These are calls for themed nonfiction. Some of the themes are: Juneteenth; epic adventure stories; Saints & Sinners; fracture; stitch; climate; Black women’s health; resurrect; and haunted. A few also accept other genres, like fiction and poetry. Some outlets specify pitch or submission deadlines, but some do not. – S. Kalekar
Diem: The Things We Don’t Talk About Newsletter
Their Substack says, “Diem is a social search engine, inspired by how women have shared information for centuries.” And, “The Things We (Don’t) Talk About is Diem’s weekly newsletter that’s more like an open-ended, never-ending conversation about technology, gender, and power.” According to their pitch guide, they want essays for their newsletter. “Diem is looking for essays. We’re starting a new project, which will include publishing essays from a diverse set of writers twice a month, starting in February 2023. We’re interested in personal essays, opinion pieces, and conversation starters on topics related to relationships, health, and money. Most of the work we publish is through a feminist lens”. Pay starts at $200 and most of their commissioned works are around 700 words. See their pitch guide here.
Viator: Juneteenth
The Assistant Editor for Tripadvisor’s Viator has tweeted, “i’m looking for personal essays on the meaning and significance of Juneteenth for Viator; MUST have a travel hook; rates start at $250.” The deadline for pitches is around 8th May 2023. Details in the Twitter thread here.
GreenPrints: Gardening stories
This US-based magazine publishes true personal gardening stories – “the absolute best true stories of gardeners from all across the country.” They have detailed guidelines, including, “Calling all experienced gardening writers—we seek gardening stories that are true and personal, expressive and thoughtful, and humorous and witty. We focus on the human, not the how-to, side of gardening, so your story should be entertaining, moving, unexpected, touching, and funny—a heartfelt story you would tell a friend or family member.” They want work of 600-1,500 words, and pay $150. The deadline is 18 May 2023. Details here.
Trails Magazine: Epic adventure stories, and more
The founding editor of Trails Magazine recently tweeted, “The @readtrailsmag team and I are still on the hunt for a couple features to fill out Issue 3! Epic adventure stories, outdoor investigations/reporting, profiles of cool people in the outdoors are all good bets!” They have detailed guidelines, including, “The focus of Trails is on backpacking and other human/naturally-powered means of sleeping outdoors: bikepacking, canoe camping, even things like rafting or mountaineering are fair game (feel free to be creative with those criteria—we covered “skatepacking” in Issue One). But remember: Human-powered, and overnight are the important pieces.” They primarily focus on North American destinations. Features are 1,000-5,000 words, and departments are shorter. Rates start at $0.50/word. They also publish photography features. See the Tweet here and the pitch guide here.
Parabola: Saints & Sinners
Parabola is a quarterly journal that explores the quest for meaning as it is expressed in the world’s myths, symbols, and religious traditions, with particular emphasis on the relationship between this store of wisdom and our modern life. “We look for lively, penetrating material unencumbered by jargon or academic argument. We prefer well-researched, objective, and unsentimental pieces that are grounded in one or more religious or cultural tradition; articles that focus on dreams, visions, or other very personal experiences are unlikely to be accepted.” They publish articles and translations (1,000-3,000 words), book reviews (500 words), retellings of traditional stories (500-1,500 words), forum contributions (up to 500 words), and poetry (up to 5 poems). The theme for their Fall 2023 issue is ‘Saints & Sinners’, and the deadline is 1 June 2023. They have other themes listed too, with later deadlines. Details here.
The Saltbrush Review: Fracture
Apart from creative nonfiction of up to 3,000 words, they want poetry and fiction on the ‘Fracture’ theme. “Shorter works are also welcome, as are works that challenge genre boundaries.” And, “Submissions are open to all, but we particularly welcome work from South Australian and regional writers, emerging writers, First Nations and POC writers, the LGBTQI+ community, and writers with a disability.” They pay AUD150 for nonfiction and fiction, and AUD100 for poetry and flash fiction. The submission deadline is 16 June 2023. Details here and here.
