Is Being Published in The New Yorker Actually Possible?

Question

It is very generous for a magazine as prestigious as The New Yorker to provide an open forum for fiction/poetry submissions, but is it realistically possible to make the cut as an unknown? I always read in the magazine submissions from Nobel winners and Booker prize winners - can anyone "normal" make it?

Answer 1

To say the least, the odds are not in your favor. The New Yorker is considered the top literary magazine in the country. You, of course, will be competing as you stated with Nobel winners, Booker prize winners, and Pulitzer prize Winners. As a writer, the best you could hope for realistically is to get a rejection notice with comments scribbled on the notice, giving you a reason for the rejection or a way to improve your submission. I think, however, you would have a better chance of publishing in The New Yorker than winning the New York State Lottery, 6 million to one.

Answer 2

I don't think it is possible to have poetry published in the magazine - they are still publishing poems by C.K. Williams for goodness sake, so when are they actually going to get around to publish poems written in this century? As for stories, unless you have an excellent agent or have been published in the "important" journals, it is very unlikely. However, since they allow emailed submissions, why not submit to them? They don't send anyone to beat you up if you get rejected. And, who knows, maybe someday they will actually discover someone and it might be you?

Answer 3

It is possible but unless you happen to be a friend of the editor it is very unlikely. My opinion is based solely on the poems I find in that magazine.