Is Duotrope Worth the Fifty-Dollar Subscription Fee?

First of all, I wasn’t paid to write this article.

If you haven’t heard of or used Duotrope, it’s a service for writers. The website lists markets that publish writing (magazines, literary journals, small presses) and provides information on those markets—country of origin, whether the market is currently open for submissions, and submission statistics for each magazine/journal/press.

I have to confess that I have a soft spot for Duotrope. I discovered the publisher of my chapbook and the publishers of my poetry collections (the second one is forthcoming!) via the website.

I check the Duotrope Publishing News page daily—it’s a listing of markets that are open for submissions. Also, I carefully read their weekly newsletter, the Duotrope Weekly Wire: Poetry Edition. The Weekly Wire has a New Listings section (markets that are new to the website), a Market News section (markets currently open for submissions), and an Upcoming Themed Deadlines section (writing specifically for themed calls can be a heck of a lot of fun!).

I started using Duotrope back in the good old days when the site was free to use and I’ve been a constant subscriber since it went over to paid yearly subscriptions.

Okay, let’s get to it. Is Duotrope worth the fifty-dollar subscription fee? For me, it is. I send out a lot of poetry submissions and the website helps keep me up to date on potential markets for my work. If you’re like me, submitting writing at least five to ten times a month, you can’t really go wrong with a subscription. It will save you time and energy. That being said, if you don’t submit your writing as much—just a couple of times a month—you’d probably want to use one of the many free sites/resources out there. Chill Subs is great, and so is the Submission Grinder Newsletter. I also really like Authors Publish and Lit Mag News.

Even though I think Duotrope is worth the fifty-dollar yearly subscription fee, I’m not happy paying that much. I’d feel better paying thirty dollars.

I have more to say concerning Duotrope, specifically about their submission statistics, but I’ll save that for another day. Happy writing, happy publishing.