Submitting your work to writing contests

[MangoPineapple]

I just have a quick question about submitting your work to creative writing contests.
A long time ago I had a creative writing teacher who told me that you should never, ever have to pay in order to send in a submission somewhere. However, recently a magazine which I have submitted to in the past has asked for a small fee. I actually think this makes a lot of sense, especially because I know some of the editors. They are financially struggling and need that money in order to keep the magazine going. What are other peoples' thoughts about paying just to get something submitted? (This is a short story/poetry contest).

Paying to enter (reputable) contests is common, but there are a lot of scams about, so I’d be a bit wary. Still, I think paying a few pounds is the norm when it comes to contests.

If paying, I’d expect the prize to be substantial, more than the peanuts you’d get submitting the story the standard route. And if I knew a market was struggling I’d probably steer clear.

But bear in mind judging competitions is more demanding than sieving through the slush pile. The judges can’t just set stories aside after reading the first sentence or two, for example.

Thank you so much. That was very helpful.

For well-known competitions a fee of £4 (eg Mslexia comps) to say £12 (the Lucy Cavendish) is common to run it. However some venues clearly run comps as a money spinner and I'd debate if they all have value (as above, look at the prizes).

For general submissions, I think your tutor is right and you shouldn't pay. Money should flow towards the writer.

How much 'flows' really depends on the market. I write mostly in SF/F where the 'pro' short fic publications pay 6-8 cents a word (still not much) and get hundreds of submissions a month as a result. Rejection is v much the norm. Then there are lots of 'token' markets which might pay $3 for a story. It's 'normal' to aim for paying markets first and work your way down.

On Twitter I'm friends with lots of people writing more literary short stories and flash pieces and nearly all of those markets have something on their website about 'sorry we can't afford to pay contributors' which I understand as it's difficult to make money online, but it does mean writers giving their work away for only the 'exposure'. They also seem to enter tons and tons of paid-for competitions. On the other hand, there seems to be a higher acceptance rate too.

Very normal to pay an entrance fee