Sub Club Updates: We are hard at work getting your badges loaded onto your Chill Subs profiles. (We do this manually so bear with us). We’re also working on tier-specific emails to let you know your discount codes and party news. Remember, for Club Sub Tier members, you can submit your story for feedback & tailored list to the forms in our May Calendar post. Also, our Submissions Help Hotline is now up, so if you’ve got questions, let us know. We’ll be checking it every few days.
Love is all you need! And as sensitive, impatient, awkward af writers who are receiving rejections daily, that love usually comes in the form of free submissions, super fast response times, or a kind word about our work.
But wait, there is more! Our featured magazines this week, in addition to free sub fees, also spread the love in other ways, like giving writers payment for their work, providing extra cool resources, and creating inclusive communities.
But first, how about that grilled cheese recipe you’re all here for?
The key to a good grilled cheese sandwich is low and slow.
Add some butter to your frying pan but keep the heat below medium.
Once it's melted, add your first slice of bread, your cheese, and then top it with your second slice.
Now, you WAIT. This is great practice for your writing career. This grilled cheese is going to teach you patience.
So while we are waiting, let’s discuss cheese. According to the internet (and I’m confirming because I’ve eaten a lot of cheese in my lifetime,) the top five cheese that makes the best grilled cheese sandwich are cheddar, American, gouda, provolone, and swiss. If you want to go rogue, Colby cheese works too.
Check on that bottom slice of bread now and see how it's doing. If it's getting golden brown, flip that puppy over and toast the other side. Keep the heat low. The cheese will start to melt.
Soon you will have a delicious sandwich with a nice crunch on the outside and gooey goodness on the inside. As a good grilled cheese should!
Special dipping sauce options: Ketchup (yikes), honey mustard, ranch dressing, BBQ sauce, hot sauce, and tomato sauce (classic!)
If you make this sandwich, take a picture and post it below! Did you add any extra fixings? What cheese did you use? Give us the greasy details.
Alright, let’s take a look at some magazines who’ve been creating feelings of melty goodness in our souls.
The Sub Club Weekly Specials!
These lists come from the bottom of our hearts & bellies. You cannot buy or threaten your way onto them. No, not even with sandwiches.
The Chestnut Review
"Our mission is to provide a literary home to stubborn artists and writers. We believe literary markets should be open to everyone, and we are passionate about holding the door open for all writers who wish to enter ours."
How they spread the love: The Chestnut Reviews understands our stubbornness as artists and writers. “Artists persist despite rejection, the intrusions of real life, the bills that must be paid, the jobs that must be done before any art can be created–that’s the best kind of stubbornness. A stubborn belief in your own worth, in the art of your hands, eyes, and mind.” As such, they pay $120 per piece with a 30-day turnaround. They also nominate work for national awards. That’s a lot of love.
Special Sauce: “Our lovely editors have some suggestions such as “don’t let the narrative get lost in the structure,” “spend as much time on the ending as you do on the beginning,” and “zoom in on the little details.” We love dazzling, evocative, unexpected language and riveting scenes that balance action with observation.” — James Rawlings
By the numbers: Chestnut Review is the most bookmarked magazine on Chill Subs and also has the most tracked submissions (315) with an extremely competitive acceptance rate of .77%. They have an average acceptance response rate of 73 days for acceptances and 28 days for rejections. The good news there is that you won’t have to wait long to hear a no.
Genre Requirements: Fiction (5000 words), Flash Fiction (1000 words), Nonfiction (5000 words), Poetry (Max 3 pieces), Art & Photography (Max 20 pieces), Hybrid (surprise us), Comics (Max 1 piece)
*They pay writers, have a small fee only for long prose, have a print issue, accept simultaneous submissions, don’t accept previously published, and promote well on social media.
Chill Subs Profile | Website | Direct Link to Guidelines
Dipity Literary Magazine
“Dipity focuses on poets from around the world of all ages. We strive to uphold diversity. Our freaking motto is to capture kind moments! We love howling full moon writes! Send your best and declined poetry, prose, and fiction stories!”
How they spread the love: In addition to their motto dedicated to kindness, Dipity nominates for prizes and provides poets with resources such as their Phantom Canyon Typewriter Tips, an audio series by The Moon Kingseas. Some of their episodes include, how to self-publish poetry, how to price poetry, and how to handle rejection.
