$5 Submission? I don't think so.

I just learned that StoryQuarterly, the magazine that used to be independent, was swallowed by Narrative, and then re-emerged as the Literary Magazine of Rutgers-Camden, is now charging $5 for each submission. I'm not going to pay it.

More and more magazines are charging a little something for electronic submissions, $2 or less, sometimes $3. While many object to those fees--the electronic submission doesn't have to increase a magazine's costs, so why do they charge anything?--at least those fees are pretty close to what it would cost to copy and mail a story with a self-addressed stamped envelope.

But $5? I don't think so. If they want to turn off the spigot of submissions so that they can focus solely on soliciting work, they've made an excellent move. I don't suppose they'll miss getting work from me--I usually send one story a year and recently withdrew a story that had been accepted elsewhere--but I'm just not going to pay them $5 to submit.