The listings below are literary magazines and journal I found which do not charge submission fees and accept unsolicited submission of book reviews. A few are paying, some are print publications, some require a query before you send a review to make sure it’s not a book for which they’ve already published a review. Several are currently open or always open for review submissions. A couple indicate they will consider chapbooks.
Reviews are a great way to prompt yourself to think critically about a work–to spend more time with something you love, or well, maybe don’t so much. You can check out the reviews I’ve written here, including Paisley Rekdal’s most recent poetry collection Nightingale, published by Copper Canyon Press.
| Lit Mag/Journal | Payment | Spec. Genres | Length | Format | Notes |
| 32 Poems | None | >1000 | Online | ||
| Adanna | None | <2000 | Query first/women only | ||
| Avatar Review | None | Online | |||
| Barrelhouse | None | Poetry Books/Chapbooks | <750 | Online | |
| Big City Lit | None | <4000 | Online | ||
| Bone Bouquet | None | Poetry Books | Books published by women prior 4 yrs/women; non-binary only | ||
| Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review | None | Poetry | <1500 | ||
| Boston Review | Semi-pro | <5000 | Print/Online | Submit pitch or draft | |
| Chattahoochee Review | $150 | Poetry/Fiction/CNF | Submit pitch | ||
| Chicago Review | None | 500 – 1800 | Select from list of books to review | ||
| Cider Press Review | None | <500 | Online | ||
| Colorado Review | None | Online | Query first | ||
| Denver Quarterly | None | 1500 – 3000 | Historical theme | ||
| Florida Review | None | 500-1000 | Print/Online | Books published prior two years | |
| Gettysburg Review | Online | May charge a fee to submit | |||
| Glint Literary Journal | None | Online | |||
| Green Mountains Review | None | Print/Online | Include cover letter | ||
| Gulf Stream Lit Mag | None | Online | Query first | ||
| Hudson Review | None | ||||
| Kestrel | None | Print/Online | Query first | ||
| Kaleidoscope | $10 – $100 | <5000 | Electronic | In the field of disability and/or the arts | |
| Literary Mama | None | 800 – 2000 | Online | ||
| Mid-American Review | None | Poetry/Fiction/CNF | <400 | Query first | |
| Minnesota Review | None | Review essays/email first | |||
| Museum of Americana | None | Online | Query first | ||
| New Delta Review | None | ||||
| New Haven Review | Print/Online | ||||
| New Letters | $35 | 500 – 900 | No simultaneous submissions/Query first | ||
| Newfound | Semi-pro | 500-5000 | Online | ||
| Offcourse | None | Online | Query first | ||
| Pedestal Magazine | None | Online | Query first | ||
| Pleiades | 800 – 1200 | Print/Online | Three minute reviews published online | ||
| Poetry Café | None | Poetry Chapbooks | Online | Query to be a reviewer | |
| Poetry Flash | None | 4 dbl-spcd pgs | Print/Online | Query first | |
| Prairie Schooner | None | <1000 | Books published prior 18 mos. | ||
| Prospectus | $25 | Chapbooks, Poetry Books, Story Collections, First Novels, Art books | 250 – 300 | Print/Online | |
| Rain Taxi | None | <500 | Online | Published w/in last year | |
| Redactions: Poetry & Poetics | None | Online | |||
| Rumpus | None | 1200 – 2500 | Online | ||
| Saint Ann’s Review | None | Query first | |||
| So To Speak | None | >1500 | Online | ||
| South Carolina Review | 2 copies | ||||
| Southeast Review | Poetry/Fiction/CNF | 800 – 1200 | Published in current calendar year | ||
| Southern Humanities Review | None | Online | |||
| Sunlight Press | None | Books, Short Story Collections/Essay Collections | 750 – 1000 | Online | |
| Stirring | None | <500 | Online | ||
| Sugar House Review | None | Online | Query review editor: editors@sugarhousereview.com | ||
| Sycamore Review | None | Print/Online | Query first | ||
| Tarpaulin Sky | None | Online | |||
| Terrain.org | None | Online | |||
| Texas Review | None | ||||
| The Bind | None | Online | Reviews of books by women and nonbinary authors | ||
| Third Coast | None | Poetry/Fiction/NonFiction/Essays/Plays | 500 – 2000 | 1st/2nd Books/Small Presses preferred | |
| Tinderbox | None | Poetry/Flash creative nonfiction/Lyric essays/Hybrid forms | 500-1000 | Online | Especially interested in featuring titles from smaller presses |
| Under a Warm Green Linden | None | Interviews with poets and reviews of poetry books are read year-round. | Online | ||
| Up the Staircase Quarterly | None | Books/Lit Mags/Art | Online | ||
| Valparaiso Poetry Review | None | Online | |||
| Whale Road Review | None | <500 | Online | ||
| Writing Disorder | None | Online | |||
If you like this post, please share with your writerly friends and/or follow me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. You can see all the FREE resources my site offers poets/writers on my Start Here page.
Categories: Call for Submissions, Poetry Reviews, Self-taught MFA
Hi! Please add Tinderbox to this?
Thanks!
Sarah
>
OMG, how did I miss that! Thank you!
Done!
Excellent article. This team golfwell does free book reviews too https://www.teamgolfwell.com/free-book-reviews.html
Excellent article and very well done and thank you for taking the time to write this. FYI Team Golfwell does free book review https://www.teamgolfwell.com/free-book-reviews.html
Trish, this is fantastic. Thank you so much! You rock! This is a tremendous service to authors. all best wishes, Diane Frank
You're so welcome!
This list will really be useful to me and your other followers. Thank you so much!
Thank you, Trish, for your information and ever-present enthusiasm.
If any book reviewers on Trish’s list would be receptive to reviewing new poetry titles (from 2 tiny indie presses), books whose Spring 2020 launch was crippled by COVID-19, I would be delighted to send you either or both — and also throw in a free dinner [by way of an American Express “Be My Guest” dining out certificate].
My two titles are an Elgin Award nominee “A Route Obscure and Lonely” [Wapshott Press; 62 pgs; speculative poetry] — and —
“Concupiscent Consumption” [Red Ferret Press; 34-page chapbook; erotic verses].
Happy to send actual paperbacks and/or digital versions. You can preview these on Amazon.
Good wishes from New York, LindaAnn LoSchiavo
Hi, please add Prospectus to this list!
Will do! I will add it next week
Thank you, Trish! This is a tremendous help to authors and reviewers.