Why do you charge a reading fee for general submissions on Submittable?
As a print journal that is coming out of a 20-year hibernation, we face certain challenges. Without reading fees, we wouldn’t be able to resurrect Shō.
Whatever we receive through Submittable fees is used to offset the following:
• The issue’s print run (especially in the face of paper shortages, increased demand, and therefore increased costs; and taking into account our inability to benefit from economies of scale)
• Postage and materials (which currently includes shipping copies to international contributors)
• Contributor copies and contributor discounts
• CLMP & Submittable membership
• Submittable transaction fees
• Website management
• Domain hosting
Shō’s two staff members do not get paid. We read for, edit, produce, distribute, and promote the journal ourselves.