Our New Magazine Is Creating an Army of Reviewers Who Believe Stories Matter—Are You In?

If You’ve Ever Yelled at a TV Show, Congrats—You Might Be Perfect for This. LegendHaven is Lauching a Real Magazine, and We Need YOU to Fill the Pages

TL:DR: Hold onto your bookmarks and controllers—LegendHaven is here, and it’s about to shake up the multiverse. Maybe a little bit. Maybe a lotta bit.

Let me tell you why.

In a world drowning in content, we’re raising a banner for readers, reviewers, and pop culture fans who believe that stories aren’t just entertainment—they’re how we shape a future we believe in. If you devour books, binge shows, crush games, and have opinions—this is your moment.

The elves skipped the spellcheck on this one. He’s not too happy.

LegendHaven is now recruiting a fellowship of passionate writers to dive into the hottest new titles, rip into the good, the bad, and the mythic, and help thousands of readers make sense of what’s worth their time (and what should’ve stayed yeeted).

Already blogging? Posting reviews? Obsessing over hidden themes in fantasy novels or crying over anime finales? We want to meet you.

Want to know what we’re looking for from writers?

Keep reading.

But first…

You remember that scene in Monsters Inc. when Mike Wazowski squeals because he’s gonna be on the cover of a magazine? Even though his face is behind a barcode?

Yeah, that’s me right now. And Dom. And Gabe. (Hi, guys.)

Well, we won’t be on the cover, and we won’t be hidden by barcodes, but WE ARE MAKING A MAGAZINE, and I want to squeal because our words are going to be in a real, honest-to-goodness, flip-through-the-pages-at-the-salon magazine. (How many times am I going to say magazine?)

It’s called LegendHaven.

Yes, like the con you know and love, except now, it’s more. It’s a culture.

It’s a community.

It’s a way of life—where we dive headfirst into pop culture to see what’s there to feed us. To find the meaning in the bestsellers, the moral imagination in the blockbusters, the call to greatness in the first person shooter (or cozy baking, whichever floats your boat.)

Why now?

We’re entering an era flooded with stories. Books. Movies. Shows. Games. Every day, new worlds are being launched into the wild — and millions of people are consuming them with little time or guidance on what’s worth the dive. It’s absolutely insane out there.

With the rise of BookTok, the explosion of serialized streaming, the surge of indie game devs and self-published authors, we are witnessing a renaissance in content. A whirlwind. A chaos. A feeding ground for the imagination.

Sometimes it feels like a cross between Gremlins and the Meg 2: The Trench.

So there’s the problem: So much content. So little meaning.

People are turning to Goodreads, group chats, and friend circles to ask: What’s worth it? What will feed my soul, not just fill my screen?

You know what that means: There’s an incredible opportunity right now for us to help readers out. To curate.

That’s where you come in.

If you read regularly, if you write reviews, if you blog your thoughts about stories, culture, and media — we want to meet you.

We need YOU.

This is going to be a quarterly, thick puppy, and one of the things we want to fill it with is going to be reviews of all the hot new releases, the art that hits celebrity status in society’s eyes.

We want to know: what do they see in it, what do you see in it, and is this one of the rare beauties that doesn’t suck the life out of you but satisfies that itch inside us for truth, goodness, and beauty.

• Do you like reading books?

• Do you like watching movies?

• Do you like binging shows?

• Do you like playing video games?

Good.

Are you a writer who:

• Is already reading and reviewing books, movies, shows, or games?

• Wants a wider readership, more visibility, and a home for their voice?

• Is willing to dig into the wild, whimsical, wonderful, and wacky worlds of pop culture — to pry up the meaning of it all with an Oreo and a crowbar?

We’re calling All Bibliophagos (Book Devourers)... And Movie and Game Devourers.

Here’s what we’re looking for:

1) Writers brave enough to dig into hot new pop culture.

This means wading through lots of rough and tumble stuff. Some gritty stuff. Some edgy stuff. Maybe, possibly, probably some stuff that you don’t agree with. We’re looking for someone who can view it, catalogue it, and consider it in the grander scheme.

You choose your interests, and you share your take on things. We’re hunting for people who are willing to experience and wrestle with the hot mess of the human experience in the pages and on the screen.

Sweet or clean fiction is welcome too!

2) Writers with actual opinions.

Love what you read. Hate what you read. Either way, do it hard and share the reason. This is about more than rehashing trending hot-takes with your flavor of snark.

