www.newpages.com: Home of Wondrous Crannies

In my constant search for interesting magazines to add to the newsstand, I've stumbled on a treasure trove of info that I have to share with you. It's www.newpages.com, a Web site that promises―and delivers―"news, information and guides to independent bookstores, independent publishers, literary periodicals, alternative periodicals, independent record labels, alternative newsweeklies and more." It's a place where readers can find all sorts of wondrous things, including hundreds of thoughtful reviews of books and literary journals. There are up-to-date lists of literary and alternative magazines, independent bookstores, even e-zines (those friends of trees and enemies of newsstands). You'll also find a blog about things literary and a directory of alternative music labels, with links to their Web sites. It's hard to keep to a plan of action when visiting this Web site; too many crannies and nooks to explore. I was reminded of my student days, on a mission from my political history professor to research some early 1950s topic in the library's microfilmed New York Times (do they still have microfilm?). I'd inevitably spend happy hours gaping at the prices of shirts and apartments in July 1955, and worriedly checking the standings of the Brooklyn Dodgers (even though I knew they would finally win it all), ignoring my initial purpose of finding out who said what in the U.N. Security Council that long-ago Cold War week. MagSampler.com is working hard to recruit more literary journals and alternative magazines into our catalogue, since our purpose is to let our visitors discover the new, the good, the passionate, the not-widely-known and the strange in periodicals. This Web site will be a big help in finding candidates. Casey and Denise Hill run www.newpages.com out of Bay City, MI. May they endure and prosper.