How to Use Chill Subs' New Smart Search

If you've been using Chill Subs for a while, you know how it goes: Open the Filters panel. Click through categories. Check boxes. Apply. Scroll. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat…

So we built a Smart Search.

It's now live for Better and Best members, and it completely changes the way you browse for submission opportunities. Here's everything you need to know.

What is a Smart Search?

Smart Search is the search bar at the top of your Browse window.

It does two main things:

1. Finds magazines instantly (with their open/closed status right there in the dropdown)
2. Applies filters as tags so you can narrow down magazines by genre, subgenre, country, eligibility, or keywords

How to use Smart Search

Finding a specific magazine

Start typing a magazine name. You'll see matches appear in a dropdown menu.

The dropdown shows you:

• Magazine name
• Open or closed status
• Next deadline (if they're open)

Click the magazine to go to their page. That's it.

Filtering by genre, subgenre, country, or eligibility

Start typing what you're looking for. The search will display tags you can apply as filters.

For example:

• Type "fiction" and you'll see the Fiction genre tag
• Type "Canada" and you'll see the Canada country tag
• Type "unpublished only" and you'll see that eligibility tag

Click any tag to apply it as a filter. The browse window will update to show only magazines that match.

Want to add more filters? Just keep searching and clicking tags. Each one you add narrows down the results.

Example: Click "Horror" (genre), then "Canada" (country), then "No Reading Fee" (eligibility). Now you're browsing horror magazines in Canada that don't charge reading fees.

When you want to remove a filter, click the "X" on the tag.

Searching by keywords

This is where it gets really useful.

If you can't find what you need through genres or other filters, you can search by any keyword or combination of words.

Smart Search will look through:

• Magazine descriptions
• Submission calls
• About pages
• Any other text on the listing page

Just type your keyword and select "Search keywords" from the dropdown.

Important tip: Keywords work differently from tags.

If you search for multiple small words individually and apply them as filters, they'll compound (Horror + Canada + weird = magazines that match all three).

But if you type a string of words together (like "horror fiction Canada"), it will search for that exact phrase across magazine pages. So:

• For precise filtering: Add keywords one at a time as separate searches
• For broader searching: Type a phrase and let it search everywhere

Both work. Just depends on what you're trying to find.

Tips for getting the most out of Smart Search

• Start broad, then narrow. Apply one or two filters first, see what comes up, then add more if you need to narrow down further
• Use keywords when tags aren't enough. Looking for magazines that publish "body horror," or "climate fiction," or "experimental narrative"? Keywords are your friend
• Check magazine status without opening pages. The dropdown shows you if a place is open or closed before you even click. Saves a ton of time
• Combine everything. Genre + country + keyword + eligibility. Go wild. The more specific you get, the more targeted your results

Who can use Smart Search?

Smart Search is available for Better and Best members (both memberships are $10 and $20/month, respectively, and both get Smart Search).

If you're on a free account, you'll see a prompt to upgrade when you try to use it.

What's coming next?

This is just the beginning. Soon we'll be adding quick filters for:

• Open/closed status
• Payment (paying vs. non-paying markets)
• Reading fees (free vs. paid submissions)
• Vibe
• Word count ranges

Our goal is to eventually let you apply most of our filters directly from the search bar so you never have to open the Filters panel... unless you want to.