Welcome (back) to Sapling.

You may have noticed we're on Substack now. Yay! Here's a bit about what's ahead for Sapling in 2025 and beyond.

Hi small press friends.

2025 marks Sapling's sixteenth year in (digital) print, and we're marking our Sweet Sixteen with some big changes—new platform! new pub day! returning editor!—as well as a renewed commitment to doing what we do best, every single week: showcasing up-to-date, streamlined information for writers looking for new venues for their work in the small press world.

What’s changing

We’re on Substack now, as you can see. After fifteen years on our old (and frankly a bit rusty) platform, we’re excited to join the Substack community of writers. Sapling will still come out once a week, now on Tuesdays, a return to our original weekly publication day. It will be edited by me, Kit Frick—you may know me as Black Lawrence Press’s Managing Editor, from my time editing the chapbook series, or you may even remember me from my tenure as Sapling Editor in 2011-2013. (Big thanks to Yvonne Garrett for her eleven-year run as Sapling Editor!) I’m delighted to be back at the Sapling desk.

What’s staying the same

Sapling subscribers can still expect the same content you’ve come to rely on in every issue: weekly profiles of a contest, a small press, and a literary journal, as well as a feature interview with an editor, publisher, or emerging writer. The features are always my personal favorite, as our guests invite our subscribers to view the wide-ranging small press landscape from a new angle each week.

What the change to Substack means for your subscription

For current subscribers: If you’re already a Sapling subscriber, your subscription will be migrated over to Substack, and it will extend through your subscription expiration date (or possibly even a bit beyond, in keeping with Substack’s settings—bonus for you!). When your current subscription is about to expire, Substack will notify you by email, and you’ll be invited to renew your subscription for $5/month. (There is no obligation to renew.) You do not need to take any action right now.

If you’re not yet a subscriber: Join us! The first issue of the month will be free on Substack. Only paid subscribers will receive the remaining weekly issues. (In other words, free subscribers will receive 12 issues a year, on the first Tuesday of each month. Paid subscribers will receive all 52 issues a year, at the rate of $5/month.)

That’s 156 potential new outlets for your work, plus an in-depth look into the experiences of dozens of emerging authors and publishing professionals, in interviews that go beyond what you’ll find on their websites. All and all, it shakes out to about $1.15/issue, which we hope you’ll find worthwhile.

Thank you for being part of our Sapling community! Your first issue of 2025 will arrive on Tuesday, January 7. See you then!