The Baffler

About

The epigraph stamped on The Baffler no. 1, from Arthur Rimbaud’s “Morning of Drunkenness,” introduced it as a punk literary magazine. It was the summer of 1988. The founders, Thomas Frank and Keith White, were recent graduates of the University of Virginia. They named their magazine as a joke on academic fads like undecidability, then in fashion. The Baffler was born to laugh at the baffling jargon of the academics and the commercial avant-garde, to explode their paralyzing agonies of abstraction and interpretation. This magazine would move in the opposite direction. It would strive for the lucidity of independent critical intelligence.

Important: Pitch first.

Country of Publication & Year Established

United States

Established in 1988

Publication Media & Frequency

Electronic Publication Electronic Publication: Published 260 x per year
Print Publication Print Publication: Published 6 x per year

AI Policy

Unknown AI policy

329 members set this magazine as a Favorite.

Statistics Synopsis

Slower: The Baffler's overall average response time is slower than most magazines.
More Challenging: The Baffler's overall acceptance rate is lower than most magazines.
Less Responsive: The Baffler's overall rate of non-response is higher than most magazines.

Learn more about our statistics

Collapse section Fiction Open

Audience:

Open to a broad Audience.

Genres:

General

Lengths:

Short Story: No specific word count limits known (our definition: 1000 to 7500 words).

Styles:

Open to all/most Styles, including: Humorous, Literary, Satirical.

Topics:

Open to all/most Topics.

Payment:

Unknown payment Unknown payment.

Submissions:

Method: Online form.
Reprints: Unknown.
Simultaneous submissions: Unknown.
Media: Text.

Collapse section Nonfiction Open

Audience:

Open to a broad Audience.

Lengths:

Essay: No specific word count limits known.

Styles:

Open to all/most Styles, including: Humorous, Literary, Satirical.

Topics:

Politics/Political Science.
Society/Culture.

Payment:

Unknown payment Unknown payment.

Submissions:

Method: Online form.
Reprints: Unknown.
Simultaneous submissions: Unknown.
Media: Text.

Collapse section Poetry Open

Audience:

Open to a broad Audience.

Genres:

General

Lengths:

Poem: No line limits known.

Poetry Forms:

Open to all/most Forms.

Styles:

Open to all/most Styles, including: Humorous, Literary, Satirical.

Topics:

Open to all/most Topics.

Payment:

Unknown payment Unknown payment.

Submissions:

Method: Online form.
Reprints: Unknown.
Simultaneous submissions: Unknown.
Media: Text.

Collapse section Visual Art Open

Audience:

Open to a broad Audience.

Lengths:

Artwork:

Art Media:

Open to all/most Art Media.

Art Styles:

Open to all/most Art Styles, including: Humorous, Satirical.

Topics:

Open to all/most Topics.

Payment:

Unknown payment Unknown payment.

Submissions:

Method: Online form.
Reprints: Unknown.
Simultaneous submissions: Unknown.
Media: Image.

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The Baffler Submission Statistics

The statistics in this section are compiled from submission reports sent to us through our submission tracker. They are not provided by the publication's editors/staff or by Duotrope's admins. Information in this section is updated a few times per day. Learn more about the statistics.

This project ranks among the Most Unresponsive Fiction Publishers in our database.
This project ranks among the Most Unresponsive Poetry Publishers in our database.

Filter:

Group by submission

Include outliers

Accuracy

We have received 72 reports from 62 different members within the past 12 months, not including pending responses (see below). The more responses reported, the more accurate the information.

Days Reported

0 min | 234.4 mean avg | 230.0 median | 586 max days (332.8 std dev)

Responses

29.17 %

Acceptances:

2.78 % of submissions accepted (14.0 avg. days per acceptance) | 3.23 % of submitters accepted

Rejections:

26.39 % (50.4 avg. days per rejection) | 73.7 % personal, 15.8 % form, 10.5 % unspecified

Non-Responses

43.05 %

Lost/Returned:

6.94 % (56.6 avg. days before reporting submissions as lost or returned)

Never Responded:

36.11 % (418.0 avg. days before reporting submissions as never responded)

Withdrawals

27.78 % (179.8 avg. days per withdrawal)

Pending

74 responses are pending (1 min | 195.5 mean avg | 150.5 median | 590 max days waiting | 347.6 std dev) from 73 different members

Other Information

Most recent response reported was received on 04 Sep 2026.
Responses have been received for submissions sent as recently as 23 Aug 2026.
Date compiled: 05 Sep 2026 13:00 UTC (less than a minute ago).
View report of recent responses from this project

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Before Submitting

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Dates

Last Updated: 01 Jul 2026

We check their guidelines for changes every four weeks, and we audit the listing twice a year.