15 independent women’s magazines

Here are 15 exciting, independent new women's magazines that have impressed the team at Stack Magazines:

Gal-dem's website is a source of intelligent, thought-provoking essays on the lives of women of colour; a welcome alternative that platforms under-represented modern voices. When we heard they were launching a print magazine, we knew it was going to be something special. Their first issue was themed "gal-hood", and included a mix of features, interviews and opinion pieces tackling topics of sisterhood, the body, sex, age, growth, and more. It's an intimate and inspiring read, and sold out like hot cakes.
Submission guidelines: www.gal-dem.com/submission-guidelines-faqs/
The launch issue of feminist magazine Mary Review completely won us over with its diverse storytelling. From a photo series of working mums, to sexism in the trucking industry and a pop star creating patriotic anthems for people at war in Iraqi Kurdistan, its narratives come embedded with a thoughtful curiosity for the often unnoticed women in our world. You can read some of these articles on their site, and support their writing by ordering a copy.
Submission guidelines: https://maryreview.com/about/
A magazine for the modern witch, Sabat magazine is a favourite in the Stack community. Our coverage of the magazine's hidden designs and the interview with founder Elisabeth Krohn have been some of the most-read articles on the Stack blog. But we're not surprised - their issues explore feminine empowerment and interesting design just as much as modern witchcraft and the occult, making it an intriguing magazine and a spellbound read.
Submission guidelines: www.sabatmagazine.com/about/
In its small, staple-bound format, Girls Club is reminiscent of DIY zines of the punk era. But its writing, photography and illustrations are top quality, and with a refreshing, humorous attitude, it's one of the key titles propelling this feminist magazine movement. Their most recent ‘Quarter Life Crisis' issue took a wry look at the millennial phenomenon with honest and forgiving charm.
Submission guidelines: www.girlsclubzine.com/contact/
In Japanese, Sukeban means "delinquent girl" or "boss girl", and their website and print magazine holds strong to this ethos. Created as a space to support women in the creative industries, it aims to help individuals find other like-minded females they want to work with by offering a place for them to collaborate with other women. Founders Erika Bowes and Yuki Haze are known for their distinctive and unapologetic style, which makes sense as the theme of their first issue was "The Outlaw". Keep your eye out for issue two, due out later this month.
Submission guidelines: https://sukeban.co.uk/submissions/
Lyra first grabbed our attention with its bellybutton cover from issue one (above). The second issue, themed ‘self-love and vanity' explored everything from the selfie stick to egotism in politics, and once again provided an inquisitive, bold look at today's female experience.
Submission guidelines: www.lyramagazine.co.uk
From the publishers of New Philosopher magazine, Womankind is a quarterly magazine focused on self, identity and meaning. Each issue offers commentary and reportage on culture, philosophy, nature, and creativity, and aims to give readers encouragement on living a more meaningful life. Their most recent issue explores balancing self-acceptance and ambition, questions the gender gap in medical research, and asks writers to try out a five-day advertising-free challenge. It's a title best enjoyed slowly and thoughtfully - they even have their own line of ethically-sourced tea for the occasion. Submission guidelines: www.womankindmag.com/about-us/
Girls Like Us packs art, culture and activism into its diminutive pages. Through personal stories, essays and praiseworthy graphic design, the magazine puts questions about future ways of living and sharing in front of readers. Their latest issue looked at ‘family' - collectives, collaborations, friendship, and support structures.
Submission guidelines: www.glumagazine.com/about/
BBY is a feminist magazine born out of a desire to change the male-dominated institutions of design and art. Published out of Sweden, it wants to counter the long tradition of men supporting other men, by lifting other women up. We spoke to the editors about their second issue, which gives a tongue-in-cheek examination on the glamourised notion of interior design, and includes features such as ways to style your home with products found at the pound shop. Submission guidelines: https://www.facebook.com/pg/bbymag/about/
Ladybeard, picked up a Stack Award for their second issue, which we also sent out to Stack subscribers (and received really great feedback for it). Their "sex" and "mind" issues explored much-needed female perspectives that are simply not represented in traditional women's media - you'll find enlightening investigation on things you debate about with your close friends. At the time of writing submissions were open for their third issue on "beauty".
Submission guidelines: www.ladybeardmagazine.co.uk/about/
Riposte is a smart magazine for women, profiling bold and fascinating women whose achievements speak for themselves. They write: "Our interviews are honest rather than being full of media trained responses as the women we feature candidly discuss their successes & failures, their work, their passions and perspectives. Essays and features cover a broad range of issues including art, design, music, business, innovation, politics, food and travel. We commission all creative content exclusively for each issue, working closely with all creative partners. Since launching Riposte has attracted coverage from the likes of Cool Hunting, Monocle, The Observer, It's Nice That, Port, Creative Review, PSFK and The Sunday Times Style section - as an example of high quality independent publishing. Riposte was nominated for the Design Museum, Designs of the Year Award and was awarded a gold European Design Award."
Submission guidelines: www.ripostemagazine.com/about/
The Gentlewoman celebrates modern women of style and purpose. Its fabulous biannual magazine offers a fresh and intelligent perspective on fashion that's focused on personal style - the way women actually look, think and dress. Featuring ambitious journalism and photography of the highest quality, it showcases inspirational women through its distinctive combination of glamour, personality and warmth. These qualities are also at the heart of its website, a virtual place where real women, real events and real things are enjoyed.
Submission guidelines: thegentlewoman.co.uk/magazine
Oh comely is a curious, honest and playful independent magazine and they say: "It's a place to meet strangers, hear their stories and look at life a little differently - where our readers are our writers and our models, too. Each issue we pick a theme and see where it will take us. We try something old, something new and something that scares us a bit. Then we present our findings in a beautiful, art book style, putting new writing, photography and illustration talent at the heart of it. We believe good things come in threes. We began as the bedroom project of three pals at university and we're now produced by a small publishing house started by another set of three friends. We are bi-monthly, made in London."
Submission guidelines:
- For writers, it varies! Some submissions for our first person stories we do not pay. For experienced writers who are contributing in our first person stories, we generally pay £50. For features below 1,000 words we pay £100, and for anything over that anything between £100-£200.
- Illustrators: again it depends on experience and also the feature / how much they do. But can be anything from £0 to £300.
- Photographers: the general rule is £100 for a portrait shoot, or between 120 and 200 depending on the feature. Stylists/hair/makeup between 60-200. ohcomely@icebergpress.co.uk
Typical Girls is an alternative magazine, standing as a platform for a collection of women to share their stories and art. The magazine proves there is no such thing as a ‘typical girl', there isn't one right way to be a girl, but to decide you are. The zine is a mix of art, photography, interviews, thought pieces and creative writing, collected and sourced from our contributors. Typical Girls is founded upon the premise of celebration, we seek to create a publication that is wholly positive and inspiring. A true expression of what women can achieve if they work together. typicalgirlsmagazine.co.uk/
Hotdog "encourages submissions from queers, femmes, bipoc, lgbtq, trans/gender nonconforming, people with (dis)ability/ies*, women and all the beautiful people who are out there on the margins. Hotdog is, and always will be a safe space to share your words and feelings. We never publish anything without the express approval from the author and are always open to collaborating, drafting, redrafting until you're happy. We understand the personal nature of poetry and putting something into print can be stressful, we are here for you and with you (& are in the same boat ourselves)."
Submission guidelines: hotdogmag.com/about/

Stack Magazines' Steve Watson speaks

Prints not dead a renaissance of indy women's magazines