Pitches wanted (Southern nature) | $250 to $1,500 per article

COMPANY/PUBLICATION: SOUTHLANDS

Deadline: 15 March 2025

Boyce Upholt, Founder and Editor in Chief of Southlands, is looking for pitches:

Southlands is a new print journal that will publish its debut issue in September 2025—before moving on to a biannual (and, eventually, quarterly) publication schedule. Southlands explores the diverse ways Southerners connect with the natural world.

Think Garden & Gun but more dirtbag, or the Bitter Southerner out in the woods. We build connections between the people, species, and landscapes of the South through storytelling. We emphasize stories of the human relationship with a more-than-human world, including adventurous travel and outdoor sports—from hunting and fishing to paddling and backpacking to gardening and farming, even—and thoughtful coverage of the environmental issues impacting the Southern landscape.

WHO IS BEHIND THIS?

Right now, just me—Boyce Upholt, founder and editor-in-chief. I’m a freelance writer, the winner of a James Beard Award for investigative journalism and the Willie Morris Award for Southern Writing. I’m based in New Orleans, and I’ve long been focused on Southern environmental issues. My debut book, The Great River, was published by W.W. Norton last year. If you have questions, you can find my email on my website—though if you’re pitching, please use the address further down in this document.

WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR?

At the magazine's core lies its features and feature-length photo essays: deeply reported stories or immersive narratives that bring readers into the heart of the Southern wild. Features will range in length from 1,500 to over 4,000 words. I'm aiming for about half of these stories to be inspirational and aspirational—basically, showcasing the cool s--- that it's possible to do here in the South—and half to provoke readers to think critically about their connection to nature and/or to the Southern community at large.

Besides the features, there are several other departments, which you'll find described at length below. And note that the whole magazine is a work in progress! So if you have a great idea that doesn't quite fit these departments, I'd still love to hear it.

I'm open to hearing from both writers and artists/photographers—together or separately. If you have a great idea but need a partner I'm happy to be a matchmaker.

And, I should note, I have some story ideas for the first issue that I may wind up assigning; so even if you don’t have a specific pitch yet, but you’re a professional writer or photographer with a track record of producing good work on these topics, please introduce yourself.

IS THERE A THEME?

Yes! Issue one will focus on the Nature of Southern Nature. The idea is to explore whether there is a particularly "Southern" relationship with nature, distinct from, say, the Western ideas of wilderness and public lands that so often dominate our public imagination. How do Southerners relate to their landscapes differently? What traditions shape our relationship with nature? How are changing demographics and climate reshaping these connections? But part of the fun of a theme is bending it in different directions, so interpret this how you will.

WHAT DO YOU PAY?

Less than I wish, at least for now. I’m bootstrapping this first issue, and my goal is to keep editorial costs under $20,000; beyond that, things will be flexible. To be more clear, I’m expecting to pay $250 to $400 for the shorter and more essayistic content, and up to $1500 per contributor for the heftiest features. The specific fee will depend on the complexity of each assignment.

WHAT'S THE TIMELINE?

It's really important to me to get the editorial mix just right in this first issue, so I'm going to keep the pitch window open until March 15; then, only after the submissions are closed, I’ll make assignments—so expect to hear back in early April. (And please make very clear if yours is a simultaneous submission.) I'll need drafts by early July.

HOW SHOULD I SEND PITCHES?

Please send an email to southlandspitches@gmail.com, including the phrase "freelancer pitch" in the subject line. Be sure to showcase your writing abilities, and make clear how this is not just a topic but a story: how will the piece be structured? How will you conduct your reporting? Important, too, is how you will surprise readers, how you might provoke new thoughts. And all that in just a few brief paragraphs, please! And give me a bit about yourself, too, please—where you’re based, what you’ve published before, and why you’re particularly suited for this story.

For reference, here is an example of one of my successful pitches—not a fit for Southlands, but an example of the level of detail and research that’s needed. I also share this template with students when I teach magazine writing. Given the high volume of pitches I’m receiving, many AI-generated, I will not be responding to pitches that do not include: a description of a clear, central storyline/thesis; some sense of the writing and scenic quality; and a viable and specific reporting plan (e.g. I need to know not just that you’ll talk to “scientists,” but have some sense that you’ll know how those scientists are).

Note that if your idea is more essayistic—that is, dependent on voice, personal epiphanies, personal experiences, etc.—I will likely need to read a draft before considering the assignment, especially if you have limited previous professional publication experience.

Read the full guidelines here.

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CONTACT INFORMATION (please do not share the email address publicly):

Questions/submissions: southlandspitches@gmail.com

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