TSLR is Now Accepting Submissions for Issue Eight: FLUX

Open Submissions Period 9.18-10.9 (No Fees)

TSLR is so excited to announce that we will be opening up submissions for our first themed issue, Issue Eight. The theme will be FLUX. Artists and writers are invited to interpret this idea loosely, literally, personally, theoretically, figuratively, historically, politically. We are so excited to see what the theme inspires.

Submissions will be rolling and open year-round; however, outside of the Open Submissions Period (this year September 18 - October 9), we will be charging a nominal fee to submit. Read on to understand how we came to this decision.

This year marks the first time TSLR will be published around a theme. The primary reason is that we as a team are hoping to be invigorated by change. Many of us have been working on the magazine for seven+ years now, and though our team has grown from four to twenty-four, our mission and our journal has remained largely unchanged. Yes, I think that is to the credit of the vision of our founders: we envisioned something large and ambitious and beautiful enough to sustain this past near-decade. However, like all institutions, individuals, and relationships, we must evolve. It is time to look within ourselves and grow, adapt, and respond more currently to the world.

We do not feel we are in danger, however. Please do not be alarmed. This is rather, an exciting time of growth for our magazine. Brian Haman, our Book Reviews and Interviews editor will be stepping up to co-edit the magazine with Juli Min; and we are adding a new section to our publication, helmed by leading Sinologist and literary translator Carlos Rojas. This section, Criticism, will in part serve to bring TSLR more rigorously into current conversations on literature, theory, and other disciplines. That is to say: we are in a momentous and thrilling moment of flux. We have decided to celebrate and investigate this period of our publication’s life through that selfsame theme.

This year also marked the first time we ever closed for submissions. In truth, for the past several years, we have been overwhelmed by the number of queries and pieces received. We desperately needed a break to consider how to better manage our submissions process. That period of reconsideration led us to the decision to charge submission fees, as well as to create the Open Submissions Period.

TSLR has been a project of passion, largely self-funded by our team in the early years, and now funded in part by Duke Kunshan University Center for the Humanities. (We are given a limited stipend each year, which helps pay for some major expenses like printing and shipping.) Yet, fees still add up. For example, TSLR pays nearly $1,000 annually just for Submittable and web hosting fees.

It has been a goal of ours for the past few years to begin paying contributors, as well as some of our freelance staff. However, we want to make sure that we have enough set aside so that once we start doing this, we don’t have to pull back in future years. Submissions fees will therefore help us cover the costs for our submissions and web platforms; and in doing so, let us eventually invest back into our people. (Note: our editorial staff has never received annual salary, benefits, or expense budgets from TSLR.)

We hope that you can understand and accept our decision. Because we know that not everyone can afford to pay submissions fees, we’ve made sure to keep our Submissions Period free for as long as possible. Please mark your calendars. The autumn Period likely will stay the same in later years.

With great appreciation for your steadfast support,
Juli,
Editor of TSLR

P.S. In the future, we also plan to utilize this newsletter for ongoing subscriptions for print issues. Stay tuned on details related to how that will work, and generally, how you might help to support our magazine through this channel.