There are 26 themed calls for non-fiction pitches/submissions from 19 outlets listed here. Some of the themes are: career and work; funny (real) stories; positive thinking; darkness & light; culture; fitness; the psychology of class; beauty; bodies; gather & gobble; reverence; and ending violence against women and children. A couple of these magazines also accept fiction and poetry submissions. – S. Kalekar
The Muse: Careers and work (several themes)
The Muse (also here) is a job website, and they publish articles on career and work. They publish “Reported features, essays, perspectives, advice, quizzes, even humor pieces that shed light, provide insight, reframe, and capture zeitgeist at a time when careers, job searches, work, and culture keep shifting and evolving.” Their deputy editor recently issued a Twitter call for the themes they wanted to see right now: “Fresh takes on: Abortion, reproductive rights, etc. + careers/work; Unions, organizing, etc.; Offices, hybrid work, etc.; Mental health; DEI; Working parents; Work culture; Early career; Back to school (as relevant to careers/work); Pay gaps; Pandemic, Great Resignation, etc.; Shift Shock/Boomerang employees”. Pay is generally $300-600, but can go higher for the right stories. Pitches are accepted on a rolling basis, but to be considered for publishing in August and September, pitch by 21st July 2022. Details in the Twitter thread here.
Independent Voices: Life, relationships, work & our values
The commissioning editor of Independent Voices, the comment desk section of The Independent, has issued a call for pitches. “we’re looking for ‘vibe shift’ pitches, tapping into vital conversations about life, relationships, work & our values”. They do accept pitches from writers who would prefer to be anon. See the Twitter thread for details.
Inkcap Journal: Environment in Britain
They are accepting pitches on environment in Britain from journalists and writers. They want reported features, interviews, and essays. “Pitches should reflect Inkcap’s focus on the environment in Britain: England, Wales and Scotland.
We particularly like pieces that engage with thorny issues at the heart of nature conservation, tackle issues of social justice, or tell an unexpected story. We like articles on humans, habitats, plants and animals. And we welcome diverse voices and perspectives.” Pay is £100-300. Details here.
Chicken Soup for the Soul: Seven themes
They publish nonfiction stories and poetry, up to 1,200 words. They have deadlines for several themes coming up. They have detailed guidelines on each theme, the excerpts from which are below. The links to detailed guidelines and themes are at the end of the section on the Chicken Soup series. Please note, their deadlines sometimes change.
— Cats: “We want your true funny stories, your heartwarming stories, and your mindboggling stories about all the simply amazing things that your cat does. What have you learned from your cat? How does your cat improve your life?“ Deadline 31 July 2022.
— Dogs: “Our canine friends make us smile every day with their crazy antics, their loving companionship, and their amazing intuition. … What crazy things does your dog do? Has your dog ever done anything heroic? How does your dog warm your heart and make you smile? We want to hear all about the absurd antics, funny habits and insightful behavior of your dog.” Deadline 31 July 2022.
— How stepping outside my comfort zone changed me: “Tell us your own stories about stepping outside your comfort zone and how that changed your life.” Some of the suggested topics are: Meeting new people; Wearing different kinds of clothing; Traveling to new places; Doing something that you were afraid of; Convincing a friend or family member to do something that made them step outside their own comfort zone; Advice on how to get yourself to step outside your comfort zone; Epiphanies and prompts – what caused you to try new things; Switching careers; Trying a new volunteer activity; Watching television channels you never saw before; How trying new things affected your marriage/your relationship with your children or other family members. Deadline 31 July 2022.
— The advice that changed my life: “Have you ever read a Chicken Soup for the Soul story that had a wonderful piece of advice in it that made a difference in your life? Have you ever watched a movie or read an article that really had an impact on you that you haven’t been able to forget? Do you have a friend or family member who gave you some advice that you didn’t necessarily want to hear but really needed to hear that stuck with you and directed you to make positive changes in your life?” Some of the suggested topics are: Career choices or changes; Personal relationships – family or friends; Parenting; School; Travel; Moving to a new place; Health and fitness; Finances; Simplifying your life; Forgiving someone… or yourself. Deadline 31 July 2022.
— The power of positive thinking: “We know that using the power of positive thinking helps you to achieve your goals and lead a happy, purposeful, and productive life. … How did you “think positive” and how did it change your life? Tell us your success story about using the power of positive thinking!” Some suggested topics are: How attitude has made a difference for you; The unexpected benefits of challenges; Counting your blessings; Using humor to improve your life; Silver linings that you have discovered; Ways you can actively practice using positive thinking to improve your life; Tell us about a role model who showed you how to “think positive”; The best advice/wise words that helped you use positive thinking. Deadline 31 July 2022.
