The Believer wants long reads
The Believer is a US magazine publishing literature, arts, and culture. Each issue features ‘journalism and essays… book reviews… and interviews that are intimate, frank, and also very long.’ Submissions are welcome and there are very detailed guidelines on the website. Spend time reading them carefully.
Features for the magazine, 4,000 to 8,000 words, should be pitched. Successful pitches ‘will demonstrate that you’ve identified the contours of your story and thought deeply about it, and that you’ve done some early legwork of reporting or research’. Include links to past work and don’t worry about a thin CV. Simultaneous submissions are fine.
Feature interviews must be wideranging and long, usually between 3,000 and 5,000 words. The team like process interviews about ‘the making of a particular work of art/whatever should be 2,000 to 3,000 words. Microinterviews, 1,500-2,000 words, ‘concern various topics of conversation with one very compelling person’. Pitch for an interview by emailing a paragraph or so about the person or people you want to interview. The team prefer ‘the talks to be expansive and cover the subject’s entire life and career’.
Reviews, are timely or tardy ‘dispatches from the culture’. The team prefer reviews about ‘neglected, underappreciated, and/or misunderstood works – books, films, TV, art, music, performance, and so forth’. A review can be an essay, or one where ‘two works are in conversation,’ or ‘primarily focus on a single work’. All reviews should ‘employ an uncommon approach or convey a deeply informed perspective.’ Microreviews, 1,200 to 2,500 words, should be of works around a theme. ‘Like all reviews, they’re springboards to curiosities, desires, and deeper thoughts.’
The departments for the magazine ‘are raves and recommendations of items typically deemed beneath serious literary consideration.’ Think of ordinary household objects, reports from the mundane, or instructions on how to do inessential tasks. Length 1,000 to 1,200 words, but shorter is acceptable.
Poetry editor Jericho Brown has catholic tastes but is currently overloaded with submissions. He promises to open them shortly. Check the website.
Response time is ‘within 14 days.’ Payment: departments $300, Reviews $150-$300, microreviews $50, feature interviews $350-$550, feature articles $1,000, for negotiated rights.
Details: The Believer, editors@believermag.com; Logger pitches to: hayden@believermag.com; departments pitches to: james@ believermag.com; review pitches to james@believermag.com; website: https://believermag.com