Literary journals are an important, fundamental part of the publishing community. At Web Design Relief, we know that a good literary magazine will not only provide entertainment and inspiration for readers and writers, but will also offer writers the opportunity to build up their publication credits. And with tight budgets and hardworking, often volunteer staff putting in long hours, literary journals definitely deserve our support. As more and more well-known literary magazines are making the switch to online publication, using your author website to support literary journals has never been easier.

How Your Author Website Can Help Support Literary Journals

Feature Your List Of Publications: Showcasing your publication history is an author website must-do. Whenever possible, be sure your list of publications includes direct links to the magazines where your work is featured. Your audience will be able to read your work right in the publication, and then they can browse around and discover what else the journal has to offer. By linking to your published work, you’ll be helping to increase the traffic flow and readership of the literary journal as well.

Write About Journals On Your Blog: Blogging is a surefire way to bring attention to your favorite literary magazines. You can review your favorite pieces they publish, or talk about what it’s like to be published in them yourself. You can even reach out to a literary magazine to see if there’s interest in having you write a featured blog post about the publication for your website, or post an interview with the editor.

Engage With Journals On Social Media: You’ve integrated your social media accounts through links and widgets on your website—now put them to good use! Network and interact with literary magazines and journals so your website visitors are exposed to new publications. Retweet, reblog, or pin their posts to support and share their content. When a literary journal’s audience grows, so do the opportunities to gain more subscribers!

Focus On Cross-Promotion: The entire writing community thrives when we all collaborate with each other. Make friends—don’t be afraid to reach out to the editorial team of a magazine you like to see how you might be able to help each other out. If you give their latest call for submissions or contest a shout-out on your website and social media, they may be interested in mentioning your latest book or book signing event on their website. Networking expands your own potential audience while helping to boost awareness of the journal you want to support.

Use The Power Of Your Podcast: More and more authors feature their podcasts and vlogs on their author websites. These offer great opportunities to name-drop literary magazines! You can talk about which ones you’re reading or those you’ve been featured in as a means of leading your viewers and listeners to these publications.

Share Donation Links: It is not uncommon for literary journals, especially nonprofit magazines, to have donation links on their websites. You can give back by dedicating a portion of your website to sharing these links too. If a magazine does not have a donation link, consider linking your website visitors to their subscription pages instead.

Host A Giveaway: Nothing drums up interest and excitement like free stuff! Host a giveaway of the latest issue of your favorite journal (if your writing is published in that issue, even better!) or a contest for a yearly subscription to the magazine to drive traffic to both of your websites. You’ll attract visitors to your author website while helping to get literary magazines into the hands of more readers and writers!

Remember: authenticity is key when it comes to cross-promotion and networking. Editors who think you’re just trying to sell something (or just selling yourself) might turn a cold shoulder. Do what you do out of your love for writing—not just because you’ll benefit too!

Question: What are some literary magazines you would feature on your website?