Guidelines and Suggestions for Story Submissions
At The Delacorte Review, we accept completed stories of between 3,500 and 50,000 words. We do not accept pitches. Why? Because we want to read the story you needed to tell, not the story you think an editor might be interested in reading and publishing.
We focus exclusively on original works of narrative nonfiction—think nonfiction short stories or “novellas”—stories driven by plot, drama, and character. Much as we admire exposes, essays, criticism, and investigative work, that is not what we publish.
Reporting is at the core of our stories. If fiction is driven by imagination, narrative nonfiction is driven by reporting. You may have a terrific memoir, but we are looking for a memoir in which memories are examined, interrogated, and challenged by reporting. We are not bound by newsworthiness, or location.
We are open to submissions year-round. We’re fine with simultaneous submissions, but ask that if your story is accepted elsewhere you inform us quickly. We do not accept multiple submissions. Writers are paid $750 for accepted stories.
To get a sense of the kinds of stories we publish on The Delacorte Review and which we published previously on The Big Roundtable, we suggest you look at the Archives page on our story vertical.