Health in her HUE: Black women’s health and wellness
“Health in Her HUE is looking for pitches about Black women’s health and wellness. Priority topics: mental health, LGBTQIA+ health, breast cancer. Rate is $200 per article. Writers must be based in the U.S.” See the Tweet here and the pitch guide here.
Taproot Magazine: Stitch
They want pieces exploring the topics of food, farm, family and craft. The magazine is divided into three sections: Head – essays about living a more connected life; Hands – recipes, crafts and projects to make yourself; and Heart – the personal experience of more connected living. Also, “We are looking for traditional and modern crafts. We are looking for recipes, and techniques to be carried into the kitchen, the garden, the pasture, the urban homestead, the rural farm.” Articles are 800-4,000 words. Their next upcoming theme is Stitch. The deadline for this theme is 1 June 2023, for the issue to be published in October 2023. Details here.
Poets & Writers: Writing Education
They publish articles of interest to emerging and established literary writers. They publish News & Trends, The Literary Life Essays (on the more contemplative aspects of writing, ranging from creative process to the art of reading), The Practical Writer (advice and how-to articles that offer nuts and bolts information about the business of creative writing), and features – articles, essays, profiles, and interviews regarding American literature. According to their Media Kit for advertisers, for September/October 2023, the issue theme is Writing Education. They do not publish fiction or poetry, or reviews. They take both, story proposals, and articles on spec, and take 4-6 weeks to respond to queries or manuscripts. Details here (Media Kit/themes) and here (writers’ guidelines).
just femme & dandy: Resurrect
This is a biannual literary & arts magazine for and by the LGBTQIA+ community on fashion. They have detailed guidelines for this theme, including, “Just like the totem animal for many of us, the cat, LBTQIA+ babes often have more than one life, maybe more than nine. We are not only accustomed to rebuilding and resurrecting ourselves, our style, our family unit, our way of considering home, we often welcome the opportunity to.
For this issue, in honor of the twentieth anniversary of the death of one of our most beloved icons, Nina Simone, we ask you to submit creative expressions in any genre, including but not limited to writing, visual art, fashion design, video, audio, and anything you can think of that could be housed on a website that engages with the idea of resurrection and LGBTQIA+ fashion.” And, “We take submissions for consideration in the glowup, sew what, triple thread(s), no scrubs, sole mates, the mane attraction, and cancel & gretel. Note that we also take submissions for afrodisiac, a column housed within the mane attraction focusing on all aspects related to the intersection of LGBTQIA+ identity & Black/African hair, fat + furious, a column housed within cancel & gretel focusing on all aspects related to LGBTQIA+ identity & fat fashion, not what it seams, a column housed within no scrubs that focuses on costuming, and (get your) thread in the game, our new sports, fitness, and physical activity section”. They pay $50 per text-based submission and up to $150 per multimedia submission (video, photography, image + text, fashion spread + interview, etc.). The submission deadline is 15 May 2023. Details here.
sin cesar: Climate
They want nonfiction (memoir essays, critical essays, book reviews, & interviews, up to 3,000 words), fiction (including flash fiction), and poetry on the Climate theme. “We look for subversive and bold voices; thought-provoking pieces that seek to illuminate a truth for the reader.” They prioritize work by Black and Brown artists. This annual magazine was formerly called Dryland. Contributors in the Los Angeles area get a print copy, all other contributors receive a digital copy of the issue. They pay $25-75 for poetry, and $100 for prose. The submission deadline is 1 June 2023. Details here.
queerbeat: Health policy/research and LGBTQIA+ people in India
They publish work about the LGBTQ community in India. The editor recently tweeted, they want “health pitches for a mini series of three stories at the intersection of health policy/research and LGBTQIA+ people”. The pitch deadline for this theme is 11 May 2023; see details in the Twitter thread here.
