Wooden Horse and New Magazines

Much of my time working on LJ‘s magazine reviews column is spent researching and requesting new publications—a task that’s even harder in these dark days for print. Wooden Horse Publishing has been frequenly updated with new magazine tips for years. I can’t speak to the quality of the paid database (which includes contact info, editorial calendars, etc. for over 2000 U.S. and Canadian consumer and trade magazines), but the homepage has tons of free blurbs on new publications of all types. 

Meg Weaver, who founded the company in 1997, says one of her most time-consuming tasks is finding out about new mags. She crawls media sites, gets pitched by PR people and editors, relies on contractors and volunteers for tips, and spends a lot of time slugging through Google alerts. Although much of her info is intended for writers, the site can be a great place to browse for some of the more regional magazines LJ doesn’t cover. She has plans to launch an awareness program for libraries, which may mean more info tailored to your needs. Librarians: Where do you get your news on new periodicals?