Longreads: Market Spotlight
For this week’s market spotlight, we look at Longreads, an online publication dedicated to long-form nonfiction storytelling.
Longreads is an online publication focused on long-form nonfiction storytelling. Founded in 2009, they publish personal and reported essays, reading lists, interviews, and in-depth investigative reporting.
The editors say, "Our stories have won the Pushcart Prize and have been included or notably mentioned in the Best American and Year’s Best anthology series across essays, food, science, and sports."
They pay $500 per essay and can negotiate higher rates for other pieces of writing, depending on the level of reporting and research required. They also pay $350 for reading lists.
What They're Looking For
Most pieces in Longreads run 2,000 to 6,000 words. They publish personal essays, but also accept pitches for researched and reported essays, critical essays, and columns.
The editors say, "It can take us a considerable amount of time to review pitches and read submissions, which means we are unable to respond to everyone. For this reason, we recommend that you pitch your stories to other publications in addition to Longreads—but please include a note to us if you are doing so."
How to Submit
Potential writers should send complete manuscripts for personal essay submissions and pitches for other types of writing via email to hello@longreads.com.
Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Editor of Writer's Digest, which includes managing the content on WritersDigest.com and programming virtual conferences. He's the author of 40 Plot Twist Prompts for Writers: Writing Ideas for Bending Stories in New Directions, The Complete Guide of Poetic Forms: 100+ Poetic Form Definitions and Examples for Poets, Poem-a-Day: 365 Poetry Writing Prompts for a Year of Poeming, and more. Also, he's the editor of Writer's Market, Poet's Market, and Guide to Literary Agents. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