Their website says, “queerbeat is an online magazine focused on deeply and accurately covering LGBTQIA+ persons in India. Its mission is to transform public conversation about LGBTQIA+ persons in society. … We are particularly interested in stories from smaller towns and underreported regions or stories about queer people from historically marginalized communities such as Dalits and Adivasis. These stories should advance society’s understanding of LGBTQIA+ persons, break existing stereotypes or cover underreported identities and conversations in the queer culture.” The pitches they are interested in receiving during the next few months are on Geography/Place, Asexuality, Body, and Caste, according to their pitch guide. Writers can suggest other themes, too. Pay is INR20,000-42,000 for 1,000-3,000 words. Details here.
Prairie Fire: Haunted – Things That Keep You Up At Night
This Canadian magazine publishes nonfiction (up to 5,000 words), fiction, and poetry, and they have a special call on the Haunted theme. Their website says, “This fall, Prairie Fire is taking a deep dive into what haunts us. What keeps you up at night? Is it thoughts of regret about what you did or didn’t do, said or didn’t say, the risks you didn’t take? Or, maybe the pain of the past comes to visit, specters of history we’ve inherited through family or societal trauma? What do these hauntings teach us, and how do we cope with them? Can we finally put the old ghosts to bed, or have we learned to live with them?
Not all hauntings are unwelcome. Sometimes an idea or dream, repeatedly whispered in our ears at night, can lead us to take personal action, give rise to radical change, create new movement in our lives, or inspire acts of great artistic expression. Sometimes, ghosts can be helpful.” Also, the magazine “encourages submissions from LGBTQI2S writers, BIPOC writers, differently-abled writers, and all who are otherwise affected by structural inequality.” They pay CAD0.10/word for prose up to CAD250, and CAD40/poem for their print issues. The submission deadline is 26 May 2023. Details here (theme) and here (payment rates).
The Victorian Writer: Lunar
Writers Victoria is an Australian not-for-profit charity that supports and advocates for writers, illustrators, editors and literary-sector workers to be paid for the work that they do. They are accepting pitches of their in-house magazine, The Victorian Writer. For their next issue, the theme is ‘Lunar’. “We publish poems ($70), and articles of 600 words ($100) and 1200 words ($200) in the print edition with particular interest in the craft of writing and the writing life.” Pay is in Australian dollars. For articles, they accept pitches as well as submissions. The submission deadline is 6 June 2023. Details here and here.
Time Out: Interesting UK Cultural Scenes
The Chief Features Writer, UK, for Time Out has tweeted, “We’re looking for feature pitches from freelancers about interesting UK cultural scenes & stories (esp outside LDN), for Time Out.” See the Twitter thread for more information, including examples of the kind of stories they want.
Harvard Public Health Magazine: Public Health Issues
Their website says, “Harvard Public Health is a digital and print magazine published by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. We are editorially independent of the school and cover public health worldwide.” They want pitches from freelance health writers; “we’re looking for fresh perspectives and rigorous analysis on #publichealth issues!” See the Tweet here and their general pitch guide here.
MIT Technology Review: Physical technology
MIT Technology Review is looking to build up their coverage of physical technology. Their Commissioning Editor has tweeted, “I’m building up @techreview’s coverage of physical technology: chips, materials science, quantum computing, engineering, robotics, a little bit of space, etc.” Rates are $1-2/word. See the Tweet here and their pitch guide here.
The Other Side of Hope: Journeys in Refugee and Immigrant Literature
They publish fiction, poetry, and art from refugees, asylum seekers, and immigrants only; these are unthemed. They also consider poems from refugee/asylum seeker writing groups. Non-fiction (2,000-5,000 words) and book reviews are open to all, and the theme for those is migration. Also, “A.M. Heath Literary Agency will offer 1-2-1s to 6 of our vol.3 contributors.” They pay £100 for print, £50 for online contributions, and £300 for art, and asylum seekers get gift cards. The submission deadline is 31 May 2023. Details here.
Overland: Three themes
This Australian magazine is looking for pitches as well as submissions (800-1,200 words) for online features, on the themes below. They do not want personal essays or creative nonfiction.
“– Essays on climate politics, grassroots organising and social justice campaigns: We’d love to hear about long-term organising projects and issues the community needs to know about that might not have had a recent spotlight. From small-scale local projects to global campaigns, we want to know what’s happening and why it matters.
