Today's column, like many of my SleuthSayers posts lately, was triggered by something I happened to see online--in this case a recent discussion about whether short-fiction writers should send stories to markets that charge submission fees.
So . . . should you or shouldn't you?
The answer's up to you. Personally, I don't like submission fees, and I don't send stories to those places that charge them.
NOTE: We're not talking about fees to submit novel manuscripts, or fees paid to an agent or publisher, or fees for reviews or contest entries. I would say No to all those too, but the topic here is the submission of short stories.
Another question: Is it even legal for a publication (usually a magazine) to charge fees for story submissions? That answer to that is Yes. But why would they do it?
I've heard them give several reasons:
1. To offset operational costs like printing, payroll, website hosting, and other expenses
2. To allow them to pay the writers whose stories are accepted and published.
3. To reduce the competition and, as a result, speed up response times.
4. To serve as a substitute for what writers once paid for postage, paper, envelopes, printing, etc.
(Reasons #3 and #4 remind me of a Richard Gere quote from the movie Breathless (1983). His girlfriend says to him, on the subject of ambition, that she has to think about the future. He replies, "The future? Yeah, I heard about it. Never seen it. Sounds like bullshit to me.")
Another reason for charging submission fees--sometimes called reading fees--could be that the whole operation is a scam. There are certainly some of those out there, but for this discussion let's rule them out and focus on legitimate markets.
Speaking of legitimate markets, it's disappointing to me that so many literary magazines charge submission fees. Yes, I know, many of them are financially-strapped university journals--but some are high-level and highly-respected publications, and most don't even pay the authors whose stories are accepted. I won't say I haven't been tempted to pay them the three dollars or five dollars or whatever it takes to submit a story--but I have resisted that temptation. If by chance I did pay up, and happened to get accepted and published in one of those, I think the fact that I'd paid to have my story considered would make me a little less proud of it. Another way of saying that is, I would have more respect for those respected markets if they chose not to charge a fee to submit.
The really frustrating thing is that many of the stories published in lit journals come from established, well-known writers who do get paid for their stories, while only a small percentage comes from the slush pile of beginning or less-recognizable writers who won't get paid even if they happen to get accepted. Add to that the fact that those struggling writers are probably less able to afford the submission fees that they must pay just to be considered. I can picture a frowning Lt. Columbo turning at the castle door and saying to the king, "One more thing. Just to make sure I understand this: The peasants are funding the party so you guys can drink and dance?" But maybe I'm being too cynical.
Now, having said all that . . . Is there any middle ground, here? Well, I've noticed that some places will waive their fees if you submit early enough in the month, and the fees would kick in only after a certain number of submissions have been received. Others charge no submission fee if you're a subscriber to the publication or if you belong to a related organization, and still others charge varying fees depending on whether you want editorial feedback, etc. But they're still fees.
As I implied in the title of this post, this issue of charging submission fees is nothing new. Whether you pay them or not boils down to how much you believe in the old saying that money should flow to the writer and not the other way around.
Anyhow, that's my update, and certainly my opinion only. What's your take on all this? Do you ever pay submission fees to publications? If not, why not? If you do pay fees, how do you decide when and where? Only pay them to the most respected markets? Only when the fee is low? Only occasionally? Please let me know in the comments section. (Don't worry, there's no charge.)
Whatever your policy is, happy writing, and good luck with every story you send in!
I'll be back in two weeks.
Back in my youth, when I could still stay alive on nothing but coffee, cigarettes, and hope, I did submit to markets that required fees, especially if there was a prize at the end. But I quickly grasped that it was just one more Ponzi scheme - get $$$ from the investors, and pay out to one lucky person, who (and I learned this the hard way) often turned out to be a co-editor or (in the case of a university literary mag) a professor. So, NO NO NO NO NO!
ReplyDeleteEve, I did it a few times myself, when I'd just started writing, if the fee was only two or three dollars. A waste of money in every way, since not a one of those stories was ever accepted. During all that--I think it was early 1995--I got my first acceptance from Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, who of course had charged me not a penny to submit my story. Lesson learned.
DeleteSame thing with me, only my first acceptance from AHMM was 1997!
DeleteI wasn't far ahead of you! And I can remember, to this day, what that AH acceptance did for my confidence as a writer.
DeleteI've never paid to submit a story to a publication. In 1998, when a friend and I started the short-lived Larcom Review, we decided not to charge "reading" or any other kind of fees. Our pay was minimal ($25), but as writers we both felt we wanted to respect the position of the writer. We never regretted this, even though we closed after 5 years. The world of literary fiction is very distorted in my view.
ReplyDeleteI'm not anonymous. The comment is from Susan Oleksiw.
ReplyDeleteHey Susan. First, good for you, for taking on that publishing endeavor. We both know those projects seldom last five years, so it sounds as if you and your friend did a good job--and I'm sure you learned a lot from the experience. And yes, literary fiction is a complicated area. Some lit mags I respect, some I don't. Even the stories themselves are sometimes great and sometimes terrible (or at least terrible to me). I'm glad I focus more on genre fiction, and mystery/crime in particular. At least it's something I understand.
DeleteThanks as always--whether you show up anonymous or not.
I will never pay a fee to submit a short story, even for "contests." Just as I am very reluctant (though I won't say "never" and have done so in the past) to submit to non paying markets. Even a tiny payment is worth it for me. And as far as those small paying markets go, they get a return on their investment in me when I buy copies of their magazine/anthology.
