Secret Chill Subs Data Tells a Different Story About Submission Fees

Industry Insights: An exhaustive look at why submission fees happen, who is responsible, and what we can do about it.

We’re going to keep the focus here on publishers of short works, not small presses or contests. Those deserve their own article in the future, and it’s coming.

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This season on…

THE WRITING COMMUNITY

A lone writer wandering the LAND OF LIT MAGS is approached by a publisher who asks them for a look-ee-loo at their story. But then...a submission fee!

AHHHH!

AHHHHH!

Ahhhh…

…idfk just go with it.

Yeah, we're going to talk about submission fees because:

1. submission fees suck

2. how much people talk about submission fees is annoying

So in true millennial fashion, when we see the internet talking too much about something, we can't help dusting off the good ol' soap box.

But wait, what could we possibly know that others do not?

Well, we have a database of over 3000 magazines where we track who pays, who doesn’t, what they offer, where they come from, and more.

We also spend every day jacked in Matrix-style to the writerverse.

we…love…it!

So, let’s do it. Let's dip our sticky little toes in this sticky little patch of f-fucksake we all have to deal with in indie-lit.

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For newer writers and the suckers who are still waiting for us to say anything about how to run a business, I'll briefly break this down.

Submission fees are a fee (no shit) that some magazines charge writers to submit their creative works to the magazine. They run anywhere from $3-$10 (more often closer to $3).

Let’s talk about why they exist and whether they're as big of a deal as they've been made out to be.

But wait, we're not going to talk about why submission fees suck?

Nope.

We're not going to provide a detailed rebuttal in defense of submission fees?

God no.

Then wtf is this?

Numbers.

Yeah, Business Daddy got us into numbers.

Yeah, baby!

Let's do it.