After a Facebook conversation, two Chapman alumni came up with the idea to create a blog for writers, which eventually turned into an online magazine.

Together, Sarah Reck, P.J. Martín and a group of their friends created The Litter Box as a way to get new voices heard and published.

“We hope to find untapped talent and expose it to others,” said Reck, the Web site’s managing editor.

The online bimonthly literary magazine has produced three issues with submissions from writers around the world. Its mission statement is, “to create an online receptacle for bold, fresh voices in the literary world.” The drive behind the magazine is two-fold: To get new writers published and to showcase literary and visual arts in a unique and interesting way, Reck said.

“The hardest part [after graduation] is getting up the courage to send stuff out to the publishers,” said Allison Ritto, a Chapman graduate and the magazine’s fiction editor.

Rejection is a part of the process and it is a badge of honor to have a stack of rejection letters, she said. Just like other publications, The Litter Box must reject submissions.

“You will get rejected. But you just got to keep on writing,” said Martín, the Web site’s poetry editor. “And you must realize that piece you wrote is never finished. You can always make it better.”

James Blaylock, author and assistant professor of English knows rejection is part of the process.

“It takes a big effort to send the same stuff out again and again,” said Blaylock. “It’s amazing how difficult it is to get published.”

After graduating from Cal State Fullerton, he spent five years sending out his writing before getting published.

“I still have a copy of my first rejection letter to prove that I was out there doing what writers do,” he said. “I was living the life.”

Blaylock contributed a short story to the first issue of The Litter Box and says that online magazines are getting more interesting as the price to publish print magazines continues to increase. Online magazines offer better venues for new writers, he said.

Aside from writing, Reck says the magazine will eventually introduce people to other art forms.

“What I like about our magazine is that we don't just look for fiction, poetry and visual art. We want nonfiction pieces – travelogues, personal pieces, book reviews and also recipes, because we feel cooking is an art unto itself,” Reck said.

Though the magazine showcases a variety of topics, several staffers have said getting submissions is still the hardest part of filling out each issue. Word of mouth through their various networks is how they are trying to increase the magazine’s visibility, Reck said.

Reck is using social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter to increase the magazine’s reach. Penelope Ingram, one of the nonfiction editors, has used craigslist postings to try to increase submissions, especially for nonfiction. She said some writer’s don’t feel nonfiction is as attractive as fiction and therefore not as available.

“We wanted a variety instead of just fiction writing,” Ingram said.

Ritto would like to see more visual art submitted so that it can be paired alongside writings. As submissions increase the staff would like to do more theme-based issues and hold contests around a central theme, Ingram said.

“These students have taken their enthusiasm along with them,” Blaylock said. He credits their drive and commitment to the craft as what makes their efforts an outstanding idea.

The Litter Box does not make money yet, and the staff works voluntarily.

“It’s a labor of love,” Ritto said.


Contact this reporter: kim.galbraith@thepantheronline.com