Special Sauce: “We love to see poets have fun with their writing, but also communicate beautiful stories and messages through their poems overall. Dipity values human kindness, exposing heartfelt truths, and taking time to have fun in writing while pushing traditional boundaries. You must write what you truly feel and release every slippery banana peel in this dimension. I look forward to seeing your submissions! Have awesome days ahead! “ — Jazz Marie Kaur
By the numbers: Dipity is a newer outlet founded in 2022 so there aren’t a lot of numbers. However, from what we do have, they have a super quick turnaround of 3 days (though the editors ask for 60) with a generous acceptance rate of 61% so far this year. They have taken the unique approach of charging fees only AFTER the first submission.
Genre Requirements: Fiction & Poetry (Max 3 pieces [1 for Symphonic contest]), Art, Photography (Max 10 pieces), Humor, and Audio (Max 3 pieces)
*They accept simultaneous submissions, pay writers in some categories, have expedited responses, and will accept short stories that have been previously published.
Chill Subs Profile | Website | Direct Link to Guidelines
They are also active in answering writer’s questions on Discord
Apex Magazine
"A bi-monthly science fiction, fantasy, and horror magazine featuring original, mind-bending short fiction from many of the top pros of the field. New issues are released on the first Tuesday of every other month."
How they spread the love: For those of you that are long-winded, you will appreciate Apex’s 7,500-word limit. They also don’t have any submission fee and pay writers at least $50 per story. They’re tough to get into but you’ll never feel like you’re not appreciated for trying.
Special Sauce: “Many zines post their content online to read for free, so my suggestion is read as many of them as you can! The best way to grow as a writer is to read. Spend some time figuring out why a story works for you or why it doesn't. Also, reading the publications that you want to submit to is essential! You'll have a better understanding of what an editor is looking for by reading the stories they've already said yes to.” — Lesley Conner
By the Numbers: You don’t need to know the Chill Subs stats to know all about Apex’s numbers since they are so open with their process. Out of the 49 submissions that have been tracked with us, Apex sits at a 0% acceptance rate with a one-month response time. If you Google ‘Apex Magazine acceptance rate’ you’ll find it has a 0.17% rate according to some. *pro-tip: for long-standing magazines, if you just Google their name with “acceptance rate,” the info comes up first thing.
Genre Requirements: Accepts Fiction (Max 7500 words) & Flash Fiction. Also, Translations! (Max 7500 words).
They don’t accept simultaneous submissions but pay well ($.08 per word) without charging a fee and are a top science fiction, fantasy, and horror market that is very active on social media.
Chill Subs Profile | Website | Direct Link to Guidelines
We also conducted a full interview with Apex in Write or Die which you can find here.
Bullshit Lit
"Online lit mag, based in Philadelphia. we publish poetry, prose, fiction, art, + stuff that doesn't fit into any of those categories. new shit every W/T/F. lovers of bad poems, ugly prose, + lazy lore.”
How they spread the love: The best way to our hearts is through humor and Bullshit Lit doesn’t take itself so seriously. They want your weird work and they don’t care if it’s bad. They also have a super speedy response time: 14 days! Right now they are open for subs for issue 3 of HORNS, their dirty magazine, a place for sexy + smutty writing + art.
Special Sauce: “Bullshit loves pieces that use vivid imagery, play with form, and/or don't fit into any of the traditional "categories" of work. For HORNS, get filthy with it. This is erotica, baby!” —Veronica Bennett
By the numbers: Bullshit Lit also has a ton of submissions tracked on Chill Subs (120 at the most recent count). The good news! They have a 28% acceptance rate which is both generous and incredible considering how much time and care Veronica puts into presenting writers’ work well. They also have a super fast response time with an average of 14 days.
Genre Requirements: Fiction (4 pieces max), Poetry (4 pieces max), Art & Photography (up to 6 pieces), comics (up to 6 pieces), Nonfiction (up to 4 pieces), Hybrids (up to 4 pieces), Humor, plays, audio, and video (up to 6 Pieces)
Bullshit Lit has print issues, accepts simultaneous submissions, presents writers’ work well, and promotes like a boss. AND they have a small press you can submit to.
Chill Subs Profile | Website | Direct Link to Guidelines
We also conducted a full interview with Bullshit Lit in Write or Die which you can find here.
just femme & dandy
"A biannual literary & arts magazine for and by the LGBTQIA+ community on fashion! We cover skincare, DIY, fat fashion, sports, and whatever else comes that to mind when thinking of fashion and style. Not sure your piece fits? Try us anyway—you might be surprised!"
