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Lit Mags That Want Your Freak Shit Bloodletter Magazine x Chill Subs Graphic is a white, stylized illustration of a skeleton on a black background with the Bloodletter Magazine Logo on the left side. The Bloodletter Magazine logo is the word Bloodletter on a stencil of a wax seal.

It’s the spooky-ooky season and we’ve got a treat for you 👀 Bloodletter Magazine is extending their submission deadline by a week for all your last-minute scares! (Because we all know that writers are soooo good at hitting deadlines…)

www.chillsubs.com/lists/freak-...

#writing #writingcommunity

I never realized I needed the word "rejectomancy" in my life until this article <3

First Draft November | Chill Subs | Substack NaNoWriMo is canceled. Your novel isn't. Thirty days, one messy draft. Join us for a month-long novel writing challenge helping you hit 50,000 words. Click to read First Draft November, a Substack pub...

@chillsubs.bsky.social is doing First Draft November (same thing) with prompts & other cool check-ins! www.firstdraftnovember.com

That's a great idea!

We have a "hide magazine" option! *wink*

And they sometimes do! Also, some magazines get thousands of submissions per issue, while some may only get a dozen. There are so many factors at play: number of readers, time-limited/rolling submission call, readership and reach, length of their average submission, etc.

→ Lit mags with dark academia vibes • The Yale Review #Join a conversation 200 years in the making • Poetry London #A catalyst for change • Fugue #Work that haunts and echoes • 32 Poems #Poetry for the ear, the eye, and the ego • The Ex-Puritan #A pioneering literature • The London Magazine #Since 1732 • New England Review #A vital snapshot of the literary moment • Willow Springs #Work that commands attention • The Massachusetts Review #Variety and vitality October 29, 2025

These lit mags remind us of enchanting libraries, misty gardens, and secrets hidden within dusty tomes. If that sounds like your perfect afternoon, click the link to submit <3

➡️ www.chillsubs.com/lists/dark-a...

#writing #writingcommunity #litmags

Yes 3 months seems so long already! It's crazy that there are 6 month or even 9 month waits... Oh well, that's what sim subs are for 🫠

How Long Do Lit Mags Actually Take to Respond? | Chill Subs Blog We looked at response times for 2,377 publications. Turns out, most magazines respond way faster than you'd expect

How long do lit mags actually take to respond? We looked at response times for 2,377 publications, and here's what we found.

Read all about it: www.chillsubs.com/blog/how-long-do-lit-mags-actually-take-to-respond

#writing #writingcommunity #litmags

The University of Alabama is Partnered with Chill Subs

Free MFA “ask-me-anything” event tomorrow(:

Register here: luma.com/pq8khn3q

Hosted by The University of Alabama’s MFA faculty

📍Virtual 📅 Wed 10/29 🕐 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM EDT

#Mfa

Introducing Collections | Chill Subs Blog

Introducing Collections, a spankin’ new way to browse curated mags (because curation good, AI-slop bad)

www.chillsubs.com/blog/introducing-collections

#writing #writingcommunity #litmags

Featured in this list:
@agnimagazine.bsky.social
@baltimorereview.bsky.social
@dintywmoore.bsky.social
@cincinnatireview.bsky.social
@grantamag.bsky.social
@kenyonreview.bsky.social
@malahatreview.bsky.social
@islandmag.bsky.social
@smokelong.bsky.social

14 Lit mags with excellent reputations *Competitive *Popular • AGNI #Jolting the inner eye • Baltimore Review #Space for expression • Brevity #Spotlighting the brief essay form • Gulf Coast #Community-oriented excellence • The Cincinnati Review #Championing diversity and growth • Granta #Narrative, visceral, and high-stakes • Georgia Review #Honoring differences • Kenyon Review #Lyric risk and emotional presence • The Malahat Review #Top-tier writing with a Canadian focus • Island Magazine #Sharp, artful, and grounded • The Missouri Review #Current and curated • Black Warrior Review #A beacon for adventurous writing • The Threepenny Review #Radical accuracy and genuineness • SmokeLong Quarterly #Eclectic and challenging work

These award-winning lit mags would be a crown jewel in any writer's bio *wink*

Submit to them here: www.chillsubs.com/lists/excell...

#writing #writingcommunity

2026 Leopold Bloom Prize for Innovative Narration L’Esprit Literary Review Judged by Michael Nath I like fiction that banquets the reader. Too much fiction now follows a strict diet. Michael Nath Original portrait of Leopold Bloom drawn by I…

The 2026 Leopold Bloom Prize for Innovative Narration is open!

 We’re looking for short fiction exhibiting exceptional ingenuity and vision in narration. All entries receive a digital copy of Issue 7 and a free month of @chillsubs.bsky.social membership!

lespritliteraryreview.org/2026-leopold...

How to Write the Perfect Cover Letter | Chill Subs Blog

How to write the perfect cover letter (even though nobody cares):
- what they are
- what they aren’t
- what to do with them

Read our newest blog post here: www.chillsubs.com/blog/how-to-write-the-perfect-cover-letter

Join Our Discord! | Chill Subs Blog A place for the Chill Subs community to, well, chill

Join our Discord!

Writing is often a solo project, but that doesn’t mean writers have to be on their own. That’s why one of our goals has been to foster a community where folks can ask for help, share advice, and support each other.

Read about it here: www.chillsubs.com/blog/join-our-discord

EXCITING NEWS! We're partnering with Chill Subs and their Contest Transparency Program for the 2026 Leopold Bloom Prize for Innovative Narration. In addition to the monetary prizes and publication for L'Esprit, Chill Subs is offering several awards for contest entrants and winners.

