Things like this scare me:
chapbookpublisher.com / Naissance chapbooks
From their guidelines, a $10 submission fee will get you: “Guaranteed response within 24 hours. Best-case scenario is you impress our socks off and score for publication of your 4–60 page manuscript as a Naissance title. Naissance authors receive 10 free copies of their published chapbook as payment, and can purchase any Naissance title (including more of their own) for ½ price. Worst-case scenario is we don’t accept your manuscript for publication as a Naissance title, but, as thanks for submitting you will receive a print-ready .pdf of your manuscript re-composed in chapbook format so that you can print it out and self-publish it on your own. $10.”
Sure, you can do it for free too, but only via post:
“Or, if speed of response and the .pdf have no value to you, you may, of course, print out a copy of your 4–60 page submission, and mail it to us along with a SASE for our reply. We will read and respond the day we receive it. However, depending on postal schedules, it could take as much as 3 weeks for you to have our reply. Free.”
I just want people to be able to easily submit their work for consideration and publication without paying anything. And there shouldn’t be any hoops to jump through either.
from the Mud Luscious Press online issue guidelines: “Submit to Mud Luscious Press online at any time. Send work in body, as .doc, or .pdf. Free.”
from the Mud Luscious Press chapbook series guidelines: “Submit to the Mud Luscious Press chapbook series at any time. Send work in body, as .doc, or .pdf. Free.”
from the Mud Luscious Press Novel(la) series guidelines: “Submit to the Mud Luscious Press Novel(la) series at any time. Send a query and sample work in body, as .doc, or .pdf. Free.”
Come on. If we can do it, so can you.
Stop trying to make money off the back of new lit folks.