ReplyDeleteBob
I'm with you, Bob. As for contests, I usually get a lot of objections anytime I say I won't pay a contest entry fee, but I absolutely refuse to. (Would you pay a fee to audition for a play or interview for a job?) And I'm not a fan of contests anyway--I'd much rather send a marketable story to a magazine or anthology than to a contest.
DeleteAs for sending stories to nonpaying markets, I have done that from time to time, and will probably continue to, if I know and respect the editor--but like you, I usually try to get paid at least something for what I write. I think there are a lot of writers who agree with us on that.
I will not ever pay a fee.
ReplyDeleteNo way, no how, they’re not for me.
A fee, to me, is just a scam.
I’d rather eat green eggs and ham.
This made me laugh out loud, and I wholeheartedly agree.
DeleteMe either, Josh. (One order of GE&H, comin' up.)
DeleteDon't laugh at him, Noreen--it just "eggs" him on!
DeletePlease do not make me feel annoyed.
DeleteLet Noreen laugh, oh, Johnny Floyd.
See, Noreen? I warned you!
DeleteAnd now he's made me laugh twice.
DeleteI used to pay the fee for some contests until I did the arithmetic. A twenty-dollar submission fee for a $250 prize added up to a scam. Thirteen entries would pay for it, so where was the rest of the money going? I don't remember the last time I paid a submission fee or a reading fee now, but it's been several years. I wrote the story. You want to buy it, so I should get the money. Period.
ReplyDeleteOn a tangent here, but I want to mention it. Susan Oleksiw was co-publisher of Level Best Books when I first began to write seriously and submit stories. She, Kate Flora and Ruth McCarthy gave me my first three (or four?) publishing credits. They arranged signings for all the writers in their annual collection at Crime Bake, too. For a newbie, that was a tremendous boost.
Hi Steve. I agree. And a $20 entry fee--boy that's a lot. You're right, those would add up fast. To me, it doesn't even matter anymore how much the fee is--if they charge anything at all, I don't submit a story to them.
DeleteGlad to hear your "tangent," and I'm sure Susan was, too. All of us remember our first professional story sales, and those who made them possible.
Thanks as always, Steve, for the comment.
I can't remember paying a submission fee to anyone. I don't submit much to third parties and if they use it, I expect to get paid.
ReplyDeleteGood for you, Philip! I wish I could say I couldn't remember ever paying those fees, but I did a few times in my first few months of submitting stories, in the mid-90s. But as I mentioned earlier, it was to no avail, and I learned my lesson fast.
DeleteI did pay a reading fee once, back in the last century. Of course they didn't buy my story & I don't even remember now what magazine it was. I've won a couple of writing contests with small cash prizes, but I didn't pay anything to submit.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth, I too once paid the fees (maybe four or five times, maybe a couple dollars each--I'm ashamed now that I did it), and never ONCE did they buy my stories. And I too forget the names of the places involved. Good for you, by the way, on the contest wins! I bet those prizes made you feel even better because you didn't pay entry fees.
DeleteThank you as always for stopping in at SleuthSayers.
I'm reminded by something a mentor said to me, back in the 90s: "If you are a professional, then people pay *you* to read your work." I've always figured that professional markets know that, and would never ask for money from an author.
ReplyDeleteMelodie, you are correct, and I like that quote. But just check the writers' guidelines of many, and I mean *many*, of the current literary magazines, and they indeed require a fee to submit stories to them. My conclusion is, they are either not professional markets after all, or they are acting in an unprofessional way. (I'm not even sure I should claim to be a professional writer, but I am sure they won't be getting any money from me.)
DeleteHope you're doing well, up there. Thanks as always for your thoughts!
I subscribe to the "money flows to the writer" philosophy. I don't pay reading fees or submission fees. Anthologies or small press magazines can be published on a royalty share basis these days with the publisher getting an extra cut of the royalty share to help defray costs. Granted, that might not be an extra cut of a whole lot of money depending on sales, but it's that way with all professional publishing businesses. With royalty share, all the parties involved--writers and publishers--have a vested interest in making the publication successful. Charging writers fees up front just to submit a story that probably won't be accepted (depending on how many submissions vs. how many open slots still available) strikes me the wrong way.
ReplyDeleteAs for submission fees being somewhat equal to the bad old days when writers paid for printing, postage, and return postage costs, the publication wasn't getting that money to begin with back then, were they. It's apples vs. oranges, and not really a justification for charging reading fees.
Hi Annie. Thanks for stopping in, and for mentioning the royalty-share approach. As for how many submissions are involved and/or how many slots are open, I doubt that info is ever made available to the hopeful writer.
DeleteThe argument that charging submission fees is somehow justified based on money "no longer being spent" on envelopes, postage, etc. is one that I've only heard a few times, and I agree that it's absurd. Another stupid reason is that the charging of such fees "will discourage others who probably aren't serious about writing." I'm plenty serious about writing, and it discourages me right out of considering those places as a possible market.
What a crazy issue.
I think every beginning writer considers sending a poem to one of those pay to play books! (I did! It did get published but I'll be damned if I'm going to shell out what they want for more copies of that book! Wow this may have been fifteen years ago!)
ReplyDeleteHey Jeff! I remember those places. I never sent a poem to them when I was starting out, but yes, I sure considered it. I had heard a member of a little writers' group I was in bragging about having had one of her poems published in one of those "national" books of poetry, and when I asked one of the older members about it afterward he said to me, "Look, kid--" (I was in my mid-forties at the time) "--don't send ANYthing to that place. They publish everything that gets submitted to them, and then charge you an arm and a leg to buy the book." I never forgot that.
DeleteLive and learn, right?
Yeah, but I still have the book!
Delete