Explore These Soliciting Statistics for General Submissions

As we have continued to build our reputation and our audience, we have made a conscious effort to resist solicitation in favor of publishing those pieces from the submissions queue.  

While there are calls for more equity in publishing and rightfully so, we see the soliciting process as the next culprit that should be tackled and called onto the carpet. 

Good faith calls for submissions is not the issue we are addressing here when it comes to soliciting. Calls for submissions do not count in these stats.

The submission process should be fair and based on merit rather than relationship-based publishing, especially among fee-based magazines and presses.

Definition I: Solicit Lite - seeking out and requesting to see work from a writer and offering an alternate route to submitting during the general submission period, though still stating no promises as far as acceptance. We do extend the definition here to asking a poet or writer to send work outside of the standard submission process, though the submissions are still ultimately vetted through the editorial team. 

Definition II: Hard Solicit

This soliciting process here is not the same as a call for submissions or asking someone to submit. The soliciting process under this definition here consists of an agreement to publish a writer's work based on name recognition or reputation or social standing or demographic or relationship prior to reading the work that will be published, while still charging all others a submission fee.

Asking to see poems, for example, is not the same as asking for a poem.

The latter implies an agreement to publish ahead of time and we strongly discourage this practice, especially when most are paying fees to submit work.

*The aim of this stat sheet is for more transparency for writers.

This list here is based on general submissions only.

Methodology for this preliminary data collection: Magazines & Presses voluntarily report their stats. If anyone has questions about our statistical approach or our ethics, they are welcome to call or email us. 

These lists are only the beginning. When most (or ideally all) magazines and presses post their current solicitation stats in their submission guidelines where this information truly belongs, lists like these will be unnecessary.

Stats from the past as far as what has taken place historically are ideal and more robust.

Stats may also be in the current day as a promise for the future, no matter the past.

The purpose of these lists is about providing transparency, and if necessary - being better.

If you want to provide another tool of hope and promise for writers, get in touch with us.

 If a magazine or press is not on this list, try checking their website for their statistics. 

As of 01 March 2024, this information is also now being requested and housed via Chill Subs as well as places such a Twitter and on this Google Sheet. The first to compile such a list seems to be this article in Lit Mag News by Becky Tuch on 29 January 2021.