteed but made as resources allow.

Book Review (non-subscriber)

Deadline: May 18, 2026

Guidelines
Upload your writing online by midnight (CST) Monday, May 18th. Please read guidelines carefully to ensure best service. Submit with each entry: $24 entry fee for each manuscript submitted. A one-year digital subscription is included in the price of the first entry. Please include one cover sheet stating the genre (nonfiction) and the tile of the essay. Your personal information should not appear anywhere on the entry. The name of the file you upload should be the title of the essay you are entering into the contest.


Rules & Notes

  Simultaneous submissions of unpublished entries are accepted with proper notification upon acceptance elsewhere.
  Essay entries may not exceed 8,000 words.
  Multiple entries are accepted with appropriate fees.
  No substitutions after submissions.  No refunds will be offered for withdrawn material.
  No postal entries will be accepted. All entries must be submitted online through our submission manager, Submittable.
  Current students and employees of the University of Missouri-Kansas City and current volunteer members of the New Letters’ staff are not eligible.


Timeline

  Finalists are notified in August, after preliminary judging.
  Final judging selects one winner and one runner-up in each category, announced in October.
  Judges have the option to select work for second runner-up and honorable mentions.

The $2,000 Conger Beasley Jr. Award for Nonfiction

Deadline: May 18, 2026
Upload your writing online by midnight (CST) Monday, May 18th. Please read guidelines carefully to ensure best service. Submit with each entry: $24 entry fee for each manuscript submitted. A one-year digital subscription to New Letters is included in the price of the first entry. Please include one cover sheet stating the genre (fiction) and the tile of the story. Your personal information should not appear anywhere on the entry. The name of the file you upload should be the title of the story you are entering into the contest.


Rules & Notes

  Simultaneous submissions of unpublished entries are accepted with proper notification upon acceptance elsewhere.
  Fiction entries may not exceed 8,000 words.
  Multiple entries are accepted with appropriate fees.
  No substitutions after submissions.  No refunds will be offered for withdrawn material.
  No postal entries will be accepted. All entries must be submitted online through our submission manager, Submittable.
  Current students and employees of the University of Missouri-Kansas City and current volunteer members of the New Letters’ staff are not eligible.


Timeline

  Finalists are notified in August, after preliminary judging.
  Final judging selects one winner and one runner-up in each category, announced in October.
  Judges have the option to select work for second runner-up and honorable mentions.

The $2,000 Robert Day Award for Fiction

Deadline: May 18, 2026

Upload your writing online by midnight (CST) Monday, May 18th. Please read guidelines carefully to ensure best service. Submit with each entry: $24 entry fee for each manuscript submitted. A one-year digital subscription to New Letters is included in the price of the first entry. Please include one cover sheet stating the genre (poetry) and the tile(s) of each poem. Your personal information should not appear anywhere on the entry. The name of the file you upload should be the title of the first poem in the entry.


Rules & Notes


  Simultaneous submissions of unpublished entries are accepted with proper notification upon acceptance elsewhere.
  A poetry entry may contain up to six poems, and those poems need not be related.
  The max page count for poetry entries of up to six poems is 30 pages.
  Multiple entries are accepted with appropriate fees.
  No substitutions after submissions.  No refunds will be offered for withdrawn material.
  No postal entries will be accepted. All entries must be submitted online through our submission manager, Submittable.
  Current students and employees of the University of Missouri-Kansas City and current volunteer members of the New Letters’ staff are not eligible.


Timeline

  Finalists are notified in August, after preliminary judging.
  Final judging selects one winner and one runner-up in each category, announced in October.
  Judges have the option to select work for second runner-up and honorable mentions.

New Letters

Highlights

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Fiction Submission (non-subscriber)

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