There are 31 themes for the 15 markets listed here, for non-fiction. A couple of them also publish other genres, like fiction and poetry. Some of the themes are: family traditions and rituals; parenting and food; debut fiction & agents; Christmas stories; humorous stories; technology + change; careers with birds; Internet subcultures/communities; and back to routine. Most do not specify deadlines, so it may be a good idea to send pitches early.
– S. Kalekar
Motherwell: Five themes
They publish essays about parenting. They do not pay for certain formats/shorter pieces. Pieces are generally capped at 1,200 words. They have these themes listed (see guidelines).
Teen Challenges and Solutions – “The teenage years are characterized by a push for independence. As parents, how do we deal with the new host of problems that accompany such change as it relates to our adolescents’ relationships, motivation, mental health, communication, social media use, among other issues. We want to hear about your family’s teen-related difficulties, and how you’ve addressed them.”
Family Traditions and Rituals – “Does your family have a secret handshake? A dinnertime ritual? A holiday tradition? A unique bedtime routine? These kind of things connect us and bring meaning to our family lives, they tell our stories: we build them up and we also preserve what’s been passed down. We want to hear more about your family traditions and rituals”.
Home for the Holidays – “Valentine’s Day, Passover, Easter (and possibly Mother’s Day and Father’s Day too), many of us will be home for the holidays this year. Motherwell is looking for original essays about how these days make you feel as a parent and how you might be celebrating a little differently in 2021.”
Back to School and COVID-19 – “There is a host of uncertainty surrounding schooling right now and Motherwell would love to hear your perspective and/or your experience: as a teacher, a parent, or a student.”
Parenting and Food – “Our new weekly column. We are looking for stories, up to 1,200 words, that delve into all the ways in which these two areas of life can intersect. Interpretations might include: cultivating cooking skills with your kids; body image around pregnancy; raising picky or limited eaters; managing food allergies; coping with weight concerns, at either end of the spectrum.”
They also want short pieces on the ‘Pandemic Little Lessons’ theme, which are unpaid. They publish personal essays and perspective pieces on parenting, as well. Details here.
Hungry Zine: Home Cooking
This is a new magazine and they are looking for nonfiction, as well as fiction, poetry, photography, and visual art for their pilot issue, on the ‘Home Cooking’ theme. They’re particularly looking for work from writers underrepresented in food media. Their guidelines say, “What stories, emotions, questions, relationships does “home cooking” bring up for you? In this year when many of us have been spending much time at home, what are you cooking and eating? What are your comfort foods? Who are the people you learned to cook from? What foods or meals are important to you? From who, or where, did you learn how to prepare them? How do you recreate, create and document home cooking knowledge?” Writers can send two pieces of up to 1,000 words each. Writing can include, but is not limited to, essays, interviews, and recipes. Pay is $50. The deadline is coming soon, 15 March 2021. Details here.
Poets & Writers: Debut Fiction & Agents
This is a magazine for writers of poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction. Their editorial content is divided into four sections: News & Trends:brief articles about pertinent information in the writing and publishing industries; 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: profiles of and interviews with contemporary writers in current American literature. Other features include articles and essays that look at subjects of interest to creative writers, such as writers’ conferences and residencies, small presses, regional writing, and the distinctions of genre. They accept both, proposals and articles on spec. For July/August 2021, the theme is Debut Fiction & Agents. Details here (submission guidelines) and here (theme).
The Victorian Writer: Transformation
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 September/October/November 2021 issue, the theme is ‘Transformation’. “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. Submissions for this theme close on 10 May 2021. Details here.
Understorey Magazine: Rural and remote living
The magazine only accepts submissions from women and non-binary writers who have a close connection to Canada. They are accepting creative non-fiction (personal essays) from writers and artists living in rural and remote areas: on parenting, creativity, health, employment, access to services, climate change, education, and all other facets of life outside urban centers. Some theme suggestions on their website are: “How to you maintain connection or learn to live without it? What are the challenges and opportunities for writers and artists who live outside large urban centres? How has the Covid-19 pandemic affected you and your community?” Submissions should be up to 1,500 words. They also publish fiction and poetry, as well as artwork. Pay is CAD150 for writers and CAD75 for artists. The deadline is 21 June 2021. Details here.
