CLMP has once again partnered with Chill Subs on its second annual Lit Mag Incubator Project. The Chill Subs Lit Mag Incubator Project is an initiative to empower innovation in the literary space. In 2025, Chill Subs awarded five literary magazines $1,000 each to help them make their literary magazine financially sustainable within a year. The winners were Dreamworldgirl Zine, Folly, Notch, NWF Journal, and Space and Time.
This year, Chill Subs will fund experiments that take on one of the many problems independent literary magazines face. Examples might include, but are not limited to:
- How do lit mags find more readers?
- How do they identify AI-generated submissions?
- How do they make a magazine financially sustainable?
- How do they improve the quality of submissions?
Experiments are time-limited projects that seek to solve a specific problem in an innovative way. Experiments should be completed within 10 months of the award. After the experiments have concluded, Chill Subs will publish a report on the successes and failures, and participating magazines will present their findings to CLMP.
Selected magazines receive:
- Up to $1,000 from Chill Subs per experiment
- Consultation with Chill Subs and CLMP on how to execute the proposed experiment
- Promotion through the Chill Subs and CLMP networks
- A free one-year membership to CLMP. View benefits here.
Chill Subs will award $5,000 total, and the number of recipients will depend on the budgets outlined in the submitted proposals. Applicants may request funds of any amount up to $1,000.
CLMP members are invited to join an information session with Chill Subs at our Member Meetup on August 6 to learn more.
Magazines are invited to submit brief proposals by September 15. Please reach out to [email protected] with questions about the application process.
About Chill Subs
Chill Subs is a free platform where publishers can manage their listings, share calls for submissions, and reach over 80,000 writers actively searching for places to submit. Chill Subs is building an ecosystem that connects writers and editors through tools for exposure, education, and sustainable growth designed to support the literary community from all sides.