— Smart essays on TV shows, films, videogames or popular culture: As with books, what we look for is seldom a review that focuses on the merits or demerits of a single text, unless it is uniquely topical or culturally significant. Rather, we favour expansive review essays that make connections between different texts, in and out of their specific, individual art form. We’re not elitists here – a text doesn’t need to be academic or niche for us to be interested in what you have to say.
— Literature, publishing and the arts: We’re always interested in essays on the politics and craft of writing and the broader arts industry. We’re especially interested in hidden literary, artistic and activist histories about individuals, texts and events that could still teach us something today.” They pay AUD150 for work published in their online magazine. Details here.
Bright Wall / Dark Room: Trans Cinema
This magazine publishes essays on cinema. “We’re an online journal devoted to long-form critical discussion of the intersection between movies and the business of being alive. The magazine was founded in 2013 with a goal of pushing the boundaries of typical online film writing—we look for essays not just from critics and film scholars but from poets, playwrights, novelists, comedians, and creative types of all stripes interested in experimenting with what film analysis can be.” They have detailed guidelines, including, “For our June 2023 issue, we’re diving into the nebulous landscape of trans cinema and all the complexities the genre entails. While well-known films like Boys Don’t Cry and The Danish Girl sought to imagine transness via the surface projections of cisgender actors as a means to frame a narrow, blood-stained capital T “Trans Experience” for a cisgender audience, this issue’s aim is to explicitly center the writing about—and around—experiences of trans embodiment onscreen that amplify, interrogate, and locate potential pathways to freedom within the inherent instability of gender and Western binaries.” And, “For this issue, we’d like to prioritize the writing of trans and gender non-conforming authors. Black and POC trans and gender non-conforming writers are especially encouraged to submit.” Pay is $100, and the deadline for first drafts is 7th May 2023. Details here (theme details) and here (pitch guide).
Going: African destinations for Places Newsletter
The Content Marketing Director of Going (formerly Scott’s Cheap Flights) has issued a pitch call: “For assignments, looking for writers deeply familiar (lived there, visited multiple times) with Tanzania, Mozambique, Madagascar, Botswana, or Zimbabwe. This is for Going’s weekly Places newsletter. Pay starts at $300.” See the Twitter thread here and the pitch form here.
Dismantle: Fashion, pop culture, and social change
Their website says, “Dismantle Magazine is all about how understanding fashion, pop culture and social issues can help us dismantle systems of oppression.” And, “We’re especially interested in personal essays that explore larger issues related to fashion, pop culture and social change. Rather than straight cultural analysis, we prioritize work that puts story first. We want compelling characters and vivid scenes, words that make us think and feel. Give us personal essays that connect your experience with fashion to a larger cultural or political phenomenon. Send us your reflections on a pop culture obsession that ties current trends to a longer history. Or, share an experiment that blends illustration and reflective text. We’re open to creative, innovative approaches, so don’t be afraid to send us something we haven’t thought of yet!
Whatever it is, it should tell a story that matters right now and have clear, compelling stakes.” They are most interested in submissions related to fashion (in the broadest sense). They prefer work of 1,200-2,500 words, and pay $100. Details here.
The Century Foundation: Voices Of Disability Economic Justice
Their website says, “Voices of Disability Economic Justice, a project of the The Century Foundation’s Disability Economic Justice Team, is a commentary series that shines a light on the economic disparities that disabled people experience. Central to this series is a focus on amplifying the perspectives of disabled people with multiple overlapping marginalized identities—particularly disabled people of color and LGBTQIA+ disabled people. If you have a story to share or a viewpoint to express that addresses economic justice issues through a disability lens, send us a pitch! Payment for published pieces is $500.” They want op-ed style pieces and personal narratives of approximately 750 words written by people who identify as disabled. “We encourage you to connect your personal insights and lived experiences with broader commentary and data related to disability economic justice.” Details here.
Bio: S. Kalekar is the pseudonym of a regular contributor to this magazine.
