Because Delacorte "aimed the Dell magazines at the lower middle class audiences rather than at the upper middle-class readers of McCall’s and Ladies Home Journal",[6] I Confess cost only ten cents a copy at first publication, although one year after its first issue, in 1923, the price rose to fifteen cents each ($3.00 for a yearly subscription).

If an issue did not sell, [Delacorte] just trimmed the edges of the unsold copies and attempted to re-sell them, this time west of the Rocky Mountains and in Canada.

The magazine also encouraged further participation in addition to asking readers to submit their confessions by hosting numerous prize contests.

25) issue there was an advertisement for Margaret Sanger’s Woman and the New Race which encouraged both men and women to read about their options for birth control.

This ad targeted married readers who already had multiple children and encouraged them to purchase a copy to learn more about Margaret Sanger’s progressive views on birth control.

Despite Sharp’s attempts to create a less explicit magazine than other girlie pulps on the market, many readers still considered I Confess to be distasteful.