by us, for us
Published in
5 min readOct 19, 2022
Below is a directory of litmags who support underrepresented writers, whether through who they publish, who is on their masthead, accessibility in design, or as a paying market. I don’t have time to vet these personally, they’ve all been submitted through the linked form. But, if you know any information that challenges that listed here, please reach out at addie@justfemmeanddandy.com. Feel free to submit others! This will be updated on a regular basis, and you don’t have to be involved with the magazine to let us know about it.
- Ergi Press
Publishing team and contributors are LGBTQIA+
Zines are £5. Contributors aren’t paid, but receive a free copy.
Submissions are open (don’t require a fee), and rolling.
Open to all genres.
ergipress.weebly.com - Sage Cigarettes Magazine
The EIC is a POC, and the masthead is diverse.
Not a paying market.
Submissions are open (don’t require a fee), and rolling.
They keep a BLM page up on our site and are very vocal with support on all causes we believe in and promoting published work.
Open to all genres.
www.sagecigarettes.com - Koening Zine
The entire masthead is made up of Asians, both those living in Asia and the diaspora. Currently, we are a team of Southeast and South Asians based in countries such as Indonesia, Canada, the Philippines, South Korea and Singapore.
Unfortunately, currently not a paying market. They used to be, but financial strain and the difficulties of international payments to some countries have forced them to give up on it.
Submissions are open until October 4, 2022.
We support marginalised writers, especially Asians, by implementing a quota that seeks to ensure our magazine issues primarily consist of Asian writers. Any writer who identifies as Asian (including those from countries that straddle the boundaries of Europe and Asia; e.g.: Turkey, Russia and Georgia) in their submission form will automatically have their entry be prioritised.
Open to all genres.
http://www.koeningzine.com - Querencia Press
Two bisexual women are on the masthead, one of which is Indigenous.
50/50 Royalties on manuscripts, no payment for anthologies because profits are donated to women queer trans and NB supporting organizations.
Submissions are open indefinitely and do not require a fee.
Donations are made off of anthologies to organizations supporting lgbtqia+ and women.
Open to all genres.
http://www.querenciapress.com - Fifth Wheel Press
The masthead is fully LGBTQIA+, and one person is Latinx.
They offer $5 per accepted work.
Submissions open November to December 2022.
Open to all genres.
http://www.fifthwheelpress.com - Verum Literary Press
The founding EIC is a biracial Black queer and trans person.
They cannot currently pay contributors.
Submissions (THEME: HIDDEN), which do not require a fee and are open to all genres, are currently open until November 1, and do not require a fee.
They are currently designing a version of each issue with alt text descriptions and easy-to-read text. They plan on publishing future issues solely from select underrepresented communities.
http://www.verumliterarypress.com - The Aurora Journal
The EIC is Taiwanese.
Submissions (accepting fiction and poetry) are currently open and do not require a fee.
Contributors are paid $12 per work.
They offer free resources geared towards underrepresented writers such as their poetry contest page on their website: https://www.theaurorajournal.org/surrealism-poetry-contest. They operate from a very inclusive philosophy focusing on educational accessibility.
http://www.theaurorajournal.org - Defunkt Magazine
The EIC (and Prose Editor) is Black, Mexican and queer.
The Poetry Editor is Latinx, disabled, neurodivergent, queer, and trans.
The Creative Nonfiction Editor is queer.
Contributors are paid through the magazine’s Patreon (so the rate fluctuates accordingly).
Submissions are open October 1, and accept all genres, including music.
They are beginning to include alt text descriptions for social media images. They host in person and zoom events. They often publish a majority of underrepresented writers.
http://www.defunktmag.com - Typehouse Magazine
Editors on the masthead are LGBTQ as well as BIPOC.
Contributors are paid $25 per piece.
Submissions, which are open to all genres, cost $3.00, with no-fee submission periods in January, July, and August. Submissions are closed in December. Each month offers free subs to a specific underrepresented community (please see website for schedule).
http://www.typehousemagazine.com. - Asam/Garam
The EIC is bisexual, Malay, and Muslim from Malaysia. When staff applications open, the magazine will seek applications exclusively from Malaysians.
Submissions are open (no fee required, all genres) until November 1, 2022.
Contributors are not paid.
Asam/Garam publishes exclusively Southeast Asian (Malaysian, Indonesian, Borneo, Cambodia, etc.) writers.
https://asamgaram.crd.co/ - Spoonie Mag
Spoonie Mag is a digital weekly magazine for & by disabled, chronically ill, and neurodivergent artists and authors.
They are currently not a paying market, but their annual print journal does offer print contributor copies.
Submissions remain open, and do not require a fee. They accept submissions in all genres, including multimedia.
Spoonie Magazine is accessible, promotes writers, and is disability-centered.
http://www.spooniepress.com - sinθ magazine
This magazine is run by and for members of the Sino community, including everyone on the masthead. Many are also LGBTQIA+.
Contributors are paid $20 per work.
Submissions are open for poetry, fiction, and art.
http://www.sinetheta.net - AK Press’s Black Dawn
The editor of this series is a Black trans person.
Submissions (fiction) are open, no fee required.
https://www.akpress.org/featured-products/black-dawn.html - eggplant tears
The masthead consists of queer and trans Asian American editors.
The magazine is unable to currently pay contributors, but plans to in the future.
Submissions are open (no fee required) in all genres, including photography and video, during the months of February, May, August, and November.
http://eggplant-tears.carrd.co/ - Hearth & Coffin
The magazine is LGBTQ+ owned. The prose editor is queer, and the poetry editor is a biracial POC.
The magazine is currently unable to pay contributors, but plans to in the future.
Submissions are open (no fee required), and publish in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction.
The magazine publishes writers from around the globe and cherishes the opportunity to promote works by those who have had trouble finding a home for their voice. They love new and emerging writers, writers with wacky ideas, and works that push boundaries. There are no rules; they love providing a home for the work that makes you gasp.
www.hearthandcoffin.com - antinarrative zine
The magazine is run by and for BIPOC youth creatives. The entire masthead is Asian.
Submissions (in all genres) will open later this year or early 2023.
The magazine exclusively publishes BIPOC creatives ages 13–23.
http://www.antinarrativezine.com/ - Tahoma Literary Review
BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ communities represented in genre and associate editor positions.
The magazine pays $135 for fiction and nonfiction (1500–6000 words), $55 for poetry and flash prose (up to 1500 words).
The submissions (in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry) are open January 15 — March 31 and August 1 — October 15, and require a fee.
The magazine offers a fixed number of free submissions each month for marginalized groups. They also support a fellowship for a BIPOC writer to attend a writing residency each year.
http://www.tahomaliteraryreview.com - The Ana
The Ana is an entirely POC and mostly queer-run magazine.
Contributors for print issues and special features are paid what the magazine is able to offer.
Submissions are open (no fee required; in all genres, including art) three times a year on a rolling basis.
https://wearetheana.com/
