There are 29 pitch calls for the 25 markets listed here, for non-fiction. Some of the themes are: cultural criticism & personal narrative; stories by (and about) nurses; nature writing; Star Trek; literature and reading culture; POC in tech/start-ups; condiments; smart ways of using your freezer; generations; horror, post 1970s; and roots music. – S. Kalekar

Catapult: Cultural criticism & personal narrative
The executive editor of Catapult recently Tweeted, “i am open to pitches: as ever, i’m looking for thesis-/argument-driven essays (no “meditations”!!) that weave cultural criticism with personal narrative; if submitting drafts, send nothing over 2k words”. Also, “no pitching “meditations” in 2022!! prithee, start a blog!!” Rates start at $200. Details here (Twitter thread), here (general pitch guide), and here (executive editor’s pitch guide).

Creative Nonfiction: True stories by (or about) nurses; voice in creative nonfiction; flash nonfiction
Creative Nonfiction regularly issues themed submission calls, and normally, these have a submission fee for non-subscribers. However, for their call on true stories by (or about) nursing, they’re not charging a fee, nor for pitches on creative nonfiction as a genre. See all the magazine’s calls here.
— True stories by (or about) nurses: “We’re looking especially for pandemic-era stories, which examine the complex and essential role nurses of all kinds have played in providing care and guidance for patients and families, as well as the ways in which the pandemic has affected both individuals and the healthcare system.
We are looking for writers who can write dramatically and vividly about their work. Essays can be from 1,000 to 4,000 words and should be previously unpublished and written in a narrative form, with scenes, description, vivid characters, and a distinctive voice. … All submissions will be considered for the book and might also be considered for other CNF projects.” The deadline for this call is 27 June 2022. Details here.
— Writing about creative nonfiction: They are always open to these pitches. “We’re looking for writing about writing—smart and insightful ideas related to the art, craft, history, or philosophy of creative nonfiction.” They’re open to these kinds of stories, see guidelines for examples: then & now stories or timelines; explorations of specific subgenres, considering the work of more than one writer; arguments or research or ideas about why/how true stories matter; craft pieces, particularly related to structure, voice, or finding inspiration; pieces that explore connections between creative nonfiction and other fields/forms; in-depth interviews with prominent voices in the field; or, generally, work that engages deeply in some way with creative nonfiction as a form or practice. For upcoming issues, they are specially interested in pitches on voice in creative nonfiction, and flash nonfiction. These pieces are generally 1,000-3,000 words. Details here.

Startrek.com: June pitches
This website accepts Star Trek-related pitches – for essays, reported work, features, and more. For June, they have several callouts, including for Pride Month, Picard Day/Captain’s Week, Father’s Day, Juneteenth, and more. They also have evergreen topics they want pitches for, including current world events and how those relate back to Star Trek; timely responses to recent Star Trek episodes (not recaps – see guidelines); interviews with one-off Star Trek guest stars; Trek-related essays (they also consider video essay pitches); and personal essays that relate back to Trek. Details here.

Mangoprism
They accept pitches for personal essays, cultural criticism, long-form interviews with interesting people, short fiction; album, book, movie and product reviews; original reporting; radical political screeds; and unexpected recipes. Only, “your piece must be at least as enjoyable as eating a morsel of mango, the most succulent of fruits.” Pay is at least $0.10 for work of 1,000-3,000 words. Details here.

Inherited Podcast: Youth and Climate Justice
They want pitches from self-identified young folks on youth and climate change. “We are open to a wide range of subject matter/genres through the lenses of youth and climate justice – from investigative journalism to oral histories, experimental fiction, and more.  Pitches could vary wildly, from 5 minute meditations on the concept of melting to oral histories from climate impacted communities to personal narratives about climate grief or hope.” Writers have to fill out a Google form, to give them an idea of the story you’d like to tell, the people involved, and what role you’d like to have in the production process. They encourage new producers and storytellers. “Stories and storytellers centering communities that have been systemically and/or historically impacted by climate, including communities of color, indigenous folks, low income communities, and LGBTQ+ folks will be prioritized.” Pay is a minimum of $500, and the pitch deadline is 12 June 2022. Details here (Tweet) and here (Google form/pitch guide).

