There are 27 themed submission calls for pitches/articles for the 18 outlets here. Some themes are: plastic, young & old, fire, the best is yet to be (women-owned businesses), dynamic duos, fable, faithful, privacy and regulation, science of fear, colors and art therapy, Black History Month, parenting essays, and the Bravery issue. Most publications do not mention a timeline by which they want pitches, so it is best to query early. – S. Kalekar

Bitch Media: Plastic (#91)
This magazine looks at pitches that offer a feminist analysis of culture. For the Plastic-themed issue, they have extensive guidelines, including: “This issue seeks to examine plastic as both a generative material and a societal condition, interpreting this theme through an assortment of lenses.” Key words include environment, debt, pools, cosmetic surgery, credit cards, Silicon Valley, frenemies, Instagram, girlbosses, Barbies, shopping, imposter syndrome, and brands. The sections are features, culture, and front-of-book (see guidelines). Features pay $700-1,000, dispatches pay $350, and culture pieces pay $250-700. The deadline is 22 February 2021 for this theme. Pitches for the website (unthemed) are accepted on an ongoing basis. Details here and here.  

Parabola: Young & Old; Fire
This 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. They accept original essays and translations. Their guidelines say, “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 (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). For their Young & Old themed issue, the deadline is 1 March and for Fire, it is 1 June 2021. Details here.

Sasee: Women Owned Business Guide – The Best Is Yet To Be
They want first-person, non-fiction material that is for or about women, of 500-1,000 words. Essays, humor, satire, personal experience, and features on topics relating to women are their focus areas. They do not publish fiction or poetry. Their April 2021 issue is Women Owned Business Guide; the theme is The Best Is Yet To Be. The deadline is 15 February 2021. Details here.

Bright Wall/Dark Room: Dynamic Duos
They publish essays, interviews, profiles, formal analysis, cultural criticism, personal essays, and humor pieces on movies and TV series. For their next issue, the theme is Dynamic Duos. They have extensive guidelines. Jumping-off points could be fictional stories of friends, foes, siblings, uneasy allies, and mentors; noteworthy on-screen pairings from frequent on-screen romantic partners, performers whose roles together form a significant element of their legacies, real-life siblings who’ve frequently shared the screen, and real-life couples whose rocky relationships can be traced on-screen; significant behind-the-scenes pairings, be it director and performer or purely behind-the-camera. Critical essays are usually 2,000-4,000 words. Pay is $100, and the deadline is 9 February 2021 for this theme. They’re also looking for unthemed submissions. Details here (pitching guide) and here (theme details). 

New Mexico Magazine: The Food Issue; Summer Fun; Ghost Towns
They want article ideas about New Mexico experiences, with opinionated storytelling and a first-person point of view when appropriate. The story should capture a place in such a way that readers are inspired to follow in the writer’s footsteps. They want to publish a lively editorial mix, covering both the down-home and the upscale. According to their media kit, the theme for May is The Food Issue; for June, it is Summer Fun; and for July 2021, it is Ghost Towns. There are other themes listed, as well. Pay is $0.35-0.40/word for the magazine. Also see guidelines for photographers and multi-media contributors. Details here (guidelines) and here (themes – scroll down).

Midwest Living: Adventure/New Experiences; Holiday/Winter – Traditions/Classics
This is a bi-monthly lifestyle magazine from Meredith Corporation, and their articles (100-1,000 words) focus on travel, food, home and garden. They define the Midwest as Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas (they sometimes do stories in bordering states such as Kentucky and Arkansas). Most of their freelance opportunity lies in scouting and research, and most articles are researched up to a year from publication date, especially seasonal ones. Annual issue planning occurs in the late summer and fall, but they accept story pitches throughout the year. According to their editorial calendar, the theme for September/October 2021 is Adventure/New Experiences; for November/December, it is Holiday/Winter – Traditions/Classics. They also have a special issue, due to be published in April: The Best of Midwest Travel 2021. Rates vary. Writers on a first scouting assignment for the magazine, or for a website writeup, can expect to be paid up to $150. Details here (guidelines) and here (themes).

Smithsonian Magazine: Travel Issue
This premier magazine accepts pitches from established freelance writers for features and certain departments. They publish work on history, science, arts, travel, and innovation. According to the media kit, in May 2021, they’re running a Travel Issue. They have a print and an online section. Details here (contact form for freelance pitches) and here (editorial calendar – scroll down).

StarTrek.com: Fan profiles; Black History Month; Valentine’s Day; and others
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 February 2021, they are interested in several themes (as they relate to Star Trek), including: Fan profiles; Black History Month;and Valentine’s Day. See guidelines for the full list of themes. Details here.

TechRadar: Smartphones and mobile tech
TechRadar is a consumer technology news and review site. They are looking for pitches on smartphones and mobile tech. Submissions from BIPOC and LGBTQ+ writers are greatly encouraged. Pay is £100-250, depending on the complexity of the piece. Details here (Twitter thread) and here (website).

BXD The Postwestern Review
This is a call for critics of color. They want criticism of all kinds for this magazine, which will launch in March 2021 and run for six months; it will publish a piece of criticism every week. They will also run regular interviews with critics, curators, editors, and others who are working in and out of—broadly—the Global South. They have extensive guidelines, including: “We are interested in criticism that’s not necessarily predicated on a salable object, though will publish straightforward art/book/etc criticism too. This does not need to be tied to a current show or release. We are also interested in qualities like temperature, humidity and tropicality, and criticism with a sense of place. Pieces should, above all, engage with a sense of post-westernness, and an internationalism that exceeds the flattened neoliberal global of the fair and biennial circuit. We are less interested in diasporas than in what happens when diasporas come home, and even more interested in those that never left.” They are looking for pitches from emerging as well as established writers. Pay is $250. The deadline is 5 February 2021. Details here. 

