Anyway, Here Are the April Numbers

I thought about doing an “April showers” bit, but I’m aware that a. it might be a bit passé, and b. It’s not April showers for everybody, and I’d like to be inclusive, you know?

SO. Let’s just get to it. Here are the numbers from April.

The big numbers

March’s milestones are:

✦ 83,755 total users and counting, damn!

.✦ Over 347,600 tracked submissions, well done.

✦ As of today, we’re at a total of 6,246 opportunities in our database—that includes mags, journals, contests, etc.

Recent releases

We've been, frankly, unreasonably busy. I mean, have you even seen The Great Sealification of Chill Subs? Yeah, we have a new logo, and new branding, and a new mascot: Chubs (they/them).

We have also glammed up some features and functionality. ICYMI, here's what's new on the site:

✷ We gave our listings a glow-up. We've added badges, insights, ratings, and reviews from real submitters. We've also been adding more and more of our one-cent editor's notes about selected magazines. See a few examples over at SmokeLong Quarterly, So to Speak, and Baltimore Review.

✷ The MFA database is even more usable now (and prettier if we do say so ourselves). You can filter by location, duration, cohort size, and residency type. No need to scroll through a wall of programs hoping something jumps out.

✷ You shouldn't have to read the tea leaves to figure out whether you should submit or not. Now you can see every magazine's policies in handy list form, including their stance on reprints and AI. Want to see those guidelines in action? You’re in luck—check out Brevity, Zine Machine, and ONLY POEMS.

✷ Magazines with missing mastheads, extortionate fees, questionable contests, and other sketchy practices are bad for business. So if we catch something that seems off, now you'll know before you submit with our brand new Red Flags. You can report Red Flags on any magazine's listing page using the "Report" button on the quick-links menu.

Real quick: Some of these tools are free for everyone. Others—like reviews, insights, and our editorial notes—are perks of a paid membership.

What writers are using the most

Back to you and yours. What did Chill Subs look for our faves (you. You’re our faves) this month?

This month's most popular collections are:

Similar to last month, but this time, y’all were very interested in what the cool kids were doing. As Cat Power once said in a song I listened to on repeat 20 years ago: I don’t blame you.

1. FISH List of Lively Indie Literary Magazines 2025
2. Literary Magazines with the Fastest Response Times
3. New Writer Friendly - Best Lit Mags of 2025
4. Career Builder - Best Lit Mags of 2025
5. Literary Magazines in the Sweet Spot
6. Bold and Weird - Best Lit Mags of 2025
7. Where The Cool Kids Are Submitting Their Writing: Part 1
8. Where The Cool Kids Are Submitting Their Writing: Part 3
9. The 1% Club (Good Fuckin' Luck)
10. A Damn Good Read - Best Lit Mags of 2025

This month's most popular keyword searches are:

✦ Flash fiction, nature, poetry, horror, and micro.

✦ As far as specific lit mags, y’all looked for Split Lip, Wigleaf, Agni, Passages North, and Swamp Pink.

That’s that. Thank you, as always, for your support!