MIT Technology Review: The Mind; Technology + Change
MIT Technology Review is a premier media company that publishes work about technology and its impact. They recently announced a couple of calls for pitches on Twitter. (Usually they do not take unsolicited pitches). Pay starts at $1/word for both these themes.
— The Mind: Their news editor has said recently on Twitter, “I’m looking for pitches on the topic of “the mind” for an upcoming print issue. Could be latest breakthroughs in neuroscience, the collision (good and bad) of technology and mental health, people-based stories, anything.” Details here (Tweet).
— Technology + Change: The commissioning editor of MIT Technology Review said on Twitter: “I’m looking for pitches about technology + change. Could be a reported story about a tech activist, analysis of technology’s role in a political movement, or a deep dive into a major technical shift or disruption.” Details here (Tweet).
Chicken Soup for the Soul: Five themes
They accept true inspirational stories and poetry on set themes. See the end of the section on this publisher for links to theme details, guidelines, and submission portal. Apart from cash, they give 10 contributor copies as payment.
— Tough Times: Their guidelines say, “We are looking for stories about how you have been affected and how you and your loved ones are handling the changes in your life. We’re looking for the ups and downs, so share the tough times but also the silver linings, the unexpected blessings, and resilience and gratitude that you have discovered in yourself and the people close to you.
We’re also looking for stories about tough times unrelated to the pandemic. Are you going through other challenges that have nothing to do with the pandemic, such as health crises, loss of loved ones, personal challenges, family issues, job loss and economic upheaval”. The deadline is 31 March 2021.
— Angels: Their guidelines say, “True personal stories about how an angel has touched your life – stories of true wonder and awe from people who have directly encountered or received help from angels. … Have you experienced something otherworldly or celestial? Or had a personal experience with an angel or divine being? How did your angel manifest himself or herself to you? Were you the only person who saw your angel? How did your angel protect or guide you?” The deadline is 31 March 2021 for this theme.
— Counting Your Blessings: Their guidelines say, “Please share your stories about handling challenges in your life, finding the silver linings, and counting your blessings, whether the challenges you are facing are COVID-19 related or other kinds. … Attitude adjustments, finding contentment and gratitude, a new way of handling your daily life, and other great ideas to inspire readers to find their own paths to happiness and to remember to count their blessings every day”. The deadline is 30 April 2021 for this theme.
— Christmas Stories: Their guidelines say, “We are looking for stories about the entire holiday season, including Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Boxing Day, and New Year’s. … We want great holiday stories that share your traditions and memories of normal holidays pre-pandemic. We’re hoping the pandemic is behind us by the time we’re all reading our 2021 holiday book. … We do also want to hear about how the pandemic changed your most recent holidays.” The deadline is 15 May 2021 for this theme.
— Humorous Stories: This is scheduled for publication in 2022, and the call is due to the success of their earlier volume of humorous stories. Their guidelines say, “Share your funny stories about something that happened to you in your life – in your relationship with a partner or spouse, a parent or child, a family member or friend, at work or at home – that made you and the people around you laugh out loud. Did you mean for it to be funny? Did the other person mean to make you laugh? Did a situation just get out of control? Did a misunderstanding turn into a comedy of errors?” For this volume, they also say, “Please submit your story using your real name; we will let you use a pen name if necessary to protect the innocent (or guilty!).” The deadline is 30 August 2021 for this theme.
Deadlines: 31 March for Tough Times and Angels; 30 April for Counting Your Blessings; 30 August 2021 for Humorous Stories
Length: Up to 1,200 words
Pay: $200
Details here (theme details – scroll down), here (guidelines), and here (submission portal).
We Need Diverse Books: Educator- and librarian-centered blog pitches
We Need Diverse Books is a nonprofit organization of children’s book lovers. Their mission is to put more books featuring diverse characters into the hands of all children. According to a Twitter call, they are “Looking for educator- and librarian-centered blog pitches for the @diversebooks blog. You don’t have to be an educator/librarian to write them but you may have to interview teachers/educators. Rates start at $150/post.” Details here (Tweet) and here (website).
The Old Schoolhouse: Nature Studies; Insects; Careers with Birds; and other themes
This is a magazine for homeschoolers and they are currently accepting queries for their Spring 2022 issue. The themes for features are: Nature Studies, Insects, Careers with Birds.
There are several other themes listed, including:
— Theme: Why Are So Many Homeschoolers Entrepreneurs?
