A Damn Good Read - Best Lit Mags of 2025

Best Nonfiction Lit Mags of 2024

We’re looking for narrative writing and evocative photography from all over the world. Send us work that maps the human landscape, where the light catches on the faintest joy, where darkness sometimes threatens to overwhelm, and where ✗ never marks the spot.

The Sun is an independent, ad-free magazine that for more than forty years has used words and photographs to evoke the splendor and heartache of being human. Each monthly issue celebrates life, but not in a way that ignores its complexity. The personal essays, short stories, interviews, poetry, and photographs that appear in The Sun’s pages explore the challenges we face and the moments when we rise to meet them.

From its idealistic, unlikely inception in 1974 to its current incarnation as a nonprofit magazine with more than 40,000 print and digital subscribers, The Sun has attempted to challenge the status quo and reveal injustice; to honor courageous and honest writing; and to touch the mystery of our humanity. In a world where advertising pursues us almost everywhere, The Sun remains a rare ad-free sanctuary.

Out of 4,357 votes, these lit mags came out on top in 2025 as the best lit mags for exceptional reading.

Community Favorites: Our 2024 Best Lit Mag Awards winners for nonfiction, selected entirely by community vote. Over 500 magazines nominated with thousands of votes cast.

We're not in it for the money, but it certainly helps. These fiction magazines pay at least $200 per acceptance.

Fiction Lit Mags That Pay $200+

Prestigious publications that strengthen your literary credentials, signaling serious accomplishment and catching attention from editors and agents.

Impressive Bylines for Your Literary Bio

Who said that poets don't make money? Okay, we don't. But sometimes we do. Start with these amazing magazines paying highly competitive rates.

Lit Mags Paying Big Bucks for Poetry

Journals that have published debut stories later selected for this award honoring exceptional first-time published short story writers.

Lit Mags That Have Published PEN/Robert J. Dau Award Winners

Navel-gazing highly encouraged. These mags are actively seeking personal essays & narrative nonfiction.

Lit Mags That Love Personal Essays

What's dumb money for poetry? Anything substantial. These magazines pay at least $200, often more, for poems.

Lit Mags That Pay Dumb Money for Poetry

For those of us whose minds work in layers, footnotes, and beautiful tangents. Thoughtful publications for thoughtful writers.

Lit Mags for Beautiful Overthinkers

These magazines have a strong social presence and promote contributors. Here, your work will be amplified with high engagement rates, beautiful presentation, and growing follower counts.

Lit Mags for Social Media Exposure

Trendy, aesthetically pleasing publications worth displaying. These mags look as good as they read.

Mags Spotted on a Cool Girl's Coffee Table

We're not in it for the money, but it certainly helps. These nonfiction magazines pay at least $200 per acceptance.

Nonfiction Lit Mags That Pay $200+

No database exists for nonfiction agents' reading habits, so we asked every agent, editor, and writing-adjacent human we could until we got enough answers.

Nonfiction Magazines That Will Make Agents Notice You

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

These high-quality poetry magazines nominate for Pushcart and pay. For real!

Top-Tier Pushcart-Nominating Poetry Mags (That Pay)

Community poll results. In an internet drowning in AI and advertising, your real recommendations are everything.

Where The Cool Kids Are Submitting Their Writing: Part 1

Quality magazines publishing magical realism that also nominate for prizes, accept simultaneous submissions, and maintain under 20% acceptance rates.

Where to Publish Magical Realism

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

Online publications putting forward exceptional short stories for Best of the Net.

Fiction Magazines That Nominate for Best of the Net

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

Fiction Magazines That Nominate for the Pushcart Prize

The ultimate ranking of the world's liveliest indie literary magazines, curated by author and editor Charlie Fish. These are the passion projects; the kaleidoscopic cutting edge.