— Funny stories: “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?” Some of the suggested topics are: Slips of the tongue; Misunderstandings that led to funny moments; Weird habits; Pranks; Wedding mishaps; Funeral foul-ups; Holiday meltdowns; and Workplace mishaps. Deadline 30 August 2022.
— Impact of a Chicken Soup for the Soul story on me: “To celebrate our thirty-year anniversary in June 2023, we are creating a very special edition of our book filled with stories about how a Chicken Soup for the Soul story you read made an impact on your life and changed it. Those changes can be little day-to-day changes that improved your life or a monumental change that changed your life completely. … Tell us the title of the story that affected you, the title of the Chicken Soup for the Soul book in which it appeared and the name of its author. Then write us a new Chicken Soup for the Soul story all about how the old story helped, encouraged or changed you. We’ll publish the stories in pairs — the old ones and the new ones.” Deadline 30 August 2022.
Details here (guidelines), here (themes), and here (submission portal).
Geist: Notes & Dispatches section
Geist is a Canadian magazine “of ideas and culture with a strong literary focus and a sense of humour.” They now accept emailed pitches as well as completed submissions via Submittable for their Notes & Dispatches section, which is short non-fiction, typically personal narratives of 800-1,200 words — “brief and often humorous or lighthearted evocations of life (most often) set in the land north of America, written in plain language with strong verbs. They are usually first hand reports of apparently simple encounters—with people, places, objects—that capture the spirit of our time.” Pay is usually CAD300-600 for dispatches, and up to CAD1,200 for longer features, up to 5,000 words. They also publish fiction (one story per issue, pays up to CAD1,000), poetry, photography/art, comics, and work for the Findings section. Please note, they’ll accept pitches only for the Notes & Dispatches section. All submissions have to be sent by mail, for which there is no fee, or via Submittable, which charges a fee. The submission deadline is 31 July 2022. Details here.
Maisonneuve: Winter 2022
This is a Canadian quarterly of arts, opinions, and ideas. You can read about the magazine here. Their general guidelines say, “Maisonneuve considers non-fiction writing of all kinds (reporting, essays, memoir, humour, etc.) and visual art (illustration, photography, comics, etc.). …. Though we accept both pitches as well as polished drafts, we strongly prefer well-developed, well-researched pitches.” They recently Tweeted that they wanted pitches for the Winter 2022 issue – ideas for reported features, essays, and cultural reviews. Pay is CAD0.15/word, with some flexibility. The deadline is 21 July 2022. Details here (Twitter thread) and here (general guidelines).
Parabola: Darkness & Light
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). The theme for their upcoming Winter 2022/2023 issue is ‘Darkness & Light’. The deadline is 1 September 2022. Details here.
Catapult: New column pitches
The editor-in-chief of Catapult Magazine has issued a call on Twitter for new column pitches. “Columns work best when they pursue a clear question, thesis or idea that merits an ongoing, multifaceted exploration or follows an overarching argument—like a book or linked essay collection, which many of our columns have gone on to become!” Also, “Ultimately I’m looking for a) a strong sense of what you want to explore, b) evidence why the column is the right format, and c) why Catapult?” Their pitch guide says, “Please send an overview of the column’s theme—the subject, why you’d like to explore it, and why you think it’s a good fit for the site—and brief pitches for the first three installments that you will write, if selected.” See the Twitter thread here, and the editor-in-chief’s pitch guide here. The pitch deadline is 17 July 2022.
Minority Africa: Minority rights in Africa
They use data-driven multimedia journalism to tell minority stories from across Africa. “We cover women, sexual, gender, ethnic, and religious minorities, persons with disabilities, migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees, through a solutions journalism lens. Our stories are published under a Creative Commons License.” They have issued a call for pitches. “Looking for some punchy op-eds about minority rights in Africa. Got a strong opinion about the impact of climate change on minorities in Africa? The impact of food shortages on refugees? … Rate is $100 to $130.” The pitch deadline is 20 July 2022. See the Twitter thread here. See also the Minority Africa Fellowship, a virtual mentorship for writers, photographers, filmmakers, and journalists.
This Magazine: Culture issue
The magazine takes pitches only from Canadian writers, for features, essays, columns, arts, and news; they also publish fiction and poetry. “This Magazine is now open to pitches for our Annual Culture Issue (Nov/Dec 2022). Past Culture Issues have explored specific themes from pop culture to technology to fashion & beauty, but this year we’re keeping it wide open to all your culture ideas. Send us your smart and original takes on music, film, television, books, art, media, technology, pop culture, food, sports, and anything else you think could work in a This Magazine Culture Issue.” The deadline for Culture issue pitches is 18 July 2022. See the Twitter thread here and the detailed pitch guide here.
