Freelance writing, Briarpatch Magazine (Youth issue), pays $50-$150 per article

Deadline: 4 May 2012

Briarpatch is seeking submissions for our September/October 2012 issue. We are looking for feature articles, provocative essays, investigative reportage, interviews, profiles, reviews, poetry, humour, artwork and photography rooted in an anti-colonial and anti-capitalist analysis. If you’ve got a story in mind, we want to hear from you! We welcome submissions on all topics, but particularly encourage those focused on Youth for this issue. If you’ve got a story in mind, we want to hear from you!

Queries are due May 4, 2012. If your query is accepted, first drafts will be due by June 8. Your query should outline what ground your contribution will cover, give an estimated word count, and indicate your relevant experience or background in writing about the issue. If you haven’t written for Briarpatch before, please provide a brief writing sample.

Please review our submission guidelines before sending your query to editor AT briarpatchmagazine DOT com.

Our standard rates of pay are as follows: $50 – Profiles, short essays, parting shots (generally <1000 words) $100 – Feature stories, photo essays $150 – Research-based articles and investigative reportage (generally 1500-3000 words) We reserve the right to edit your work (with your active involvement), and cannot guarantee publication.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Briarpatch Magazine publishes writing and artwork on a wide range of topics, including current events, grassroots activism, electoral politics, economic justice, ecology, labour, food security, gender equity, indigenous struggles, international solidarity, and other issues of political importance.

We welcome queries from unpublished writers, seasoned freelancers, front-line activists, and anyone else with a story to tell and a desire to tell it compellingly. We ask that you research your topic thoroughly, back up your expressed opinions with verifiable facts and persuasive arguments, interview a range of relevant sources as the topic requires, and hold on to relevant documentation for fact-checking purposes. Briarpatch seeks to explore complex issues in everyday language — please write for a progressive, non-specialist audience that may not necessarily share your assumptions or opinions. Include a short (one-line) biography at the end of your article.

Unsolicited submissions are welcome, but we encourage you to first send us a query. Your query should outline what ground your contribution will cover and demonstrate your writing style and tone. Please include your contact information, an estimated word count, a list of recent publications (if applicable), and a short writing sample.

Query early, query often; we’ll get back to you within a week or two of the query deadline for the issue you wish to write for.

If your work is accepted for publication, you can expect to participate in an intensive, collaborative editing process until consensus is reached between yourself and the editor on a final draft. On average, be prepared to take your submission through two or three rewrites over the course of a month.

GUIDELINES FOR SPECIFIC DEPARTMENTS

(Note: Don’t let these categories limit you — if your pitch doesn’t fit into any of these categories, get in touch anyway. We’re always open to new ideas.)

Features

We publish feature articles on any number of topics and in a range of styles, including creative non-fiction articles, in-depth news stories, investigative journalism, personal essays, op-eds, travel writing, and photo-essays. Your query should clearly identify the direction you want to take with your article, the question you want to answer, or the point you want to argue. In general, features should be less than 2,500 words. We will occasionally accept longer articles when the topic and the skill of the writer warrant it.

Interviews

Is your favourite activist or author visiting your town? Know someone with first-hand experience or expertise on an important issue? Send us your query, and we’ll do what we can to help you schedule your interviewee for a Briarpatch interview.

Parting Shots

Want to weigh in on an important issue from a new or controversial perspective? Our back page is reserved for thoughtful opinion pieces and well-aimed jabs that will challenge readers to see the world in new and interesting ways. Don’t assume that your audience will necessarily agree with you — always back up your assertions with well-researched facts and well-reasoned arguments

Reviews

We publish short (300-1,000 word) reviews of recent books, music, flims and other forms of political media. Your review should give readers a clear sense of what to expect from the work and provide a brief critical appraisal of its merits. We prioritize reviews of recently published material, small or independent publishers, and/or Canadian publications. We welcome unsolicited reviews, but if you query us first we’ll do what we can to arrange a complimentary review copy of the book/cd/film for you.

Quotes from the Underground

Got a pet quotation you find particularly inspiring, illuminating, infuriating or entertaining? Send it to us, including the source and your mailing address, and we’ll endeavour to include it in our “Quotes from the Underground.”

CONTACT INFORMATION:

For submissions: Send your queries/submissions to editor@briarpatchmagazine.com.

Website: http://briarpatchmagazine.com/