FISH List of Lively Indie Literary Magazines 2025

FISH List of Lively Indie Literary Magazines 2026

Publications with nonfiction in BAE, the premier American essay anthology. These journals consistently publish thought-provoking, beautifully crafted nonfiction defining contemporary essay excellence.

Lit Mags Featured in Best American Essay Anthologies

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

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

Identifies publications that put forward outstanding online work for this respected digital anthology established in 2006.

Literary Magazines That Nominate for Best of the Net

Essential publications that nominate short fiction for the O'Henry Prize anthology, one of America's most venerable literary awards. Established in 1919.

Literary Magazines That Nominate for the O'Henry Prize

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 all-time most competitive speculative fiction literary magazines. These magazines are revered in the fiction world for their editorial rigor.

Most Competitive Speculative Fiction 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

Check out the all-time most popular speculative fiction literary magazines. These publications have a long-standing reputation for quality speculative fiction.

Most Popular Speculative Fiction 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

Digital publications nominating outstanding essays and creative nonfiction for Best of the Net.

Nonfiction Magazines That Nominate for Best of the Net

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

Online journals that specifically champion poetry for Best of the Net consideration.

Poetry Magazines That Nominate for Best of the Net

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

Poetry Magazines That Nominate for the Pushcart Prize

Key publications submitting outstanding speculative fiction to this definitive annual anthology edited by respected genre authorities. Launched in 1982 as The Year's Best Fantasy.

Speculative Fiction Mags That Nominate for Best SF&F

The Sun

Send us your poem that basks in the mysteries of the universe—the one where the smallest detail tells us about our place in the world.

Share reflections on your relationships, questions for God, or an elegy for something you’ve lost.

We’re looking for poems—usually narrative but always accessible—that invite us into your confidence and lead us to revelation.

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Sun Submissions

Send us your essay that’s too personal for any other journal—the one where you’re so unguarded you need editors you can trust and compassionate readers who will honor your vulnerability.

Share a clear-eyed reflection on your big mistakes, a joyful celebration of your hard-won victories, or a testament that makes a newsworthy event feel intimate instead of faceless.

We’re looking for essays that seek to understand the world from a fresh perspective and that wrestle with questions that resist easy answers.

Send us your emotionally honest story—the one that helps us learn what it feels like to be someone else.

Share satire that hits close to home, tragedy that’s cathartic without being manipulative, or a parable that lingers long after we finish reading.

We’re looking for stories in any genre of fiction that take risks to tell us something true about ourselves.

We’re interested in black-and-white photographs. We’re not looking for photojournalism, just unique perspectives on the world around us — especially human interactions. Please review our full submission guidelines and sample photographs before sending us your work.

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Readers Write is a feature in The Sun where readers share their personal writing on a given topic — a unique fixture of the  magazine since the section’s inception in 1978. Send us your true story  on an upcoming topic, and if we publish it you’ll receive a  complimentary one-year subscription.
Not sure what to write? See below for some prompts to spark an idea. Writing style isn’t as important as thoughtfulness and sincerity, and topics are intentionally  broad to give room for expression and interpretation.
You can read a sample Readers Write section here.      Upcoming Topics
The Courtroom
Due February 1
Maybe you’ve been there to challenge a fifty-dollar jaywalking ticket. Maybe you’ve been there to testify in a first-degree-murder trial. Or perhaps the extent of your interaction with “The Courtroom” is watching Judge Judy when you stayed home from school on a sick day. It can be a stressful, dramatic place for many—one where life-changing decisions are made—but for others it’s as everyday as a visit to the office. Send us your true stories on “The Courtroom” and we’ll judge whether they’re right for Readers Write.
Lines
Due March 1
You wait on them in stores and airports. Actors rehearse them, and writers craft them. Pickup artists use them (or at least try to). Partiers might snort them. Rebels might cross them. They’re on maps, drawings, and medical charts. They’re the wrinkles around your eyes, the scars under your clothes, and the quote tattooed on your arm. Don’t miss the deadline: Send us your true stories about lines by March 1.

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