I think there was a small point I was trying to bring up about the fetishization of print and books. I do it all the time, probably why we freak out over the design of our print version as much as we do. But it’s important to recognize that while books can be pretty and satisfy an urge we have in our brains to feel and appear well read or smart or whatever, it’s still just a vehicle. What matters is the words inside it, the story being told on the pages.

I agree with you, Jamie, that it feels like most lit mags that publish online put their second rate stuff on the web, and that can sway writers to want their work in the print version.

Defensive moment: I don’t see the work we publish here as second rate as much as stuff that we simply can’t afford to publish in the print version. We get about 5 to 10 submissions a day here and as we continue to progress as a publication the submissions keep getting better in quality. I don’t really like big gigantic 800+ page magazines, I find them grotesque and wasteful, as if anyone would ever read a magazine that big cover to cover. So we publish the stuff that doesn’t fit in the print version up on the web.

I personally would rather publish my stuff online. Most of the people I care about and have access to might not necessarily buy the print version, but they would click on a link I posted on facebook.