Immerse: Public through lens of emerging and nonfiction media
Their tagline is, ‘Creative discussion of immersive nonfiction storytelling’ (VR, AR, and beyond). This is an initiative of MIT Open DocLab, Dot Connector Studio and The Fledgling Fund. They want pitches on “examining what the idea of the public means now. Pieces can be about specific publics/work made or archived for a public/digital commons/physical commons/whatever else your brain can dream up in relation”, according to the Twitter thread. They’re “looking for pieces (that can be interviews, essays, production diaries, original research, etc) that inquire about the sociopolitical/artistic dynamics of immersive, new media, civic media, etc. work presented in public spaces. … We cover emerging and nonfiction media, so we’re interested in pieces that examine notions of the public through that lens. You could talk about VR, AR, gaming, Tik Tok, etc.” Pay is $250, and the pitch deadline is 2 February 2021. The Twitter thread has examples of the kind of work they are looking for, and also their editorial vision. Details here (Twitter thread), here (editorial vision), and here (site).

Taproot Magazine: Fable
This is a magazine of food, farm, family and craft. Articles are 800-4,000 words. 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. The deadline for their next theme, Fable, is 1 April 2021. There are other themes listed as well. Payment varies depending on the type and length of submission. Details here.

Parenting: Personal essays; big trend pieces
Parenting.com is a parenting website, and part of the Meredith Corporation. They are looking for personal essay and big trend pieces on parenting. Details here (Twitter) and here (website).

Business Insider: Privacy and regulation
Business Insider is looking to build their coverage of privacy and regulation and how that impacts big tech platforms, publishers, advertisers and more. They are particularly interested in topical analysis/explainers of European regulation, privacy and antitrust issues. Details here (Twitter thread).

Bible Advocate Press: Faithful
This Christian magazine publishes features and personal experiences (1,000-1,500 words), as well as short articles, fillers, and poetry. They do not want Christmas or Easter articles, devotionals, or fiction. For the entire year 2021, the theme is Faithful. Pay is $25 per page, up to $65. Fillers pay $20. Deadline for the May-June issue is 3 February 2021. Details here (writers’ guidelines) and here (theme). 

Liberal Currents: politics, policy, etc. as they relate to liberal values
They offer offers discussion, elucidation, and defense of liberal principles and institutions. They are “accepting pitches on politics, policy, society, philosophy, especially as they relate to liberal values. … As an editor, I would personally love to see a case for the #BREATHEAct”, according to the call on Twitter. Pay is $50. Details here and here.

Muse Magazine: Science of Fear; Colors and Art Therapy
Cricket Media’s Muse Magazine is a discovery (science, non-fiction) magazine for 9-14-year-olds. They publish feature articles (800–2,000 words, including sidebars), profiles and interviews, particularly of underrepresented STEM professionals (500–800 words), activities and experiments (500–800 words), photo essays (100–300 words), science fiction or science-focused fiction (800–1,200 words), and infographics. They are currently reading article pitches these two themes.
— Science of Fear: Their guidelines say, “Organizing questions: When is fear normal, and when is it problematic? Why do we feel scared?  
Possible topics: Evolutionary role of fear; Physiology and psychology of fear; “Fun” kinds of fear, especially in entertainment and Halloween events; Developmental stages: what’s scary when; Do animals get scared?; Passing fears vs anxiety disorders, PTSD, phobias.”  They want queries by 15 February 2021.
— Colors and Art Therapy: Their guidelines say, “Organizing questions: How can science help us see—and feel—colors in a new way?  
Possible topics: Discovering the rainbow: Newton’s prisms; Ingredients of modern vs historical art materials; Combining colors; Illusions and vision tricks; How animals see color; Colorblindness; How colors affect emotions; Therapeutic artmaking; Color’s role in various cultures and rituals.” They want queries by 15 March 2021.
Details here.
Also see upcoming themes for Cricket Media’s Faces magazine, for readers ages 9-14 years. 

Writer’s Digest: The Curiosity Issue; The Bravery Issue
This print and online magazine aims to “keep readers abreast of industry trends, of the latest writers who found success and what they did to achieve it, and of innovative ways to improve and empower the inner raconteur” of their readers. They consider completed manuscripts on spec, as well as original pitches. They say writers should allow 2-4 months for a response. In May/June 2021 they will publish The Curiosity Issue; and in July/August 2021,
The Bravery Issue, and the sub theme for that is Writing for Social Change. There are other issue themes listed, as well. They have several departments where writers can pitch: Inkwell, 300-1,000 words (best place for a new writer to break in – often an opinion-based piece, weaving a narrative and drawing out tips for readers; can discuss theoretical or timely concepts; trends, humor, insight on news that will still be relevant when our next issue hits stores, weird and intriguing tidbits about the writing world, as well as features); 5-minute memoir, 600 words (reflections on writing life); writing technique articles, 1,000-2,400 words, as well as market reports and other features. They have a new column starting this year: WD 101, and The Writer’s Workbook will change to The MFA Workbook (see guidelines). For the print magazine, pay is $0.30-0.50/word. They don’t pay for online content unless it is unique and highly focused, in which case they pay $50-100. Details here (guidelines) and here (themes).

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.