Fiction in Magazines :: Essays Papers

Fiction in Magazines In developing a discussion on magazine fiction, it is first necessary to develop strong reasoning as to why this is a relevant topic at all. If one is to discuss fiction in books, which many people have, why does the subject of magazine fiction even have to be brought up? Aren't the two of them one and the same? The answer to this is no. It is true that magazine fiction and book fiction have much in common, but they have many differences as well. For instance, the medium itself is cause for much difference. The process of creating a book is minimally a year long. So, a person who picks out a book of short stories from their local bookstore will be reading books that are at least a year old. Magazine fiction, however, is more recent, and thus much more exciting. It is very possible for a writer to have his story published only a couple of months after he has written it. Magazine fiction has a stronger feel for the pulse of literary society, which makes it relevant and interesting when speaking of fiction in general. There are hundreds and hundreds of literary magazines. Every Tom, Dick and Harry is seemingly starting a journal. However, in the entire scope of literary magazines, there are three basic types. The first type is the largely circulated, prestigious magazine. These include The New Yorker, Atlantic Monthly, and Playboy, among others. These magazines usually only publish one piece of fiction per issue. It is extremely difficult to get published in this first type of magazine because 1) they don't publish as many pieces of fiction a year, and 2) every writer is trying to get published in this sort of magazine. However, if you do get published in this sort of journal, the paybacks are larger. You normally get paid more for getting published than in the other two types, and the prestige of getting published will likely land you many more published stories and much more publicity. The second type of literary magazine is the medium journal, which is one scale smaller than the first. These include Story, Paris Review, and others. These magazines publish more pieces per issue, and tend to be easier to get published in. The prestige of getting published, however, is still very good, although not as great as the first type.