What is the difference between a literary magazine and an anthology?
- Magazine: periodical, ongoing reading periods, individual pieces.
- Anthology: one-time, themed, multiple authors with a curator.
- Magazine payment: $0-$2,000 per piece.
- Anthology payment: flat fee ($50-$500) or royalty share.
- Magazine credits build over time; anthologies are one-time.
A literary magazine is a periodical (quarterly, biannual, or monthly) that publishes individual short works — fiction, essays, poetry — by multiple authors. An anthology is a one-time, themed collection of works by multiple authors, usually with a single editor or editorial team. Magazines publish on ongoing reading periods; anthologies have specific submission windows tied to the collection’s theme.
Chapter i·Why it matters
Both venues serve short-form writers, but the submission and payment dynamics differ. Magazines build ongoing publication credits; anthologies provide one-time exposure plus payment. Knowing the difference shapes which venues you target — and how you build a short-fiction bibliography over time.
Chapter ii·What to include
- Magazine: periodical, ongoing reading periods, individual pieces.
- Anthology: one-time, themed, multiple authors with a curator.
- Magazine payment: $0-$2,000 per piece.
- Anthology payment: flat fee ($50-$500) or royalty share.
- Magazine credits build over time; anthologies are one-time.
- Anthology themes: genre-specific, region-specific, or topic-specific.
Chapter iii·Example
A short-fiction writer submits the same 4,200-word story to literary magazines and themed anthologies. The story is accepted by a magazine first, but she also pitches a different story to an anthology on grief. Three years of mixed submissions: 8 magazine credits + 2 anthology appearances. The mix builds a stronger short-fiction CV than either path alone.
Chapter iv·Related questions
WriteLoom's Pitch studio tracks short-fiction submissions across magazines and anthologies.
See the Pitch studio