— Middle School Math – A Bridge to Higher Learning
— Language Arts: Phonics, Grammar, Reading, and Becoming a Fine Writer
— Charlotte Mason Method
— The Wars of History and What We Learned
— Photo Essay: How to Create an Inviting Schoolroom
— Raising a Future Doctor or Lawyer
— Keeping Home: Building an Herb Garden
Article submissions deadline is 30 November 2021 (they will close to pitches much sooner than this date; they slate writers’ work far in advance of the publication date). Details here.
Vox Media: Polygon – Internet subcultures/communities, and more
The culture editor of Vox Media’s Polygon has said on Twitter: “Freelancers! I’m looking for pitches for the following topics/games: Twitch, VTubers, Minecraft, Valorant, Animal Crossing, Breath of the Wild, Fornite, Warzone, speedrunning, and more generally, internet subcultures/communities.” Pay is $150 to $300 and up. Details here (Tweet).
StarTrek.com: First Contact Day; World Autism Awareness Day; Easter; National Day of Silence; and other themes
This CBS Entertainment-owned website accepts pitches for essays, reported work, features, and more. There are some evergreen topics they always look for pitches on, which include timely responses to recent Star Trek episodes, interviews with one-off Star Trek guest stars, Trek related essays, personal essays that relate back to Trek, any reported work that ties current events back into Trek, deep dives, and listicles. For April 2021, they are interested in several themes (as they relate to Star Trek), including: First Contact Day; World Autism Awareness Day; Easter; National Day of Silence; and other themes. See guidelines for the full list of themes. Details here.
Overland: Two themes
This Australian print and online magazine is currently accepting pitches and completed non-fiction articles (800-1,200 words) for their online magazine on these themes:
— Essays on climate politics and grassroots organising: “2020 was a hell of a year, with issues such as the American election and the global pandemic demanding a lot of focus. 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.”
— Smart essays on TV shows, films or videogames: “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 an out of their specific, individual art form.”
Writers are also welcome to pitch articles outside of these themes. Their mission is to foster new, original and progressive writing exploring the relationship between politics and culture, especially literature. Editorially, they are committed to publishing underrepresented perspectives on issues rarely given space in traditional media. Contributors are paid AUD120 per article published on the website. Details here.
Experience Life: Back to Routine; Strong & Resilient
This is a health/fitness/quality-of-life magazine. Apart from three in-depth features (2,500-3,500 words), they have departments that need shorter pieces: Front of Book, Real Fitness, Real Food, Feature Well, and Real Life. According to their editorial calendar, a couple of their upcoming themes are:
— For September 2021, the theme is Back to Routine: “It’s time to settle into a more organized schedule. From resources for planning your days to tips for prioritizing your own self-care, this content can help you transition into a more intentional healthy-living regimen for fall.”
— For October, the theme is Strong & Resilient: “Perseverance and resilience are key to achieving our goals, but they don’t always come naturally. Explore tools and inspiration for building and enhancing these skills, so you can overcome any obstacles you may face on your journey.”
See their extensive guidelines for more. Details here (guidelines) and here (download editorial calendar).
Horizons: Youth and Young Adults
This is a Christian magazine. It is published by Presbyterian Women, Inc. for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). They want themed articles, stories, and poems. For September/October 2021, the theme is Youth and Young Adults. There are other themes listed, as well. Articles/stories should be 600-1,800 words. Pay is at least $50/page, depending on the time and research required. Details here (themes) and here (download writers’ guidelines).
The Audacity: Essays by Emerging Writers
Roxanne Gay has started a new project since January 2021, a newsletter, which also publishes an emerging writer (someone with fewer than three article/essay/short story publications and no published books or book contracts), twice a month. The guidelines say, “I am interested in thoughtful essays, beautiful, intelligent writing, deep explorations, timelessness, and challenging conventional thinking without being cheap and lazy. I am interested in provocative work but we are not interested in senseless provocation. You don’t have to cannibalize yourself to tell a compelling story. The essays in Unruly Bodies might give you a sense of what I like but I am always open to being surprised.” Send non-fiction submissions only – literary works and memoir. Essays should be 1,500-3,000 words. Pay is $2,000. Details here (Tweet) and here (guidelines and submission portal).
Bio: S. Kalekar is the pseudonym of a regular contributor to this magazine. She is the author of 182 Short Fiction Publishers. She can be reached here.