Seeing readers cheer for the authors we honored in last month’s Best of 2021 series reminded us that curating excellent writing has a positive influence — on readers and writers. As we said in a recent thread compiling the year’s reading lists, curiosity, curation, and community remain at the core of Longreads in 2022. Our end-of-year lists, particularly our readers’ favorites, also confirmed that your recommendations and insights elevate the work that we do, each and every week.

In this spirit, we’re seeking new contributors to Longreads and invite you to pitch us your reading list ideas. We pay USD$350 per reading list. Please read our updated submissions page, and browse our reading lists to see what we’ve published over the years. Curation is at the heart of this format, but our favorite lists have many of the elements of our best commissioned stories: a strong voice, a fresh and unexpected angle, and sharp and thoughtful commentary.

A few tips for your reading list pitch to hello@longreads.com:

  • We receive many pitches and submissions each day. To stand out, be sure to include “Reading List” in your email subject line, as well as a bit of context about the topic you’d like to explore in your list.
  • Tell us why you want to dive deep into the topic/theme. What excites you about it? Why are you best suited to write this? Why is it the right time to publish this list?
  • Already done some reading on the topic? Bonus points for including links to stories in your pitch. We want to get an idea of what and where you’re reading.
  • If you haven’t worked with us before, share a few clips that give us a sense of your writing style and voice, or a writing sample that you’re proud of.
  • As you can see from our editors’ picks, we share must-read stories from established writers and outlets, but we also highlight stories from smaller magazines, regional and international publications, up-and-coming journalists, and writers of color and from underrepresented communities. Be sure that your pitch includes a diverse mix of publishers and writers.

Get in touch at hello@longreads.com if you think you have a piece for us. We look forward to hearing from you and working with more writers and curators this year!