Poster graphic for a virtual AMA event. Title reads, "The MFA Life (star symbol) From applications, finding community & beyond" There is also a white RSVP button, and a few variously aligned texts that read "Chill Subs Live" and "with John Estes and Brooke Champagne" The right hand side shows two photos of people: John Estes, who has deep-set eyes, short brown hair, and some greying facial hair, is wearing a black button-up shirt and standing in front of a well-lit tree and white picket fence while smiling softly. Brooke Champagne, who has long brown hair, is wearing a light orange shirt under a navy blue jacket and orange earrings. She is standing against a blurred grey background and has a radiant smile.

Are you:
- Applying to MFA programs?
- Curious about how an MFA can support your goals?
- Baffled by what to include in an MFA application?

Join University of Alabama MFA in Creative Writing faculty members John Estes and Brooke Champagne on Oct 30 for an AMA on all things MFA!

luma.com/pq8khn3q

9 places to send your writing about girlhood, grief, or god On girlhood... • Dreamworldgirl Zine #Whimsical, creative, and nostalgic • phoebe #Soulful and human • Milk Candy Review #Beautifully weird, lyrical flash fiction On grief... • Thimble #Armor found in the oddest of places • Bellevue Literary Review #In illness and in health • Bennington Review #Innovative, intelligent, and moving On faith... • Image Journal #Art, faith, and the human experience • EcoTheo Collective #Ecology, spirituality, and culture • Pensive #Work that deepens the inward life

I think that covers all our bases. Probably.

Submit here: www.chillsubs.com/lists/girlho...

#writing #writingcommunity

One of my favorites and most admired authors <3 Rest in peace.

CAT MICRO

You win a hug from me personally 🥲

Psst … if you liked this, you’ll love the Rejection Bingo on our website, where you can mark down all the times you’ve gotten rejected “after careful review” and such 🫠

Credits to @writershq.bsky.social for the post idea!

Submitters' Bingo (below is listed in a 3x3 grid) Got excited but it was the confirmation email 5th form rejection from the same place Bookmarked 100 mags, submitted to 0 Found a typo 10 mins after submitting Free "I give up" square The editor has a personal vendetta against me Pile of unread lit mags building up Exported packet in the wrong format Way too many unused notes app bits

Okay, but don’t actually give up, because we have Raging Against the State of the Publishing World at 9am tomorrow. Maybe we could do brunch after?

#writingcommunity #writingmemes

Introducing the Chill Subs Affiliate Program | Chill Subs Blog Get paid for doing what you're already doing—spreading the word

Introducing the Chill Subs Affiliate Program: get paid for doing what you're already doing—spreading the word.

Read all about it here: www.chillsubs.com/blog/introdu...

Featured in this list:
@pshares.bsky.social
@clarkesworldmagazine.com
@ecotonemagazine.bsky.social

15 fiction magazines that will make agents notice you • One Story #One great short story at a time • Passages North #Brave, risk-taking work • Conjunctions #Groundbreaking experimentation and rigorous quality • Clarkesworld #Top-tier speculative fiction since 2006 • Fairy Tale Review #Bringing fabulism into the foreground • Joyland #Where writers can tell the stories that matter to them most • Ecotone #Writing and art that reimagine place • F(r)iction #Boundary-pushing literature in themed anthologies • n+1#A history of the present day • American Short Fiction #Urgent, resh stories that shake you awake • McSweeney's Internet Tendency #Challenging conventional expectations • Ploughshares Literary Journal #Championing community, new writers, and diverse voices • Cricket #Beloved children's literary publication • Chicago Review #A contemporary standard of good writing • Harper's #Fine writing and original thought since 1850

Will you get an agent? Who knows. Will you sound important at parties? Absolutely.

No database exists for agents’ reading habits, so we did this the hard way—by asking every agent, editor, and writing-adjacent human we could.

Submit here: www.chillsubs.com/lists/15_fic...

#writing

yes it

Lit mags for beautiful overthinkers • The Sun #The splendor and heartache of being human • Gastropoda #Celebrating the spiralic nature of life • X-R-A-Y #Uncomfortable, entertaining, and unforgettable prose • Press Pause Press #Your space, far away from the noise • 3:AM Magazine #Whatever it is, they're against it! • Gasher Press #Fresh voices and innovative forms • petrichor mag #Dedicated to the fusion of text and image • OVER/EXPOSED Lit #Modern and enigmatic work • ONLY POEMS #Poetry is just the evidence of life • Tension Literary #Writing with an edge • Cabinet Magazine #Curiosity about the world • The Lemonwood Quarterly #Holding up half the sky • Clarity Magazine #Mental health, minus the fluff October 15, 2025

I've rewritten this caption 5x.
If you can relate, you'll love these places as much as we do.

Find the list here: www.chillsubs.com/lists/_beaut...

The image is a screenshot of the Chill Subs website's new Smart Search browse set against a pastel pink-orange background. The page is on the Magazines tab of the website. The letters "poe" are typed into the search bar, and the dropdown below shows these items, each with its own thumbnail (usually the cover of the lit mag): Poetry Genre Poem-a-Day Literary Magazine Closes on Nov 15 Poemeleon: A Journal of Poetry Literary Magazine Closed Poems for Tomorrow Literary Magazine Open Poesy Literary Magazine Closed (End list. Note: the open/closed status and date is right-aligned, unlike the rest of the info.) Under the filters button, which is located to the left of the search bar, there is a oblong bubble labeled Canada with a small x on the right to delete. This is the new tag filter function, and the search in the screenshot is filtering to view Canadian magazines.

Our new 💡Smart Search💡 is about to make finding magazines way faster, and here's how:

- See magazines instantly (with their open/closed status in the dropdown)
- Apply filters as tags to narrow down listings by genre, country, keywords, and more!

www.chillsubs.com/blog/chill-subs-new-smart-search