Satire, lists, open letters

Official information

Overview

Publication

McSweeney’s Internet Tendency

Eligibility

No country list on the official guidelines.

Writing

Satire / humour (lists, open letters, monologues)

Payment

Modest fee if accepted — dollar amount not published

Currency

Not publicly stated

Payment conditions

Official: payment for accepted general, open letter and list submissions, funded by Patreon above Goal #2. They say the payment is modest and may disappoint. New Food Reviews are unpaid. Do not invent $40 or any other number from old contest pages.

When paid

Not publicly stated

Word count

Absolute maximum 1,200 words; they prefer under 1,000, shorter still better

Response time

Average 7.39 days (their figure)

Status

Open

Deadline

Not publicly stated

How to submit

Email a finished draft pasted in the body — no attachments

AI policy

AI-generated work prohibited

What they want

• A finished humour piece pasted in the email, titled, with your name and email under the title.
• General: websubmissions@mcsweeneys.net. Lists: lists@mcsweeneys.net. Open letters: openletters@mcsweeneys.net. Timely news riffs: timelysubmissions@mcsweeneys.net, subject TIMELY.
• One piece at a time. After they reply you may send another immediately.

What they don't want

• Pitches. Attachments. Google Docs. Previously published work including blogs.
• Any AI assistance. Authors must attest AI played no part.
• Poetry, book reviews, short stories, personal essays, news-article format.
• New Food Reviews if you expect pay — those are unpaid.
• Pieces about McSweeney’s, or sequels to other people’s McSweeney’s pieces.

Requirements

• Finished draft in the email body
• Name under the title
• One submission at a time
• No AI

Rights

You retain rights after publication. They keep it in the internet archive and may reshare the link.

How to submit

• Read https://www.mcsweeneys.net/pages/guidelines-for-web-submissions.
• Paste the piece into an email. No attachment.
• If you hear nothing, resend rather than sending a ‘did you get this?’ note.

Submit / apply (official)

Information can change. Payment rates, submission requirements, eligibility, deadlines and response times are subject to change. Always check the publication's official guidelines before submitting. BRYME verifies listings as carefully as possible but does not guarantee acceptance or payment.