Here are 25 submission calls for nonfiction pitches/submissions in the 20 markets listed here. Some of the themes are: art and life; LGBTQ2S+ politics, identity, and power; reimagining the nature of relationship with land; internet culture ideas; on the frontier; capturing the world on film; dusk; mental health disparities across marginalized groups; communities of care; and audacity. A few of them specify their deadlines, but most do not. – S. Kalekar
The Daring: Art and Life
This is an art and culture magazine, launched in 2019; it publishes work about the intersection between art and life. Their website says, “We are in a dynamic conversation with artists about the issues that matter to them most — creativity, mental health, opinions, and issues relating to human life in all its subtleties.
Our stories are organized around four categories: Art, Music, Poetry, and Self. Each one informs the other, just as artists inspire each other. Through interviews, podcasts, essays, and poetry our mission is to celebrate the nuances of living an expressive life, as told by working artists — including writers, musicians, designers, visual artists, and others.” They are looking for work from writers, storytellers, and artists. Their pitch guide says, “Our stories focus on but are not limited to the intersection between art and life, deepening craft, and mental health. Our guiding principle is a curiosity about how the literary and visual arts relate to the human experience. A strong piece for us has an element of the personal and also raises questions or addresses issues that are more universal.”For pieces on music, pay starts at $80; for poetry, it is $30 (pitches for author profiles and interviews are also welcome); for personal essays and memoir especially pieces that delve into identity, mental health, and the intersection between art and life, pay starts at $80 for pieces of 800-1,800 words. Details here.
Xtra Magazine: LGBTQ2S+ politics, identity, and power
This is a Canadian LGBTQ2S+ magazine; they cover LGBTQ2S+ politics, culture, sex, relationships and health. They publish short and long features, profiles, Q&As, essays, opinion pieces, explainers, video documentaries and podcasts. Their senior editor for politics and identities recently issued a pitch call on Twitter, for their Power pillar – anything about politics, identity, and power; they want pitches on these themes for longform narrative features, dispatches, and essays. Pay starts at CAD300, according to their pitch guide. Details here (Twitter thread), here (pitch guide), and here (general contributor guidelines).
New Music USA: ‘How To’ Content
They want ‘How to’ pitches for their website, on music, for work to be published in 2022. “We’re looking for original material that offers significant value and takeaway benefits for the new music community. We’re excited to share special knowledge that will uplift others! Possible topics include but are not limited to: Using specific software tools (notation, DAW, etc.), Writing for specific instruments/voice-types, Practical matters such as concert production, PR, recording demos, etc, Online music presentation/distribution”. They are accepting pitches for articles, short videos, and hybrids of prose, audio, video and anything else. Pay is $200-400 for articles, $150-300 for videos, and hybrid presentations will be assessed and remunerated on a case–by–case basis. The deadline for pitches is 10 January 2022. Details here.
Soft Skull Press: Black Punk Now
Soft Skull Press is an imprint of Catapult. They want submissions by Black writers for an anthology. “Looking for Black punk artists and writers to submit nonfiction, fiction or comics to an anthology that’s defining Black punk today–submit to Black Punk Now! … BLACK PUNK NOW is our chance to create a new reference point for music-lovers, readers, and historians, capturing the present and looking to the future, canonizing the transgressive and raw literature being created by the current generation of Black punks. We want to go beyond Bad Brains, and show what has sprung up after Afro-Punk.
If you’re drawing a comic about the nuances of Black, queer sex in an anarchist collective house; if you’re working on an essay that digs into how the “twice as hard for half as much” ethos leads to success (and frustration) in a DIY scene; if you’ve created dystopian fiction about black crust punk scavengers; or you’ve thought of anything else that that is black, punk, exciting and personal–we want to hear from you.” The deadline is 1 January 2022. Details here.
It’s Freezing in LA! #9: Climate & Health
This is a magazine of environmental slow journalism. They are looking for pitches for Spring 2022. A recent Tweet from the magazine says, “We are looking for features, interviews and essays that explore climate and health. Pay £150/1,200 words. Deadline for pitches 31st December.” See the pitch guidelines here.
