Genres & Theme
Literary Mainstream Open to all / most themes A great deal of the material published in McSweeney's is written by kind strangers whose work comes to us via email or in manila envelopes. Our system for reading submissions is intricate and steadily improving, but we're still a very small organization—McSweeney's has just a few editors—and some things move slowly. On the other hand, every single submission gets read. Please be patient and understanding, for we want very badly to discover and nurture new and developing writers, and are doing our best.	Go To: Website Support this Publisher: Subscribe Report: Submission/Response Correction/Update New Cover
Lengths
Flash Fiction (< 1,000 words) Short Story (1,000 - 7,500 words; may vary)
Media
Print Publication Electronic Publication
Payscale
Unknown Rates for Short Fiction
Other Info
Accepts postal submissions and electronic submissions
No simultaneous submissions allowed
No reprints accepted
No multiple submissions allowed
Published 4 x per year
USA
Response Times
Show Overall Electronic Subs Postal Subs   Note: These statistics are compiled from response reports sent to us anonymously and through our submissions tracker for registered users. They are not provided by the publication's editors/staff or by Duotrope's staff. This market ranks among the Top 25 Most Slothful Short Fiction Markets Accuracy We have received 150 reports within the past 12 months, not including 55 pending responses (with an avg. wait of 90 days) and not including 1 ignored report (reports are ignored when the submitter has an unrealistic overall acceptance/rejection ratio). The more responses reported, the more accurate the info. Rejections are often underreported, which skews the statistics in favor of acceptances. Most markets have a lower acceptance rate than indicated here. Days Reported 3 | 152.5* | 380 (min | avg | max) *This data has been normalized to reduce the effect of reported long waits before withdrawals or assumed rejections. Responses (90.7%) Acceptances: 0% (No publication has a 0% acceptance rate. This data is based on response reports sent to Duotrope's Digest, and we have not received reports of any acceptances yet. If one acceptance were reported, the acceptance rate would be 0.7%.) Rejections: 90.7% (157.3 days avg. per rejection) | 38.2% personal, 43.4% form, 18.4% unspecified Rewrite Requests: - Non-Responses (9.3%) Assumed Rejections: 1.3% (271.5 days avg. per assumed rejection without response) Author Withdrawals: 8% (79 days avg. per withdrawal by author) Other Information Most recent response reported was received on: 08 May 2008 Responses have been received for submissions sent as late as: 12 Feb 2008 Do not query before 150 days have passed. (62% of the responses reported to us for this market have taken longer than 150 days.)
Awards, "Best of" Annuals, etc.
Work published has been awarded, nominated for, or received honorable mention in the following: Best American Fantasy Best American Nonrequired Reading Best American Short Stories O. Henry Prize SLF Fountain Award storySouth's Million Writers Award
Market Added: 19 Mar 2006 Last Updated: 17 Mar 2008 Last Checked: 01 May 2008

Before Submitting
We cannot guarantee that the information on this page is correct. It is not unusual for publications to evolve or close overnight. We do our best to keep up, but it isn't always possible. Just remember ...

• Always read the full guidelines provided by the publisher.
• Try to read at least one previous publication to get a better idea of what the editor would like to see.
• Unless the publisher's guidelines state otherwise, always use industry standard manuscript formatting.
• For novel/collection publishers, it is standard to submit a cover letter, synopsis, and sample instead of the full manuscript.  Do this unless otherwise instructed.
• Include a SASE with all mailed submissions, queries, and requests for guidelines.
• Be professional, patient and persistent.