McGraw Hill seeks literary short story submissions

[keli.sipperleyMH]

Hello! McGraw Hill editor here. Wanted to share that we are continuously seeking literary short stories to add to our differentiated fiction collections. More details:


McGraw Hill welcomes submissions of original, unpublished, short literary fiction for middle school (grades 6 – and high school (grades 9 -12) readers for publication on Achieve3000, our differentiated literacy acceleration platform.

What We're Looking For: Creative, compelling literary magazine quality short stories of any genre and style of prose, set in any location and time period, with characters of any age, as long as the content is engaging and appropriate for a middle and/or high school classroom.

Remember that while students are comfortable reading about familiar subjects and themes, they are equally fascinated by those outside of their own experiences. However, we do not publish anything with religious themes, explicit language or behavior, or use of drugs or alcohol. Teachers should be comfortable reading your story aloud in a classroom setting.

Before you submit, familiarize yourself with the literary short stories often incorporated into school curriculums and consider how your own work might be discussed in the context of a literature lesson alongside these works.

Then, please ensure that your story is crafted with:
1.   descriptive language, literary devices, symbolism, and layered text
2.   believable, engaging characters that are changed somehow by the events that unfold
3.   a plot that will hook and hold a maturing young reader's attention
4.   a setting that evokes interest and relates to the action
5.   voice and tone that are distinct at both the line level and the emotional level

Please note, we do not accept submissions previously published elsewhere, including those that have been self-published. Submissions are considered on a rolling basis. Those meeting the required criteria will be considered for both our middle and high school collections.

Word Counts:
•   Middle school short stories: 1,500–2,000 words
•   High school short stories: 1,500–3,000 words

Submission Guidelines:   Send completed stories in a Word document to shortstorysubmissions@mheducation.com. Please include your full name, phone number, e-mail address, and word count in the manuscript header. Include a note in your email if the story is under simultaneous consideration with other publications. You are welcome to submit multiple stories to us for consideration.
Please note: Due to the volume of submissions received, we can only respond if we are interested in purchasing your work. Response time for acceptance is within two months of receipt.

Rights: We purchase exclusive publishing rights. All stories appear uncredited on our Achieve3000 e-learning platform. McGraw Hill reserves the right to edit and revise stories for use at differentiated reading levels. All edited/revised versions remain the sole property of McGraw Hill.

Compensation:  We pay $1,500.00 per accepted story. Payment will be made within 90 days of notification of acceptance.

[JulieM]

Thank you for sharing!

[Debbie Vilardi]

Thank you for sharing this. Would a ghost story be considered a having a religious theme?

[Hopeful]

I'm just curious if anyone submitted to this WFH call and if they had had any success with it.