To the contributors, readers, and community of Room Magazine:
We at Room Magazine extend our deepest and most sincere apologies for the significant delays in the production and delivery of several of our recent issues. We know how much trust our community places in us, and we are truly sorry for not being able to meet those expectations.
Room has faced a major organizational issue that has affected the magazine’s production schedules. Internal coordination challenges during a transitional period played a major role in these setbacks, and as a result, we are now in the process of investigating the causes of these issues and rebuilding our publishing infrastructure at the leadership level, with a renewed commitment to collective responsibility and clear communication.
Due to a prolonged disruption in our printing and distribution process, issues 48.1, 48.2, 48.3 and 48.4 have been significantly delayed. We know that these delays have caused frustration and disappointment for contributors and readers alike, and we are working to remedy this situation as quickly as possible.
Moving forward we are implementing structural changes to ensure this does not happen again. We are also in active communication with all affected contributors and subscribers and will provide updates and compensatory measures to them as soon as we are able.
If you have recently submitted work to us for our open theme, contest, or SCIENCE issues, our usual response time of up to 6 months has been lengthened to 8 months. If this unanticipated delay is hard on your timelines, please know that Room accepts simultaneous submissions, and are happy for you to submit your piece elsewhere in the meantime so you don’t have to wait twice.
Room exists because of, and for, the literary community, and we are deeply committed to maintaining a reciprocal relationship with everyone we work with and serve. Your trust, creativity, and engagement are vital to our purpose. We are incredibly grateful for the care our community has poured into Room, and do not take that for granted.
Thank you for your time and understanding, and for supporting Room as we deliver the standard of work you deserve.
With humility and gratitude,
Room Magazine
Q&A
1. PAYMENT: I’m waiting on a payment from Room Magazine. When can I expect to receive it?
We’ve spent the past month looking through and processing our outstanding invoices, but it is possible that yours has been missed. If at the time of the posting of this statement, Room still owes you a contributor fee–for an interview, book review, prose/poetry/visual piece, contest winner/finalist fee, etc.–please email managingeditor@roommagazine.com with the subject line “Outstanding Contributor Payment” and include the owed amount in the body of the email.
2. SUBSCRIPTIONS: I purchased a subscription to Room which has not been fulfilled yet. When can I expect to see my issue(s)?
Once our circulation delays are resolved, Room will send print subscribers their magazines. In the meantime, we will send digital copies or, alternately, offer a full refund if a subscriber prefers.
3. SUBMISSIONS: I submitted work to Room Magazine but haven’t heard back yet.
Room Magazine had to undergo a pause of regular work while we investigated the scale of the issues, and are now working through a backlog of submissions.
As of the time of posting this statement, the Room Magazine team is working through our 48.2, 48.3, and 48.4 submissions. If you don’t hear back about your submission from 48.2 or 48.3 by September 2, 2025, please email managingeditor@roommagazine.com with the subject line “Issue #48.2 Submission–Waiting on Response” and/or “Issue #48.3 Submission–Waiting on Response”. If you don’t hear back about your 48.4 submission by December 31, 2025, please email managingeditor@roommagazine.com with the subject line “Issue #48.4 Submission–Waiting on Response”.
Until then, please know that we’re working diligently on these.
Contest submitters specifically: if you submitted work to our 2025 fiction or nonfiction contests, we reiterate that the response time for these pieces is now up to 8 months. If you haven’t heard back about your submission to the fiction or creative nonfiction contests within this time frame, please email managingeditor@roommagazine.com with the subject line “2025 Fiction Contest Submission–Waiting on Response” or “2025 Creative Nonfiction Contest Submission–Waiting on Response”.
Regarding the poetry contest: Room Magazine delayed its 2025 poetry contest to focus on addressing this evolving situation, but we will be opening it at a later date this summer.
4. WHAT DOES THE FUTURE LOOK LIKE?
There is a great deal of work outside of these important logistics that Room has had to delay or rethink in light of this situation. We’re grateful that we could, as promised, dedicate a portion of our May 2025 magazine sale proceeds to those directly affected by the Lapu-Lapu Day Tragedy, and hope to be on hand to support our communities in other ways as well.
Undoubtedly, Room has been rocked by these recent revelations, but we are a fifty-year-old organization that has made it this far thanks to the care of passionate Roomies and community members. Room has survived crises before. We are determined to fix these issues and excited to resume bringing about the future of the magazine.