The New York Times Well Desk: Fitness (new series)
The staff editor of the New York Times’ Well section issued a call on Twitter. “The Well desk is launching a new series, called “Why not try…”
The idea is to find interesting seasonal or evergreen fitness stories that either introduce a new way to work out or take a new look at an old idea.” See the first of the stories here to get an idea of what they’re looking for. Details here.
The New York Times Opinion: The psychology of class (new series) The New York Times Opinion section is accepting pitches for a new column. The Sunday Review editor of The New York Times has Tweeted, “…Times Opinion is launching Fortunes, a new series on the psychology of class. … Fortunes is a monthly series of 2000w personal essays about a specific activity or phenomenon that defined the author’s experience of class.” The first column has been published, so you can see what kind of work they’re looking for. See the Twitter thread here for details.
Byrdie: Beauty
Byrdie publishes work about beauty and style. Their editor has issued a Twitter call and is looking for beauty pitches; rates start at $200. Also, “I’m open to receiving all beauty-focused pitches. But, pieces related to summer, personal essays, profiles on interesting brands or individuals, and stories about viral trends are especially great.” Pitches are open till end of July. Details here.
Yes! Magazine: Bodies
Yes! Magazine publishes solutions-focused journalism. For their next print issue, they want pitches on the Bodies theme. They have detailed guidelines, including, “Bodily autonomy is under attack, especially in the United States—from the end of Roe and its attendant attacks on reproductive freedoms, to punitive laws criminalizing health care for transgender youth, to unrelenting gun violence. This trauma not only ripples through our communities, but it also impacts the ways we relate to one another, stunting the hopes we have for the future and our ability to conceive of—let alone implement—transformational solutions. … “Bodies,” the theme for our Winter 2023 issue, will explore the ways our bodies, in both the literal and metaphorical sense, can provide avenues for resistance, healing, community cohesion, and societal transformation. Our conception of the body is not limited to the physical body, but rather includes the bodies of which we are also a part: our communities, our body politic (local, national, and global), and our planet. The “Bodies” issue begins with an understanding that we are interdependent, that none of us leads single-issue lives, and that attacks on any one of our personal, political, or planetary bodies are a threat to us all.” Base rate is $0.50/word for print articles, and $0.40/word for online articles. The pitch deadline is 2 August 2022 for this theme. Details here (theme) and here (guidelines).
The Suburban Review: Weeds
This Australian magazine is reading submissions on the Weeds theme. “WEEDS are at once slapdash and punctilious in their efforts to evade order—growing in pavement cracks, springing up and spreading out in between the planted rows of suburban gardens. They’re anathema to a manicured lawn, territorial and shape-shifting. But are they an object of horror, or of ground-altering potential? Send us your poems that twist through the gaps, your stories that creep up slowly and insistently, your essays that grow despite it all, and your art, photography, or comics which picture the things hidden underneath life as we’ve planned it.” Pay is AUD150-275 for prose, and AUD125-275 for poetry. The deadline is 3 August 2022. Details here and here.
Brink Literary Journal: Reverence
This literary journal wants non-fiction, fiction, poetry, hybrid/cross-genre work, and translations on the ‘Reverence’ theme. They also accept artwork. “Bring us to the edge of awe. What inspires devotion? When have you stood before it? How did your body, your spirit, your family, respond to your encounter with admiration?
To have reverence is to hold a deep respect or regard for someone or something. It is an outward manifestation, the actions, words, or behavior, of the inward feeling of veneration. But it’s more than just adoration, it’s respect tinged with awe. It has a little to do with fear. It challenges loyalty.
How has reverence shaped you into the person you are today? What does the loss of esteem leave in its wake? Have you seen it curdle into obsequiousness?
We are interested in work that focuses on the edge, the brink, of reverence. What surrounds reverence? What are the images, sounds, ideas, people, movements, and opportunities?” Pay is $50-100 for prose, and $25/poem. The deadline is 31 July 2022. Details here and here.
Sasee: Renew & Revamp; Gather & Gobble
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. They have two upcoming themes: Renew & Revamp (deadline 15 August 2022); and Gather & Gobble (deadline 15 September 2022). Details here.
Horizons: Ending Violence Against Women and Children
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 January/February 2023, the theme is Ending Violence Against Women and Children. 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).
Paste Magazine: Food & Drink
Paste publishes work on Music, Movies, TV, Comedy, Games, Books, Politics, Drinks, Tech and Travel. Their assistant food & drink editor has issued a pitch call on Twitter. “I’m open to all your weird ideas but especially love a hot take, a list, or any culinary connections to crumbling American democracy”. Pay is $100 for 800-1,000 words. See their Masthead here and the Tweet, here.
Bio: S. Kalekar is the pseudonym of a regular contributor to this magazine. She can be reached here.
