Although writing contests have long charged entry fees, and this is considered justified because it’s a contest and there are significant prizes to be won, submitting your work to various journals used to be uniformly free. Now in the last ten years, more and more literary magazines are charging writers to submit to their regular publications. For this reason, I offer the below list of lit magazines with no submission fee
Charging submission fees is an inversion of the proper order of things. Journals are supposed to pay writers, not the other way around. If they can’t pay, writers understand. But asking us to pay is backwards.
It’s All Part of the Eternal Struggle of Writers to Get Paid
Various writers’ associations have long sought to maintain at least the semblance of professional pay. But in the midst of falling real pay levels for various types of workers in America, thanks to automated submission engines it has become very easy for some journals to improve their bottom line by charging writers for considering their work.
The objection that this practice privileges the rich and marginalizes those from various disadvantaged groups, perhaps even more so when, at an effort towards inclusiveness, there is a column for underrepresented persons to submit for free, is just as important. Dignity and equal access for all writers and creators means that charging for submissions is not a legitimate literary magazine practice.
These Markets “Get It”
That’s why I started this list. These markets understand that good writing takes effort, energy, and organization, and that writers and other creatives should not be charged for the chance to have their work considered by a legitimate publication. I have personally submitted to these markets and recommend them as being supportive of writers and our endeavor.
The List of 93 Lit Magazines With no Submission Fee
This list was vetted and verified in December 2023. I noticed that the list would be improved with details about each publication, and am working my way through the list, adding this info.
| 82 Review | Publisher: Independent | flash fiction, creative nonfiction, erasure texts, narrative art, word+image, collage poems, and poetic storytelling |
| payment: discount on print copies | Style: Modern, humanistic | Submission link: https://star82review.com/submissions.html |
| A Public Space | Publisher: Independent, sponsors writers workshops and master classes | Fiction, nonfiction, translations, and poetry |
| Payment: undetermined | Style: Literary, Avant-garde | https://apublicspacedemo.submittable.com/submit |
| Across the Margin | Independent group of “writers and wordsmiths.” | Fiction, poetry, reviews and commentary on music, sports, TV |
| Payment: undetermined | Style: Edgy and Modern, Eclectic | https://acrossthemargin.com/Submit/ |
| Agni | Affiliated with Boston University, the journal’s distinguished history dates to before this acquisition. | Poetry Conversations Fiction Essays Conversations |
| $20 per printed page. | “We have no formula. We seek fresh vision and listen for dynamic voices that address our common reality.” | Submission Information here. You must submit through the mail to avoid fee. |
| American Scholar | Published since 1932 by the Phi Betta Kappa society, this is an old school journal. | Nonfiction |
| Pays up to $500 | “Inspired by Ralph Waldo Emerson’s speech, The American Scholar.” | https://theamericanscholar.submittable.com/submit |