The Southern Review

What The Southern Review does

The Southern Review is a quarterly literary journal founded in 1935 and currently published by Louisiana State University Press from its editorial office at 338 Johnston Hall on the LSU campus in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It publishes four seasonal issues per year (Winter, Spring, Summer, Autumn) featuring fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and visual art from established and emerging writers. The journal operates with a very small staff of approximately five, supplemented by LSU MFA and doctoral interns, and supports a digital content layer comprising a SoundCloud audio gallery of contributor readings, an 'A Writer's Insight' blog interview series, a newsletter, and social channels on Facebook and Twitter.

The business model combines recurring individual subscriptions and single-issue sales through an online store and mail fulfillment, modest advertising at $250 per full page and $150 per half page per issue, and tax-deductible donations processed through the Blackbaud platform. The journal is a non-profit embedded within LSU Press, which provides administrative, distribution, and fulfillment infrastructure; it does not have external investors or venture capital backing. It generates no API, SDK, or software product revenue, and its technology is a conventional literary-journal publishing platform rather than a proprietary technology stack.

The customer base is distributed and community-led: individual literary readers and writers (primary), academic institutions and libraries (secondary), with a contributor pipeline anchored by Stegner Fellows, award winners, and MFA-affiliated writers. Go-to-market relies on literary-conference presence (notably AWP), newsletter sign-ups, social media, and earned recognition via contributor awards, rather than paid acquisition. The Southern Review maintains continuous quarterly operations and is currently active with the Summer 2026 issue published.

Name

The Southern Review

Legal name

The Southern Review

Website

https://thesouthernreview.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1935

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Southern Review is a non-profit quarterly literary journal founded in 1935 and published by Louisiana State University Press from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, serving literary writers and readers through seasonal issues of fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and art, with subscriptions, advertising, and donations as revenue streams.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Literary Journal

NAICS

Periodical Publishers (51312)

SIC

Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)

akta.pro primary industry

Arts, Culture & Literary Magazines (MPAJAEAN)

Keywords

• Literary journal publishing
• Fiction poetry nonfiction
• Quarterly literary magazine
• University press publications
• Literary arts nonprofit

Headquarters

HQ city

Baton Rouge

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Subscription Revenue: Quarterly subscription sales for print/online access to literary journal featuring fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and artwork.
2. Single Issue Sales: Individual issue purchases through online store.
3. Advertising: Full page ($250) and half page ($150) advertising rates per issue. Agency commission 15%.
4. Donations: Donation support through Blackbaud platform.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The Southern Review publishes a quarterly literary journal featuring fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and artwork by emerging and established writers. The journal is released in seasonal print issues (Winter, Spring, Summer, Autumn), distributed through subscriptions, single-issue sales, bookstore and conference channels, and accompanied by an online archive, an audio gallery of contributor readings, and a blog with author interviews.

Product overview

The Southern Review is a quarterly literary journal published by Louisiana State University Press. The publication offers a single unified product—the journal itself—distributed in seasonal issues (Winter, Spring, Summer, Autumn) containing fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and visual art. The journal operates alongside complementary digital offerings including an Audio Gallery featuring contributor readings via SoundCloud, an online Store for subscriptions and single-issue purchases, a Blog with editorial content and writer interviews, and a Submissions Portal for prospective contributors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• The Southern Review Literary Journal A quarterly literary journal published by LSU Press featuring fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and artwork by emerging and established writers, released in seasonal print issues (Winter, Spring, Summer, Autumn) and accessible through subscriptions and single-issue purchases.

Quantifiable outcome

• 26% of 2011 NEA poetry grant recipients had been published in TSR

Named customers10 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Louisiana State University Press (LSU Press)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Southern Review is published by LSU Press. The journal merged with LSU Press in 2010 to celebrate its 75th anniversary. LSU Press serves as the publisher and administrative parent organization for the journal, handling business operations, subscriptions, and distribution.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Granta: Quarterly literary magazine featuring fiction, nonfiction, and poetry from established and emerging writers. Directly comparable in editorial mission and quarterly serial format.
• Virginia Quarterly Review: Literary journal published by the University of Virginia, releasing essays, fiction, and poetry. Closely analogous in its university-affiliated publishing structure and quarterly cadence.
• Agni: Literary journal published by Boston University featuring poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. Directly comparable in its university-press publishing model and literary contributor base.
• The Yale Review: Quarterly literary journal published by Yale University featuring essays, fiction, poetry, and reviews. Directly comparable as a prestigious university-affiliated literary quarterly.
• The Paris Review: Long-established American quarterly literary journal publishing fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and interviews. The most directly comparable peer in terms of format, audience, and quarterly cadence.
• Ploughshares: Quarterly literary journal published at Emerson College featuring poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. Directly comparable in product format, contributor pool, and academic-affiliated publishing model.
• The Kenyon Review: Quarterly literary journal affiliated with Kenyon College publishing fiction, poetry, essays, and criticism. Directly comparable in format, mission, and university-press-backed operating model.
• McSweeney's Quarterly Concern: Quarterly literary journal founded by Dave Eggers publishing fiction, nonfiction, and innovative design-driven content. Directly comparable in quarterly serial format and literary fiction/poetry audience.
• The Sewanee Review: Quarterly literary journal published by the University of the South, one of the oldest continuously operating literary journals in the US. Closely comparable in heritage, format, and university affiliation.

Broad incumbents

• The New Yorker: Major weekly literary and general-interest magazine publishing high-profile fiction, poetry, and criticism. Overlaps in literary content category but operates at vastly larger scale and broader editorial mandate.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/southern_review
• YouTubesoundcloud.com/lsupress_and_tsr
• Facebookfacebook.com/lsusouthernreview
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-southern-review

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Southern Review