Duotrope's Submission Fees Report Are submission fees worth it, or should you save your money? Photo by Fabian Blank. There's been a lot of discussion lately about the state of submission fees in the literary world. We hope these figures shine some light on the situation. You can use the reports below to see the overall fee ratios, along with the average acceptance ratios by category, and compare "literary" versus "genre" publications. See our Submissions Over Time reports for a look at how submission fees have changed over time. All Active Publication ListingsCriteria: All active listingsFees?CountAvg Acceptance%Never Fees4,289 (68.41%)11.17%Optional Fees312 (4.98%)11.25%Some Fees187 (2.98%)5.13%Always Fees1,482 (23.64%)6.11%Total6,2709.20%Average fee paid: USD $8.33Median fee paid: USD $4.00 Literary ContestsCriteria: Active listings with Type: Contest, Style: Literary, Genre: GeneralFees?CountAvg Acceptance%Never Fees144 (13.55%)4.87%Optional Fees14 (1.32%)1.19%Some Fees18 (1.69%)1.57%Always Fees887 (83.44%)3.36%Total1,0633.04%Average fee paid: USD $19.60Median fee paid: USD $20.00 Literary JournalsCriteria: Active listings with Type: Journal, Style: Literary, Genre: GeneralFees?CountAvg Acceptance%Never Fees1,938 (73.05%)12.07%Optional Fees231 (8.71%)11.35%Some Fees148 (5.58%)5.87%Always Fees336 (12.66%)7.54%Total2,65310.06%Average fee paid: USD $3.90Median fee paid: USD $3.00 Genre ContestsCriteria: Active listings with Type: Contest, Style: Any, Genre: Any except GeneralFees?CountAvg Acceptance%Never Fees36 (28.35%)7.44%Optional Fees3 (2.36%)n/aSome Fees0 (0.00%)n/aAlways Fees88 (69.29%)6.57%Total1277.39%Average fee paid: USD $21.16Median fee paid: USD $20.00 Genre JournalsCriteria: Active listings with Type: Journal, Style: Any, Genre: Any except GeneralFees?CountAvg Acceptance%Never Fees517 (79.78%)8.32%Optional Fees62 (9.57%)10.02%Some Fees21 (3.24%)9.29%Always Fees48 (7.41%)12.73%Total6489.11%Average fee paid: USD $4.66Median fee paid: USD $3.00 Note: These statistics are compiled once a day and based on submissions reports for the past 12 months. Last compiled: 27 September 2026 7:48 PM UTC (less than a second ago). If you have any suggestions on how we can improve this report, please let us know. Cookie Consent: This site uses secure first-party cookies for essential, preference-setting, and statistical purposes. We do not use any marketing, advertising, or third-party cookies. Read our full cookie policy. Accept All Cookies Allow Essential Cookies Only