Foyer: Connect
“We want to open the doors to your ideas and stories about your mixed and Third-culture identity and experiences as a second-generation individual.” They’re accepting both pitches and completed works on the ‘Connect’ theme for their inaugural issue. They have several suggestions on what the theme can cover, including untold stories of a specific experience or cultural fusion; unconventional content explored in an interested and experimental format; how do you ‘connect’ as a hyphenated individual; exploring your cultural connections through music, textiles, games and traditions; profile pieces, memoir, and recipes accompanied by a short ‘cultural’ connect story. Length is 600-800 words, and pay is £75 per piece; photo-essays and art pay £100. The deadline is 17 June 2022. Details here.

So Textual: Literature, reading culture, and more
Their website says, “So Textual is a community and online platform for bookish individuals who seek a smart conversation about literature, creative practice, and a considered lifestyle. We celebrate books alongside the contemporary reader.” A recent Twitter thread says, “We’re accepting pitches! We’re always looking for evergreen essays, lists related to reading culture, city guides, and bookstore pilgrimages. We love: overlooked writers, art making, meaning-making, in media res, epistolary, riposte, plot twists, besotted characters, offline considerations, literary props, mythmaking, associate thinking, fragments, synthesis as mastery, the classics, films for the literary”. Rates start at $200 for essays and $75 for lists. Details here (Twitter thread) and here (pitching guidelines).

Tasavvur: On South Asian speculative fiction
This is a new speculative fiction magazine for South Asian and BIPOC writers, and for their third issue, they have opened pitches for non-fiction also. They also accept fiction. Their non-fiction guidelines say, “While we are welcome to any pitches you may have that pertain to South Asian spec fic in any manner, we are particularly interested in publishing the following type of work:
Critical essays of South Asian speculative fiction, such as through a feminist, queer, and/or post-colonial lens
Translations of non-English spec fic stories from South Asia (both traditional and contemporary)
Deep dives into the speculative fiction traditions of different regions of South Asia, particular under-represented regions”. Pay is $100 for commissioned nonfiction, and for fiction, it is 2.5c/word, up to 5,000 words. The submission deadline is 1 July 2022. Details here, here (Tweets) and here (submission guidelines).

POCIT: POC in tech/startup
They want personal essays, opinion pieces on hot topics, exclusive interviews, and investigative pieces to do with POC in the tech/ startup space, according to a recent Tweet. Their website/pitch guide says, “We have a simple objective. To highlight the stories and thoughts of POC within the sphere of technology and startups, and to inspire the next generation. We feature interviews, articles and thought pieces every week across the industry.” Rates start at $90 for personal essays, and will be confirmed on commission. Details here (Tweet) and here (pitching guidelines).

Paste Magazine: Queer tech writers call
Paste Magazine publishes work about music, movies, TV, comedy, games, books, politics, drinks, tech, and travel. Their Tech Editor has Tweeted, “Putting out a call to queer tech writers. Pitch me stories on queer and non-queer topics in tech and internet culture. This isn’t just for #Pride month, but things are definitely going to hit harder over the next 30 days.” You can see the Masthead here. Details here (Tweet).

High Country News: Changing work
This magazine publishes work about the Western United States. According to a recent Twitter thread by their South Desk Editor, they are looking to assign a few stories as part of a series on labor and an adapting Western workforce. “The goal of this project is to examine the nature of changing work in the Western US by profiling subjects whose jobs are adapting, emerging or fading. The covid-19 pandemic, technology, emerging industries and a shifting energy regime have drastically morphed the labor force of the country — and particularly in the West. The series will capture a mosaic of such a central quality to Western life: work. Each story should capture some element of change – whether in the work itself or in the environment in which the work is done. Profiles should feel unexpected, explore new angles and give new voice to under-covered jobs, communities and people. … Your pitch should be framed as a profile of a worker and the right scope to run between 800-1,000 words for a flat fee of $1,000.” Details here (general pitch guidelines) and here (Twitter thread).

Model Railroader
They publish articles on all aspects of model railroading and on prototype (real) railroading as a subject for modeling. Query first. They pay $75-100 per printed page, and their response time, once the article is submitted, is two months. Details here.

7×7: Fall
This is a regional lifestyle magazine, covering the San Francisco Bay Area. They have articles on food and drink, travel, arts and culture, architecture and design, workouts and wellness, style and beauty, and more. They do not have guidelines, but they do have a contact page for freelance writers and their editors are here (scroll down), which is also where you can download their Media Kit for advertisers, with the editorial calendar; they follow a seasonal calendar and for their Fall issue they say, “FALL It’s harvest season in Wine Country! Maximize autumn up north at the most festive events and luxurious stays. Plus, our tips for holiday entertaining in style.”