Briarpatch: May/June issue
Briarpatch is a Canadian publication and they are looking for pitches for the June/July 2022 issue. “We are looking for investigative journalism, interviews, feature articles, narrative reporting, project profiles, comics and graphic texts, book reviews, and photo essays that are rooted in anti-colonial, anti-capitalist, feminist struggle.” Pay is CAD150 for profiles, short essays, book reviews, and parting shots (generally 1,500 words or less), CAD250 for feature stories (generally 1,500-2,000 words) and photo essays, and CAD350 for research-based articles and investigative reporting (generally 2,000-2,500 words). The pitch deadline is 3 January 2022. Details here.
Tagg Magazine: What bell hooks Means To Me
Tagg Magazine is a magazine of lesbian and queer culture. Their assistant editor recently issued a call for pitches on Twitter: “I am looking for a writer who has the same (or similar) identities as bell hooks to contribute a piece along the lines of “What bell hooks Means To Me”. Pay is about $90 for about 600 words. Details here (Tweet).
Populus
Their website says, “Populus is a forthcoming magazine committed to politics, thought, stories, arts & culture unique to the Canadian experience.” They are accepting pitches now; their Tweet says, “New thought. New ideas. New forms. A new magazine that rejects the status quo in pursuit of something better.” Pay varies, and is capped at CAD500. Details in the Twitter thread here.
High Country News: Education; Books; Gift Guide
They accept pitches for in-depth reportage, analysis, opinion, essays or criticism under a number of broad frameworks, ranging from science and nature, conservation and preservation, food and agriculture to environmental justice and racism, and economics. FOB stories include in-depth news and analysis. Features include investigations, long-form narrative, deep-dive explainers, or big-idea essays. The back of the book is where they explore the ideas that shape the West, through reviews, criticism and short essays. According to the editorial calendar in their 2022 Media Kit for advertisers, the August 2022 issue theme is education; for September 2022 it is books; and the November 2022 edition will have a gift guide. Their pay rates are $0.25-1.50/word; essays, perspectives, and op-eds pay $400. Details here (general guidelines) and here (Media Kit).
(They are also looking for a Climate Justice Fellow – a paid, remote position for an early-career journalist living in the Western United States – see guidelines for details.)
Orion Magazine: Fall 2022 – reimagining the nature of relationship with land
Orion is a magazine of nature writing, as well as environmental and cultural concerns. Their next window for pitches will open in January. “During this period we’ll be open to pitches for our fall 2022 issue, which will reimagine the nature of our relationship with the land. Send us a few paragraphs describing a story you’d like to write about food, land ownership, or being consumed by the earth.” The pitch window is 1-15 January 2022. Please do not send pitches before 1st January. They do not publish fiction or poetry. Details here.
Cosmopolitan: Internet culture ideas, and more
The Culture Editor of Cosmopolitan has recently issued a call on Twitter; they want ~2K word reported trend stories “Give me your niche Internet culture ideas! TikTok subcult explainers! Little-known nuggets about big things happening in the astro/wellness space!” They do not want personal essays. Details here.
The Victorian Writer: Flicker; Dusk
The Victorian Writer is a magazine by Australia-based Writers Victoria. They are accepting pitches for their 2022 editions. They publish poems (AUD70), and articles of 600 words (AUD100) and 1200 words (AUD200) in the print edition with particular interest in the craft of writing and the writing life. Pitches for articles have to be submitted by the issue’s deadline date. For the Flicker theme the deadline is 1 January 2022, and for the Dusk theme, it is 4 February 2022. They have other themes listed, as well. Details here and here.
Cricket Media: Cobblestone Magazine – John Quincy Adams; On the Frontier
Cobblestone is an American history magazine for children ages 9-14 from Cricket Media. They are currently accepting queries on John Quincy Adams: American Statesman (query deadline 15 January 2022) and On the Frontier (query deadline 15 February 2022). Articles should have historical accuracy and lively, original approaches to the subject at hand – they publish features (in-depth non-fiction, plays, first-person accounts, and biographies), and supplemental non-fiction (subjects directly and indirectly related to the theme — editors like little-known information but encourage writers not to overlook the obvious). They also publish fiction (authentic historical and biographical fiction, adventure, and retold legends relating to the theme), activities (crafts, recipes, woodworking, or any other interesting projects that can be done either by children alone or with adult supervision), theme-related poetry, as well as puzzles and games. The deadlines are given above. Details here.
