The conversation at Wednesday night’s indie lit mag panel at Powerhouse Arena did not stray from its predictable territory: the challenges of getting funding, the ever-evolving landscape of digital publishing and self-satisfaction about being Brooklyn-based.

Though quieter than some nights at Powerhouse, the audience that turned up to hear the discussion between six editors (from Moonshot, A Public Space, SET, Slice, Tin House, and Electric Literature’s newly launched Recommended Reading) and moderator Jamie Schwartz, managing director of the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses, was considerable.

Ms. Schwartz began the conversation by asking about money, a topic panelists returned to over the course of the night. “I think it’s a mystery to most people how the economics of literary publishing works,” she commented. “It’s really like an oxymoron.”

Anyone who hoped this mystery might be illuminated further was sorely disappointed. Read More