InsideHook: Takes/essays/think pieces on TV shows
The Managing Editor of InsideHook, a men’s lifestyle publication, has issued a pitch call: “if you’re a person who writes about TV shows (specifically takes/essays/thinkpieces, not weekly episodic reviews or listicles), you should send me some pitches.” Also, “Rates vary depending on the piece but are usually in the ballpark of $350-$400 for ~1000 words. I’m pretty open to anything in terms of upcoming shows, but since we’re a men’s lifestyle pub, I’m especially interested in anything that addresses/challenges masculinity/gender norms”. They are always looking for movies and music stuff, as well. Details here (Twitter thread), and here (general editorial contact).

Bad Form: Intersection of books, politics & social issues; and more
This magazine only publishes work by writers of color, on books. They have a website and a print magazine. According to a recent Tweet, “I’m looking for @badformreview opinion pieces & deep dives. I’d love pitches about those areas where books, politics & social issues intersect; unions, radical publishers, schools, writing’s political potential… anything you can think of.” And, “I’d also love a piece about Geetanjali Shree’s International Booker-winning Tomb of Sand & the landscape of translated Indian literature for Women in Translation month in August”. Pay is a “small honorarium”. Details here (general pitch guide), and here (Twitter thread).

IGN: New pitch guide (video games, movies, TV, comics)
IGN publishes work about video games, movies, TV, and comics. Their editor-in-chief has recently said on Twitter, “We’re looking for more experts across all our verticals, so we put together a comprehensive freelance guide to make it as easy to pitch us as possible. We’re planning on keeping this updated with the latest beats/areas of interest, too. Hope it’s helpful!” According to the guide, opportunities for freelancers are games features (base rate $300), entertainment features (base rate $300), news (base rates $30, $300, and $400 on various categories), previews (base rate $300), and reviews (base rate $150). They have extensive guidelines. Details here (guidelines), and here (Tweet).

In the Mood Magazine: Horror, post 1970s
This is a “pop culture journal about the things we like to watch.” They want pitches/submissions – pop culture writing in the form of film diaries, short personal essays, conversations, poetry, fan fic, and more; the theme is Horror, post 1970s. Some ideas are: taxonomies of horror subgenres; millennium-core (Final Destination, Butterfly Effect, Fear Dot Com); horror remakes (Cat People, Candyman, Psycho); and Internet horror (YouTube, Reddit, Randonautica). Length guidelines are up to 1,000 words for features, and 300 words for film diaries. Pay is $20 for film diaries and $30 for features. The submission deadline is 1 July 2022. Details here.

The Lighthouse/Black Girl Projects: Lives/experiences of women; culture
The tagline of The Lighthouse is, “Cultivating spaces of solidarity and safety for southern Black girls to shine through focused programming and research.” They have an extensive guide for pitching articles, including “We … are always looking for thought-provoking stories and other content from marginalized communities, Black girls, (in particular, but not exclusively) and gender non-conforming people. In addition to story and long-form story pitches and op-eds, they accept photography and original artwork for their online blogging platform, The Black Girl Times, and their monthly newsletter, The Black Girl Times Redux. Also, “Each month, we have an editorial theme board (kind of like the mood boards interior designers use) we post on our social media accounts (@luvblkgrls). The theme board is intended to be an inspiration and provocation of thoughts, ideas and feelings. Your response(s) can be literal or abstract and loose. And again, it might not have anything to do with anything we’ve seen.” (You can see the June inspoboard here.) Pay is $0.10-0.75/word, which averages out to about $200-1,250 per story. Pay for art (graphic design, cartoons and photo essays) is $150-1,000.  Apart from this, their culture editor recently Tweeted that they were looking for culture writers, “Write about books, travel, sex and relationships, movies, TV, makeup social issues, and more”, and says established writers are paid $0.50/word. Details here (general pitch guidelines) and here (Tweet).

No Depression: Roots Music Journalism
The managing editor of No Depression has issued a call for pitches for their Fall edition; they publish roots music journalism. “I need 2-5 more longform stories (1500-4k words) for the FALL issue of ND!” They want pitches “about the most exciting music, musicians, stories, topics, etc. in roots music today! … The FALL issue of ND is due out Sept-Nov 22. What’s happening then(ish)? Whose voices aren’t being heard? … Roots music is a BIG umbrella! Folk, bluegrass, (alt-) country, blues, gospel, singer-songwriters. Any “music of the people.” … Wanna dig into the Black Legacy Project? A Cherokee language project that Horton Records is working on?” Pay is $0.20/word. Details here (general pitch guidelines) and here (Twitter thread).