Cricket Media: Faces Magazine – Capturing the World on Film; Hot and Cold
Faces magazine is for children ages 9-14 years, where they can learn about important inventions and ideas from other cultures through articles, folk tales, recipes, illustrations, and hands-on projects. They publish feature articles – in-depth non-fiction highlighting an aspect of the featured culture, interviews, and personal accounts, supplemental non-fiction – subjects directly and indirectly related to the theme. They also publish theme-related fiction, activities, and puzzles and games. They have a few themed calls listed, including the following. They want queries only (see guidelines), no unsolicited manuscripts. Two of their upcoming themes are – Capturing the World on Film (iconic images), queries by 10 January 2022; and Hot and Cold (hottest and coldest places on the planet), queries by 14 February 2022. They have other themes listed too, with later deadlines. Details here.
Newfound: Communities of Care
They have a themed submission call and apart from nonfiction, they also accept fiction, poetry, visual art, and reviews. Their guidelines for Communities of Care say, “Share your sanctuary, your sacred or communal spaces. Where do you go for rest, healing, or comfort?
Please add a note to your submission if you would like us to consider it for the themed issue. All theme submissions will be considered for General Submissions.” The honorarium for publication is $25 dependent on successful completion of a W-9 form or W-8 BEN. The deadline for this theme is 31 December 2021; unthemed submissions are open as well in these, and some other categories, with a later deadline. Details here and here.
The New Republic: Pitches for 2022
The New Republic is looking for pitches on political stories for 2022, for US politics. The Deputy Editor for the print magazine has issued a call on Twitter, “I edit the front of the book for print, so generally 700-2000 word pieces. … Generally looking for reported pieces on politics, but open to all sorts of ideas.” Also, “I favor reporting, but the joys of a magazine is that a piece can be both reporting *and* analysis. And while DC-focused stories are great, take a wide view on politics. I like both serious policy and funny stories highlighting the absurdity of US politics.” Details in the Twitter thread here and general guidelines are here.
Afar
This travel publication’s new pitch guide, for both print and digital, is now live, according to a Tweet from their editorial director. Their guidelines say, “We are currently redesigning the magazine, around editorial values that include inclusivity, optimism, radical empathy, curiosity, and joy.
AFAR Magazine publishes a range of reported features, personal essays, opinion pieces, photo essays, illustrated features, short fiction, poetry, and shorter middle-of-book pieces. Instead of more traditional aspirational lifestyle travel stories, we tell the stories of a place and the people who live there.” And for the digital magazine, “AFAR.com publishes stories about air travel, cruises, culture, diversity in travel, food and drink, hotels, outdoor adventure, and sustainability, all under the idea that travel is a force for good. We also publish book reviews, e-commerce roundups, essays, evergreen stories, features, op-eds, and news stories. Most of our pieces are commissioned based on our current needs, rather than accepted via cold pitch.” See their extensive pitch guide for details. Rates start at $1/word for print and $0.50/word for the digital magazine. Details here (Tweet) and here (pitch guide).
Verywell Health: Mental health disparities across marginalized groups
The senior editor of Verywell Health has issued a call for pitches on Twitter. “Verywell Mind is looking for freelance writers well-versed in covering mental health disparities across marginalized groups. Topics may include anything from treatment gaps to stigma to influencers in the space. Candidates should be familiar with the latest research and trends…” Details here (Twitter thread).
Room Magazine: Audacity
Room is a Canadian magazine publishing work by marginalized genders (see guidelines). They are reading submissions of nonfiction (up to 3,500 words), fiction, poetry, and mixed-genre/hybrid writing on the Audacity theme. This is an excerpt from their guidelines: “We want you to show us what “Audacity” means to you. Maybe it stirs up some negative emotions, like the way a politician has the audacity to inflict harm, or a man has the audacity to explain kickboxing to the woman about to teach the class. But the writing we’re most interested in explores transformative audaciousness: the unapologetic embracing of the self, warts and all.” Pay is CAD50/page, up to CAD200. The deadline is 15 January 2022. Details here.
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.
