Why do writers submit to literary magazines?

One reason among many.

created for Chill Subs by Mariam Chagelishvili

There are a lot of reasons writers submit to literary magazines. Rather than cram each one into this piece, I narrowed my focus to one of the most common reasons. I’ll do a part 2 at a later date to focus on the fun/social aspect of submitting. For now, I hope this offers some insights. If you like the work we do, you can support us by becoming a member or paid subscriber.

---

---

From 2011-2013 I worked as a door-to-door fundraiser for nonprofits. Each day we were given “Turf” — a spliced-up neighborhood of doors to knock on until someone opened, and I could vomit my script all over them. It was a fun job. Most people slammed the door. Enough didn’t. I spent three summers doing this. 

One day, I knocked on the door of John Katzenbach, the psychological thriller novelist best known for a movie adaptation of one of his books called ‘Hart’s War.’

I started in with my spiel, “Hi, my name is Ben, I am from [INSERT NONPROFIT], did you know [INSERT SOMETHING HORRIFYING]…”

But John (can I call him John?) cut me off. He said he always gives money when we come around. (Those were the best doors to knock on.) While he was filling out the check, he asked, “So are you planning to go into nonprofit work?”

“No,” I said. “I want to be a writer. So I guess I’ll be broke forever.”

He smiled and said, “I’m a writer.” Then he casually waved at his house. It was a fuck-you-money-sized house. Then he said, “My wife is a writer, too.” And Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Madeleine Blais walked over from the living room.