VAN Magazine: Updated pitch guide (classical music)
This is a magazine for classical music fans, and they accept pitches by journalists and critics as well as musicians, industry professionals, academics, and students. They have a lead time of 4-6 weeks, unless the piece is time-sensitive. They “cater to a wide range of tastes, from early music and Baroque to opera and vocal music to electronics to the occasional jazz or non-classical musician whose work still touches on the big amorphous form that is “classical.”” And, “We also accept submissions for our series, “I Know, But,” which defends the classical music works we love to hate.” Pitches are about 300 words, and finished pieces are 1,000-2,000 words. They publish interviews and profiles, reports, essays (including personal, reported, and historical), opinions, and reviews. They have extensive guidelines, with examples of the kind of work they want to see. Details here (pitch guide) and here (Tweet).

Allrecipes: Condiments; smart ways of using your freezer
The editorial director at Dotdash Meredith for Allrecipies has issued a call on Twitter: “I’m currently looking for pitches for @Allrecipes about condiments! Give me your strong opinions, personal essays, grocery stories, taste test ideas, weird tips, surprising histories, and interviews.” Also, “I’m also looking for pitches around smart ways to use your freezer for dinner, microwave cooking, and stories and ideas around summer potlucks. No recipes. There’s a range in rates, but things start at $250.” Details here (Twitter thread) and here (Allrecipes general editorial guidelines – scroll down).

Farmer-ish: Generations
This magazine wants creative and engaging content on farming, homesteading, raising animals, cooking, making, and raising a family. They publish expository essays, poetry, personal essays, creative nonfiction, instructional or how-to essays, farmer profiles, recipes, and book reviews. They have a list of the things they like to cover in the magazine; some of these are nature, gardening, sustainable living, transcendentalism, recipes, and food and health. They are reading submissions on the Generations theme for the Summer Solstice 2022 issue. They have other themes too, with deadlines later in the year: Harvest; and Home. They usually also accept pitches, though the pitch deadline for the Solstice issue has passed. However, they accept direct submissions, as well. Length guidelines are 1,000 words for general essays and how-to essays; 1,000-2,000 words for personal narrative essays; poetry can be any length, but they prefer short to medium. Pay is $25. The deadline is 14 June 2022, for Generations. Details here.

The Willowherb Review: Nature writing
This magazine publishes nature writing, broadly interpreted, by writers of color anywhere in the world; they want nonfiction especially, but they consider fiction and poetry as well — on nature, place, and environment – “from stories of farming to long treks, tales of migration, racism, community, and beauty. You might be writing about remote places, cities, lost landscapes, or old homes.” Send up to 3,000 words for prose, and up to 3 poems. Pay is £100 for poetry and £250 for prose; deadline 30 June 2022. Details here.
(There’s also the UEA/Willowherb Speculative Nature Writing Call for Essay Proposals, a mentorship/publishing opportunity, in collaboration with the University of East Anglia, for three new/emerging writers of colour on nature writing; deadline 15 July 2022.)

Channel Magazine: Engaging with the natural world
They want work that “engages with the natural world. We have a particular interest in work which encourages reflection on human interaction with plant and animal life, landscape and the self. Each issue includes a mix of poetry and fiction, alongside a selection of essays which may include creative non-fiction, criticism, and the occasional review of new creative work or of community-based environmental projects. Although based in Ireland, Channel welcomes international submissions. We also welcome submissions in translation.” They accept non-fiction submissions as well as pitches (creative non-fiction, reportage, commentary, and criticism), for the print and online magazines, as well as artwork, through the year. The deadline for fiction and poetry is 15 June 2022. Pay is €50/poem and €50/page of prose, up to €150. Details here.

Vox: Even Better
Vox has started a new section, called Even Better. The editorial director for culture and features at Vox.com recently Tweeted, “Today Vox is launching Even Better, a section dedicated to helping people live better lives.” You can see the section here, which they are accepting pitches for. The tagline for Even Better says, “Helping people live better lives individually and collectively — from mental health to relationships of all kinds to work, money, and more.” Details here (Tweet), and here (general pitch guide).

Bio: S. Kalekar is the pseudonym of a regular contributor to this magazine. She can be reached here.