Irrelevant Curiosities

Why did you make Chill Subs?

Because submitting to literary mags was a frustrating mess of spreadsheets, Twitter doomscrolling, and defunct websites. We wanted to build a place to find homes for your work without losing your shit.

Why “Chill Subs”?

Because “Well Fuck This Subs” was too long and nobody will let Ben rename it “Chubs.”

Why don’t you run ads?

Because ads are annoying. Seriously, on some of our favorite literary sites (ntm the rest of the internet), we gotta squint through ads to read a sliver of a paragraph at a time. It’s wild we put up with this. And we refuse to let it happen on Chill Subs, sorry.

Are you really just a small team?

Yep. Full time? There are 7 of us. Plus the bears.

Why no outside investors?

We’re overly opinionated control freaks. Investors often mean chasing profits over helping writers. We’d rather slowly build something good on our own terms.

Are you on social media?

Yep—mostly Instagram, sometimes X (formerly Twitter), Threads, and Bluesky. Follow us because your mindless click is the currency of the day. Not with a bang but a click, right? That’s how it goes?

Do you really refund anyone who asks?

Absolutely. If you’re not happy, neither are we.

And grant scholarships?

Yep.

Doesn’t this lose you money?

Yup. But we think most folks wouldn’t ask unless they need it. Or they’re an asshole, and who wants asshole money? . No, but really, we just believe that if we’re helping 1 in 10, it’s worth it.

So how do you make money?

Subscriptions and a share of the custom lists our freelancers create.

Can I send you my writing to submit?

Please don’t. We have enough rejections of our own.