I've been contemplating submitting a short story, but I'm hearing that they don't accept unsolicited queries/submissions, but on their site it looks like they do. Has anyone ever tried? What was the response time?
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[Magazine] The New Yorker
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Yes, they do. The New Yorker may be the toughest sell in the world for a new writer, and probably even the toughest for a professional writer, but they do accept unsolicited submissions.
Read through this to find their submission guidelines. http://www.newyorker.com/contact/contactus
"Submissions: Fiction, poetry, Shouts & Murmurs, and newsbreaks should be sent as pdf attachments. Do not paste them into the message field (of the form). Due to volume, we cannot consider unsolicited Talk of the Town stories or other nonfiction."
"Submissions: Fiction, poetry, Shouts & Murmurs, and newsbreaks should be sent as pdf attachments. Do not paste them into the message field (of the form). Due to volume, we cannot consider unsolicited Talk of the Town stories or other nonfiction."
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I don't want to discourage yu bu I KNOW I'll never make it to NewYorker. Its apply-apply-no-reply
Someone here at AW did get a positive response from The New Yorker and TNY asked him to submit more material. He did, but no answer after several months. He nudged them and they told him to resend.
The New Yorker? Hahahaha (Sarcastic). Its a lot easier to find a publisher than to get in the New Yorker. For me, its the other end of the rainbow. I write pulp -about cops and thieves, about ordinary people in extra-ordinary circumstances. The New Yorker wants stories about ordinary people in ordinary circumstances. Its too lit fic.
Shringarey, careful. You're skirting dangerously close to failing to respect your fellow writer. There's nothing wrong with literary fiction, even if you neither write it nor read it, capisce?
Maryn, not actually Italian
Maryn, not actually Italian
Right now they've got a story called "Escape From Spiderhead" (you can read it online) that's speculative. It's really extraordinary, and it's about an unusual person in a truly bizarre and horrifying situation.
It does not hurt to try. Several years ago I wrote a story for a magazine and thought, what the hell, I'm going to try The Atlantic first. I sent it off not expecting to ever hear from them again, not even so much as a rejection.
Two weeks later I had a signed check with my name on it.
The market I'd written it for paid about $200, based on the word count, and distributed about 50,000 copies. The Atlantic had ten times the circulation, ten times the pay, and roughly ten times the prestige.
I've never duplicated that feat, but still...shoot for the moon first, Milwaukee second.
Two weeks later I had a signed check with my name on it.
The market I'd written it for paid about $200, based on the word count, and distributed about 50,000 copies. The Atlantic had ten times the circulation, ten times the pay, and roughly ten times the prestige.
I've never duplicated that feat, but still...shoot for the moon first, Milwaukee second.
I've done the same thing, only with a different high-end publication. Later I learned that, until my feature appeared, they hadn't published an unsolicited manuscript in over five years. But that didn't seem to hurt my chances.
Don't waste your time with the New Yorker. Stick to the small presses to build up your publishing credits and then work your way into the semi pro markets and then get into the pro markets and then write a few novels and then send to the New Yorker.
I disagree. I start at the top market and work my way down. If I did it the other way around, the first acceptance I would get would be from the lowest market I could get into, not the highest.
You write what you like or know. You target the markets that your writing fits and then pound it to death. Either it be top market, small press, journals or self pub on kindle. My experience has been a good deal of luck plays into this. The right story to the right editor on the right day ... who knows the New Yorker buys it.
Sold one story to a publisher that I thought was not the best. Other works that I felt were top line total rejection. The key I guess is if you want to be in the New Yorker then understand their content, what they require for submission and go for it.
Living by the Great Ones famous saying, "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take"
Sold one story to a publisher that I thought was not the best. Other works that I felt were top line total rejection. The key I guess is if you want to be in the New Yorker then understand their content, what they require for submission and go for it.
Living by the Great Ones famous saying, "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take"
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What do you have to lose by submitting to the New Yorker? Nothing.
What do you have to gain if they buy it? Everything.
What do you have to gain if they buy it? Everything.
The New Yorker absolutely does not accept unsolicited submissions.
Don't waste the money on postage and envelopes.
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http://markgelbart.wordpress.com
Don't waste the money on postage and envelopes.
********************************************
http://markgelbart.wordpress.com
This is from their website:
"Submissions: Fiction, poetry, Shouts & Murmurs, and newsbreaks should be sent as pdf attachments. Do not paste them into the message field. Due to volume, we cannot consider unsolicited Talk of the Town stories or other nonfiction."
Would seem to rule out only nonfiction.
I also think shooting high with a submission is good practice, whatever one's odds.
"Submissions: Fiction, poetry, Shouts & Murmurs, and newsbreaks should be sent as pdf attachments. Do not paste them into the message field. Due to volume, we cannot consider unsolicited Talk of the Town stories or other nonfiction."
Would seem to rule out only nonfiction.
I also think shooting high with a submission is good practice, whatever one's odds.
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They do accept unsolicited submissions. Moreover, submissions are electronic. It doesn't cost you anything to submit to TNY.
http://www.newyorker.com/contact/contactus
If you believe that submitting to TNY is hopeless, that's another matter. Then don't submit. But they do accept such submissions.
Maryn,
I'm sorry about that. I never meant to hurt anyone. Just that the New Yorker is so far out of my league, that it is (and will forever remain) a pie in the sky for me
Not meaning to add or subtract fuel to any mini-debate about the New Yorker, I do encourage all to read it, and regularly. The cost of a subscription is cheap, and inside you can find a wide range of literary entertainment. Sometimes, quite off-beat and unusual, from all corners of the world.
One can also dissect it as a writing guide, for grammar, tone, punctuation, content, etc.
And of course, cartoons!
One can also dissect it as a writing guide, for grammar, tone, punctuation, content, etc.
And of course, cartoons!
And if you absolutely can't afford a subscription, nearly every public library carries it. It's well worth the price of a library card.
I've always said that if I make it into The New Yorker, which I know I won't, I'll never write again because I won't be able to write anything half as good.
Submit and let us know. If you make it in, I would like you to mail me an autographed copy, please.
Submit and let us know. If you make it in, I would like you to mail me an autographed copy, please.
johnnysannie
Banned
The New Yorker also offers discounted rates for writers. That's how I have subscribed to it in the past and it was actually damn cheap. It's a good read - cover to cover.
I'm kind of surprised by all of the "I can't" and "I won't" statements in this thread. I've always thought of attitude as a self-fulfilling prophecy. Come on, people, reach for the stars!