Call me delusional, but I only recently learned that the majority of staff/editorial positions at literary journals are volunteer based, not paid. Well, there may be some compensation…
At MeR editors are reimbursed a meager $100 per issue for their labors – when you pull back the curtain, have a gander at what goes into bringing a journal to life, even if only once or twice a year, let alone monthly, it’s astounding these mags see the light of day or electronic screens. Seriously? What nudged this discovery into a blog post was the most recent, 3000 word, job delegating, production updating, plea for a WordPress programmer, email I received in my intern@mainereview.com inbox.
Judging by personal conversations and inter-MeR emails, untold hours go into producing a literary journal or magazine – though the terms are synonymous by industry use, I much prefer the classier journal. For instance, A.J. Bermudez, in addition to being Editor of MeR and an author, is a visiting assistant professor of English at University of Miami (FL), along with being an Indie filmmaker-writer-producer-director, and social justice activist; her colleagues at MeR have equally diverse careers, yet they all have time for their passion, for this journal.
With the exception of volunteering during a time of crisis or areas of need, e.g. hurricane relief, helping a neighbor/stranger, helping out at my local hospital, or human and animal shelters, I’ve always thought of volunteering to be the gig of the affluent, or well-tended to housewives. Who else could afford to work without pay, solely for the passion, for the prestige of it? Just about everyone who’s involved in the production of a literary journal, that’s who.
So, now that I was aware of a passel of people who were working for free – I don’t care what anyone says, $100 every six months does not count as pay, at least not in the good ol’ U.S.A. – I took my search further and Googled some such question as, “Are editorial positions with literary journals volunteer vs paid?” That’s how I found Community of Literary Magazines and Presses, CLMP.org, founded in 1967, is a membership platform that, “helps raise the organizational capacity of indie lit publishers to ensure a diverse literary landscape.” One of their offerings is a job board for its members with positions to fill, nine out of ten being classified as shout outs for high caliber/experienced volunteers.
In addition to having a job board, CLMP proudly publishes member stats, which further opened my eyes to the magnitude of volunteerism going on in this sector of publishing, aside from college internships. Immediately after a map pinpointing the location of every member, I read:
Membership by Type of Publisher
Literary Magazines: 582
Presses: 288
Literary Magazines & Presses: 153
529 lit mags, and that’s just a fraction of the lit mags in U.S. and worldwide, just a fraction. When I scrolled down to individual states, I wasn’t too surprised to learn that California has 123 indie lit journals and/or presses, it’s a large population state, though by comparison, relatively populated Florida only had 29. The 171 counted in New York was as not surprising, but the 48 in Massachusetts was. And the majority of people involved with these publications/presses are working for FREE or almost! I threw that almost in because one of the job posts on CLMP is for a full-time Senior Editor, “a hybrid position based in New York City with a salary of $58,000 to $63,000.” HELLO! According to Glassdoor.com, “The estimated total pay range for a Store Manager at Mickey D’s is $41K–$62K per year…”
I could go on but I’ll leave it here. The bottom line, for me at least, is that I’m one of those people who, simply cannot deny my passions, happen to be be receiving Social Security benefits and could live on that alone if I had to, so working for free or almost free is fine by me. Oh, if you’d like to sample some lit journals without having to pay, CLMP has something for you, besides a job that doesn’t pay, 20 Years of Literary Magazines. In this article, CLMP in partnership with Exact Editions, hooks the reader up with “a digital showcase celebrating 23 CLMP member magazines.” Great stuff, enjoy!