Writers, Editors Say Adios to SASEs, by Matthew Pitt:
Proponents of online submissions say the process saves money on postage and paper and cuts down on response times, since it curtails much of the administrative work involved in logging, assigning, and distributing manuscripts once they are received by a magazine. It also reduces the chances of submissions being lost. Online submission systems usually notify writers once their work is received. After setting up accounts, writers can also log on to the journal’s Web site, determine whether their work is still under consideration, or review what they have previously submitted.
The downside? Editors and their readers don’t want to read submissions on screen, and they aren’t crazy about using their own ink and paper to print submissions out, either. On the other hand:
Before Glimmer Train switched to an online system several years ago, shouldering the stack of submissions was more than coeditors Susan Burmeister-Brown and Linda Swanson-Davies could handle. “We’d come back from a three-day weekend and there would be eight mail buckets leaning against our office door,” says Burmeister-Brown.
Electronic submissions also make it possible for a publication to have readers outside of their geographic area.
If I were a publisher… I’d read the first graf or page on screen, and if it was still viable, print it on paper. This would save vast amounts of paper, time, and money for all concerned, since 90 – 99% of submissions are never going to get printed. No paper, no postage, no hassles.