Playwriting Contest Fees and Literary Journals

Dear All:

As we continue our focus on submission, etc., I thought I would reprint the following in regards to Third Coast Literary Journal and its charging of fees for our contests. Rachel, the editor, and the journal were flamed on a couple of playwriting blogs and newsgroups for our fees (though we also received a few positives notices for including drama, as well as submissions). Though, remember, any playwright (not at Western) can submit something which is not to the contests without a fee). Before the letter I would say the following:

Submitting to contests, publications or developments programs with fees is a very difficult and personal choice for every playwright. While in principle, I am against reading fees, my own experience has taught me that it is not possible to have a blanket response that covers every situation. I have learned this not only from submitting (I have and continue to submit to a few places with fees), but from working with a number of different arts organizations. In some cases fees have allowed opens submissions to remain a possibility. In other cases, the contest involves either affiliations or some such that make fees a necessity for non-member participation. I submitted to the O'Neill when it had a small fee, and it is now a larger fee, and it was the biggest break I had as a playwright. I do have more of problem with university contests submitting fees, unless it's clear what such fees cover and why, and even then it makes me nervous knowing the expenses college students have. Again, this perhaps sounds a little hypocritical knowing ACTF has fees, but this has a lot to do with affiliation and knowing the huge theatre festival productions and professionals involved in it that the plays which are submitted become eligible for. We are beginning a contest (more later) and we will not charge a fee. I don't believe legitimate theatres are getting rich from contest fees, as some have proposed, and it's easiest enough to discern a legit theatre from a scam when they are.

I am certainly available for individual consultation on this issue.

Best,
Steve

Dear All (Plays and Playwrights Group):

I am the faculty advisor of THIRD COAST literary journal and one of
the full-time playwriting faculty members of the MFA, PHD and
undergraduate playwriting programs in the Creative Writing/English
Dept. at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, MI that publishes
the journal.

In principle, I agree with you about fees for playwriting contests,
which is why I also feel compelled to comment on the THIRD COAST
playwriting contest. As a playwright, I am fairly new to literary
journals which I know are most frequently NOT playwright friendly
venues. Our twelve year old journal publishes major new and
established poets and prose writers, and in the past two years or so
in an effort to provide another opportunity for playwrights, THIRD
COAST has begun to publish short plays, including a wonderful new ten
minute play by OyamO that he gave to us and has never been published
anywhere else. We also have a recommended book section that now
covers dramatic publishing. This contest was a means to generate
awareness about our journal's commitment to publishing new plays and
the value we place on playwrights and playwriting as a part of our
journal and creative writing program.

As I am learning being the new advisor for this literary magazine, the
practice of charging a contest fee to a literary journal for fiction
and poetry contests--that is essentially the cost of a subscription
and includes a subscription�is fairly routine. Again, I am not saying
that this entirely justifies such fee decisions, but I also wish to
stress the ways that funding such a non-profit journal differs from
funding a theatre, etc., while also recognizing that it is not the
only way.

Again, I certainly appreciate why a playwright would not submit
because of the fee, but I also hope that you might appreciate our
efforts to provide another opportunity for playwrights in a venue that
has traditionally not been so open to us.

If you do not wish to submit to our contest, I hope in the future that
you will submit your short plays to the THIRD COAST drama editors, as
we are continuing to actively seek drama submissions and have been
very excited by the quality of work we have received and published.
Our submission link is http://www.thirdcoastmagazine.com/submissions.

Sincerely,
Steve Feffer