I'm sure this symptom is the same for most journals, but it is a little depressing to open the spreadsheet and see you have more writers submitting than readers subscribing.  On one hand, it has to be that way.  If you have a few stories to shop around, and you simultaneously submit to three or four places at a clip, you need a list of thirty or so magazines, more than you have time to read and more than you can afford.  But on the other hand, it seems a little selfish to expect something from thirty journals without reading a few, so I usually try to keep a subscription to three or four places, rotating each year.

Holidays are approaching, and subscriptions to literary magazines make great gift ideas.  If you're a writer, you're probably hard to shop for.  You might not have time for the latest electronic doohicky or space for any more clutter.  All you really want is books and money, but, really, books are out because you need to be in charge of your own reading, and most of your friends and relatives won't be satisfied just giving you money.  Asking for literary journals is perfect because they're affordable, and you can read them in short bursts, can tell your parents, "Yeah, I just read this great essay here or poem there," and you won't have to feel guilty because you still haven't made time for Middlemarch or The Executioner's Song or whatever monster they gave you eleven months ago.

Sycamore Review is neat and trim and affordable.  Subscriptions are $14 a year, which is less than the cost of most CDs, less than a steak dinner at Applebee's, and you'll have great literature on your shelf forever.  Our winter issue is coming together, and I can assure you that something in it will interest you.  So when your cousin Sue or your uncle Harry asks you what you'd like for the holidays, point them our way.