Today I found out that the lit mag NY Literary Magazine had closed shop. This was a page I kept an eye on and managed to have some pieces of poetry published through, so naturally I was confused. After a basic Google search, I found out that they had a contest email go out to lots of writers telling them they had been nominated for a best story award. When the email is opened, it directs you to a site that requires a fee of 14.95 to enter, and upon entering, you aren’t sure what piece of writing you had enter the contest.
This was sad to hear on several levels.
One: this isn’t how nominations into any contest work. If you are nominated for something you did, then you are nominated. There is nothing else you need to do to participate as someone else recognized work you had already done and brought notice to it. The requirement to pay money for something like this is not correct. If someone wants you to pay a fee or anything for a nomination, delete the message. This is more than likely a scam.
Two: upon hearing about the negative feedback on said email, NY Literary Magazine issued a letter apologizing for the misstep in outsourcing the marketing for a contest to a third-party company and having them misconstrue the email of their contest. Because of the fallout of this contest and lots of people calling it out as a scam, they have shut their doors and will no longer be publishing anything else. This reaction seems extreme. I agree with the statement that they made a bad business decision if the contest was legitimate, but AS OTHER PEOPLE HAVE POINTED OUT, they could have easily apologized for the lapse in judgement and gone on with their magazine. Instead, they close shop?
Three: this was a page that had actually published something I wrote. I had submitted some of my stuff into a free contest (I didn’t have to pay to enter) and I was selected to be included in an anthology. It was three poems too. Now, the only literary magazine/page that I had successfully been published with had a bad story against it and had folded just as quickly as the negative press hit it. My own experience with them hadn’t been bad. After finding out that I had been selected for the publication, I could download the electronic copy for free (which I did) or I could buy a print copy (which I also did. I was excited and wanted something in my hands). The charge showed up under the processing company that they said it would and I was charged the exact amount that I was expected to see. I got the print anthology in the mail a few days later. Everything was good for me.
I don’t know how much of a deal it was to be published with NY Literary Magazine, but for someone who hadn’t been published anywhere outside of a local parenting magazine (which I’m thankful that they continue to print my stuff, don’t get me wrong) this was an affirming moment that I had some level of writing talent. Reading that all this happened around Christmas and now, POOF, they were gone is disheartening. I can’t help but feel foolish. Maybe something else was going on here that wasn’t legit; I don’t know. I invite writers to do some looking online and formulate your own conclusion. Today, I’m bummed.
To anyone writing, or aspiring to write: please be careful with whom you throw your hat. There are too many people out there preying on writers who are desperate to see their stuff printed, that they are more than happy to accommodate for a small fee (sometimes not so small). I am in no way saying that NY Literary Magazine had some kind of scam going on; I can only testify that my experience with them was favorable, but there are other writer’s experiences too. So, please do your homework. Find feedback from multiple sources on who a publisher, or magazine is, so you can protect yourself and your work from those who may want to take advantage.
