About Chestnut Review
Our mission is to provide a literary home to stubborn artists and writers.
We Pledge
- to treat all artists who submit work with respect and pay them the maximum we are able,
- to respond to submissions within 30 days, or refund submission fees,
- to celebrate our artists not merely for their publication in our review, but in all their successes,
- to accept only the best work we find, and to promote it relentlessly to the world,
- to be ethical and honest in our treatment of writers and staff regarding our monetary policies.
Financial Transparency
We believe literary magazines should be ethical and honest in their treatment of writers and staff regarding reading fees and staff pay. There is a tender balance between keeping reading fees low, paying writers for their work, and paying staff for their labor. Here’s how we’ve struck the balance:
Reading fees. We believe everyone should have access to our market, and therefore, we always keep categories open for free: poetry (2-3 poems), flash (fiction & CNF), and art. We charge $5 submissions for longer prose. Submittable takes a cut of these fees, and the majority of the rest goes to pay writers. A small percentage is retained to fund the magazine (web hosting fees, marketing, editor honoraria, etc.).
We pay writers. We believe strongly that writers should be paid for their work and are proud of our commitment. We pay every writer and artist US $120 per piece.
Staff labor. Our editors are paid a token honorarium quarterly. Our reading staff reads on a volunteer basis. Their opportunity for income is through giving feedback to writers who have paid for that service. Chestnut Review is a single-owner LLC in which the owner (our EIC) takes no salary and any profits are returned to the magazine.
Profits. Net profits to the magazine go to fund special initiatives, contest prizes, and production costs.
If you value what we practice, please consider making a tax-deductible donation through our fiscal sponsor, Fractured Atlas.
Why the name Chestnut Review?
The chestnut blight that wiped out 4 billion (billion!) trees in North America in the early years of the last century didn’t kill the stumps. So when those trees were cut down, in many places the stumps still send up young shoots over and over, and when they get old enough, the blight hits them and they die. And yet they send up another. And another. Sustaining a creative practice requires that level of tenacity. Artists persist despite rejection, the intrusions of real life, the bills that must be paid, the jobs that must be done before any art can be created–that’s the best kind of stubbornness. A stubborn belief in your own worth, in the art of your hands, eyes, and mind.
We are here for you, our stubborn creators. Welcome.
If you’d like to know more about today’s efforts to restore the American Chestnut, please see The American Chestnut Foundation. (Note that we are not affiliated with TACF.)
ISSN 2688-0342 (print, annually) | ISSN 2688-0350 (online, quarterly)
