Low Hanging Fruit News
Oct 14, 2025
Supposed Literary outlets are tricking submittable users, attempting to corner them into payments after collecting their data.
A cautionary tale for writers navigating online submissions.
Writers seeking to submit their work to literary magazines and websites hosted on platforms like Submittable.com should exercise extreme caution, even when using filters that promise "no fee" opportunities. Recent reports, including documentation from users, suggest a misleading submission process where applicants are led to believe they can submit for free, only to be "cornered" into paying a fee late in the process.
The Bait-and-Switch Submission
The process often begins with the discovery of an opportunity that, on the surface or through initial search filters, appears to be free. The system prompts the user to enter their personal information, contact details, and even draft their cover letter and submission title. This is where the red flags begin.
As one user's experience shows, they were able to:
Navigate through the initial opportunity listings.
Click into the submission portal.
Provide their name, address, and other personal data.
Draft their title and cover letter.
Only after investing time and personal information—and just before the final step—is the required fee option presented. The attached images show different examples of these fee structures:
Magazine | Fee Option (Example) | Price | Description/Purpose |
LMNL SPCS | Tip Jar | $7.00 | "We are new and poor" |
Writer's Bank | $9.00 | "We are saving to pay you" | |
Big Whoopie Deal | Tip Jar | $6.00 | Tip the readers |
Writer's Pot | $15.00 | Saving to pay contributors |
In many cases, as shown in the video, the user reaches the "Fees (required)" section, where one of the paid options must be selected to proceed with the final "Submit" button. This effectively turns a seemingly "no-fee" opportunity into a mandatory paid submission, often without a truly free option available at the final stage.
The Follow-Up Pressure
The problem is compounded after the writer saves the submission as a "Draft." The system registers the incomplete submission, and the writer often begins receiving follow-up emails, urging them to complete the submission draft and, by extension, pay the required fee.
Pro Tip: Before committing any personal data, always scroll to the very end of the submission form (or find the "Fees" section) to confirm whether a payment is truly optional or if it is a mandatory part of the process.
A Call for Transparency
This practice raises concerns about transparency and ethical submission management. While many literary magazines rely on submission fees to operate, especially to pay their contributors (as noted in some of the fee descriptions), it is crucial that the cost is clearly communicated before a writer invests their time and personal data.
Writers are encouraged to scrutinize the full submission form before drafting their materials. If a "no fee" search result leads to a "fees (required)" section with no $0.00 option, you may have encountered this submission fee shock. There are plenty of publisher on submittable that do not require this fee, and as you can see on our website, LHF does not charge artists to submit. That would be a clear moral infraction for the sake of money. These literary outlets, Bloodpudding, Big Whoopie Deal, Liminal Spaces, and Street Lit are making money off hard working amateur writers, many of who are certainly denied. It begs the question, how much do they make off these submissions, and what percentage of this makes up their total revenue? More questions to be asked, perhaps on another day.
