Updated November 2017
Granta just started charging 4 dollars for prose submissions, although poetry submissions are still free. They said the prose submission charge is experimental.
Granta is one of those established journals that has a great reputation and actually appears to have active readers. They publish a wide variety of fiction, creative non-fiction, and poetry, both in print and online.
The Observer wrote of Granta: ‘In its blend of memoirs and photojournalism, and in its championing of contemporary realist fiction, Granta has its face pressed firmly against the window, determined to witness the world.’
In that vein they try to publish a lot of timely work, work that deals with the world as it is now, not what it was or what it will be. Most of the work they publish is between 3,000 and 6,000 words in length.
They pay their writers, but they do not say how much. They are open to simultaneous submissions but not to reprints. They have a very low acceptance rate. However, they do publish a lot of work online where it is easy to get a feel for what kind of work they are looking for.
Although they state on their website that they respond within 6 months to most submissions, this is not the case. They take well over a year on average. Which is about three times as long as the average journal. However if you really want to be published by them, and you think your work is a good fit for their publication, it is worth the wait.
To learn more or to submit, visit their website here: http://www.granta.com/