You don’t have to like everything. Give us the hot takes, the unpopular opinions, the juicy deets, the scalding tea! It may even be because of some of the content. The most important part is that you can tell us why.

For example: was the violence superfluous, or did it really set the scene so that the hero could overcome? Did the book make it seem like that horrible choice was the right thing, or was it an admission that sometimes we make horrible choices? Was the spicy scene a skippable, flabby addendum to an otherwise powerful, great story, or was the whole thing pretty much cheap smut with no deeper core, no grander truth, no better story?

3) Writers who can think from different angles.

Stories are not always straight forward, and sometimes it takes some real awareness to understand the good, the bad, and the ugly. We seek writers who are willing to test, retest, prod, and guess at what’s going on under the surface.

For example: in ‘The Poppy War’, the main character makes a choice to destroy her womb. This is one trope that ticks me off on a whole other level. I was angry, even considered DNF’ing. But then I took a second look and realized: this whole thing is a cautionary tale. She, and the society around her, are going to Hell in a handbasket! It wasn’t meant to be celebrated, it was meant to be a tragic moment. And as turns out, that was exactly how the author intended it.

You don’t have to do mental gymnastics to excuse every book. Sometimes, things are wrong, and we want you to call it! The challenge is for you to figure out what is actually being conveyed, and if there is a context around the story that brings out something helpful for readers.

4) Writers with excellent writing skills.

We are looking for someone who can craft well-written, professional reviews. Part of being professional is having a great grasp of writing structure and flow. We seek to only publish the best!

We’re looking for tactful, considerate, and coherent commentary. If we don’t enjoy a book, we’re not here to bash or cut down anyone. If we do enjoy a book, we’re not here to simply rave. (That can be fun, but save that for your besties.)

5) Writers with interesting approaches.

We don’t merely seek more straight-laced, academic reading. We don’t want an overwrought analysis of every stiff rule available. We want to hear your voice. We want to hear your thoughts, emotions, quirks, uniqueness.

I crack jokes a lot. That’s my style. Reading makes me happy, and I love sharing that! I can’t wait to see what your style is.

6) Writers who are dedicated.

LegendHaven is a quarterly magazine, and we’re going to need thoughts, gushes, and (tactful, rational) rants to fill it. We’re going to need you and your story-lover’s mind around for the long haul. Because books ain’t going away.

And, of course, we need you to be dedicated to storytelling! This magazine needs to be full of passionate nerds on the same wavelength so that our readers can feel the excitement radiating off it.

We’re marshaling an army of authors to become guides in this jungle of media.

You’ll help:

• Curate indie gems and chart-toppers.

• Elevate stories that deserve attention.

• Call out the shallow, and celebrate the mythic.

• Offer reviews with real thought, not just trendy snark.

If your blog posts, threads, or reviews already do this — we want to meet you.

🚨FRIENDLY DISCLAIMER (AKA: WHY THIS IS ACTUALLY AWESOME

Real talk: nobody’s getting paid for this. Not yet. Not Dom (the founder). Not the writers. Not even the interns we don’t have.

Every single person involved in LegendHaven is here because they believe—believe that stories matter, that culture can be shaped, and that there’s a wild, weird, wonderful future to build.

This magazine is powered 100% by passion, popcorn, and possibly too much caffeine. And that means the reviews? Totally unfiltered. Deeply honest.

No one’s fluffing up a bestseller for a paycheck. We’re writing what we really think—because we care.

Now, if we do blow up one day (picture: LegendHaven in dentist offices, classrooms, mailboxes, and maybe even Hogwarts), we will pay contributors. But to get this rocket off the ground? It’s all volunteer. It’s all heart.

So if you’re in, you’re not just a writer. You’re a founding voice. A culture-builder. A co-creator of something epic.

Let’s go make story history.

Love Stories? Hate Bad Endings? You Belong in This Magazine.

Here’s what to do next:

🖋️ Send us a sample review — a book, a movie, a game, a series — anything you love (or hate) and have real thoughts about.

📚 Already publishing on your own blog or platform? Let us know. We’re open to syndicating and collaborating.

✊🏽 Join the call to action. Let’s build something meaningful in a culture drowning in content.

LegendHaven is where story-lovers become story-guides. And we’re saving a seat for you.

We’d love to see if you’re a good fit for our magazine.

Send us a message with your idea, and we’ll reply as soon as possible, assuming no Celestial starts pushing out of the Indian ocean.

Until then, keep reading, writing, and snacking on the good stuff.

And drop a question right here!