Thread by @JenLRossman

Writers beware. A magazine called "Strictly Fiction" emailed me this morning to see if I wanted to submit to them. Checked the website, and they charge $3 reading fees. [cont.]

I emailed them "Please remove me from your mailing list. I do not support magazines with reading fees."

Their reply?

"This was a one time email to find writers who have enough confidence in their writing that they would spend a very dollars to get their work included in this new venture. [...]

[...] It is a way to weed out those who have no confidence in their work so you will not be part of this new magazine."

Way to emotionally manipulate insecure writers.

I have confidence in my work. I also know a good publisher going to get more stories than they can publish, so even if my story is good, it does not guarantee publication.

Money flows to the writer.

A submission is a job interview, and I don't think I should pay for that.

Oh, y'all, this person is an A-class assbutt. I told them basically what I said in the above tweets, and their reply?

"We do not need to charge reading fees, we only do it to cut down on our slush and junk piles. So, thank you for not sending in your work which would be destined for one or the other. We really don't care how you are "emotionally", all we want is the BEST work."

Slush piles are not a bad thing. They're a necessary part of publishing. Don't be a publisher if you can't deal with them.

I honestly don't know what a junk pile is, because even work that isn't right for YOU isn't automatically junk.

Using "quotes" around someone's concerns is an abusive tactic. And you should care how writers feel emotionally because we're your producers. Publishers are nothing without writers.

@sfwa and @victoriastrauss, I'm told you might be interested in this magazine's conduct.

GUYS As if it wasn't sketchy enough... The editor in chief of their flash fiction section is apparently a chihuahua?

strictlyfictionmagazine.com/buddy-s-storyb…

Tip for emerging authors: before submitting to a magazine, double check to make sure the editor isn't actually a chihuahua.