How they spread the love: Not only does just femme & dandy pay writers up to $150 with no submission fee, they also show the love to their staff with a sick masthead page featuring original artwork, and fun factoids about editors such as their astrology signs and likes/dislikes.
Special Sauce: “We love that our submitters, contributors, and LGBTQIA+ folks have so many monikers! But it would help us out a lot if, once accepted, you let us know in your bio and agreement what name you'd like to be published under. As a lit mag that prioritizes access, please read the submission guidelines and provide alt-text/image descriptions for any images you include with your piece, including headshots. Can't wait to see what you submit!” — Addie Tsai
By the numbers: just femme & dandy has little numbers by way of statistics but they do have their response time listed coming it at 1-3 weeks. They have been around since 2020.
Genre Requirements: Current theme: Resurrect. Accepting fiction, nonfiction, poetry, art, reviews, tutorials, documentaries, photography, video, hybrid, and—well—anything!
They accept simultaneous subs, pay writers without charging a fee, and they have super-sleek website that presents writers’ work well with a demographic requirement of LGBTQ+ creators and all marginalized creators.
Chill Subs Profile | Website | Submission Guidelines
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Pigeon Review: Best goddamn infographic for how to format an email submission. It’s so clear and pretty. Even if you don’t submit to them, check it out.
Taco Bell Quarterly: If indie lit had a revolution, TBQ would be leading the charge. They pay writers, promote (and interact) with writers on Twitter, and don’t ask a thing in return except making sure your story has SOMETHING to do with Taco Bell. -
Short Story Stack (Substack Outlet) - Pays half the monthly membership to writers which has become quite competitive last we checked (around $400). It also doesn’t hurt that your story goes out to 6000 subscribers.
The Dread Machine (Dread Inspiring Fiction): Similar to Apex, The Dread Machine is super detailed with their guidelines and breaks down the process for writers (damn, science fiction outlets are really killing it on this). They also nominate, pay, don’t charge, and have a Discord to chat with writers.
Points in Case (Humor): The editors at Points In Case are super kind and often give a bit of feedback on a submission. (For example, here is one of Ben’s rejections from them: “This is a fun idea, but we unfortunately don't run a ton of stuff formatted as scripts.”) And if you’re accepted they have a section where you can promote your book.
Milk Candy Review: Cathy Ulrich gives a line of feedback for every submission they receive (and no fees!). Really, here is a line she wrote to Ben rejecting his story about a mermaid: “Ben, thank you for letting me read this story! I love that, when people start throwing things, Abigail is just like "enough of this" and leaves for good. I'm sorry to say no, but it's not quite right for Milk Candy.” and another, “Benjamin, thank you for letting me read this story! I really like how you play with the "Alice" concept here, while connecting it to current events -- it's very effective.” (He has like 6 of these). What a legend.
Malarkey Books (Indie Press) - Always promoting their writers on Twitter and put so much heart into what they do. They usually only publish books but right now they’re accepting horror anthology submissions. Just watch them go on Twitter and tell me I’m wrong. (You can read our interview with Alan Good here)
What other magazines are spreading love? Comment your favorites below.
This week’s Hit Submit party!
When: Tuesday, May 9 at 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM EST
SIGN UP USING THIS FORM (Hoagie Tiers & Up)
For our first Hit Submit Party, bring your submission stories and all your rejections! We’ll chat about our favorite mags, where we are submitting this month, mags that have been spreading kindness, and whatever else comes up!
According to the internet, the grilled cheese sandwich is the most loved of all the sandwiches. And so these lists are modeled with that tasty fact in mind- a little something for everyone. Some are competitive, some are brand new to the scene. We’ve got something for poets, horror writers, artists, and those working on their smut. We tried to cover a variety of genres and vibes in the hopes that one or more would encourage you to hit submit. So what are you waiting for?!
No, but seriously, don’t wait too long. You’ll burn the bread.
I've run across folks who eat their grilled cheese sandwiches with grape jelly. I tried this and it was a lot better than I expected. My preferred dipper is a mid-range hot sauce--Cholula or Valentina. I do not believe American cheese is food. So I'm looking down my nose at this post a little bit. Appreciate the magazine profiles.
Here’s a tip: spread some mayo on the outside bread before grilling on the buttered pan, it’ll give a nice little tang.