Pitches wanted (culinary/food traditions) | ~$1 per word

COMPANY/PUBLICATION: ARTS MIDWEST

Deadline: 9 June 2024

We’re looking for stories of people centering their practice on food, sharing creative approaches to food-making, or bringing people together around traditional foodways.

Our stories have covered covered calving and cheese-making in rural Wisconsin, a café that doubles as a safe space for gender expansive youth, Indigenous chefs turning the table on Native foodways, the frozen custard capital of the world, baby food made with locally grown Indigenous ingredients, the success of Hmong food in Minneapolis, and the process of growing organic heritage seeds made for gardens in the Upper Midwest.

We’re excited to bring more stories that show the expansiveness of culinary experiences and distinctiveness of food in the Midwest. So, if you have a great story from your community, pitch it to us!

We’re focusing on stories from Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and the Native Nations that share this geography. Pitches from outside of this region will not be considered.

Pitches are due June 9, 2024.

Selected pitches will be contracted for written articles to be published by Arts Midwest’s Creativity News Desk starting late July 2024. Refer to the rate sheet below for compensation details.

TIMELINE

• May 28, 2024 – Call for Pitches opens

• June 9 – Call for Pitches closes

• Week of June 24 – Notifications to selected pitches

• Late July to August – Stories published

RATE SHEET

• Short Form Feature Story: 500 words, $500

• Full Feature Story: 750 words,  $750

HOW TO PITCH US

The Call for Pitches will close on June 9, 2024. We’ll send notifications to selected pitches during the week of June 24. If we receive a high volume of pitches, we won’t be able to respond to everyone.

To pitch us, fill out our pitch submission form. You’ll be asked for the following information:

• What or whom does your story feature? (50 words)

  • Tell us about who you’d like to feature and share what feels exciting and inspiring to you in their story.

• What is the story you’d like to share about food? How does this story idea connect to the concept of Midwestern Creativity?  (100 words)

  • Tell us a little more about the specific angle you’d like to approach the story from. What aspects of the story/subject are you most interested in? What aspects of the story speak to Midwestern creativity?

• What is your connection to the story/subject? (50 words)

  • Why this story or subject?

• Will you be the writer for the story idea you’re pitching? 

  • Yes.

  • No, I’m just submitting the idea for Arts Midwest to assign to someone else.

• If you answered ‘Yes’ above, provide a short bio about you and your work. (100 words)

• Provide links to up to three work samples and/or a portfolio so we can get an idea of your range of work.

  • Work samples do not have to be published works, but should show your reporting, interviewing, and writing skills.

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CONTACT INFORMATION:

• Submissions: Via the webform

• Website: https://artsmidwest.org/

TO HELP YOU CRAFT YOUR PITCH:

• Learn more about the publication: Arts Midwest amplifies the power of the region’s creativity. It supports, informs, and celebrates arts organizations and creative communities across the region and beyond. Arts Midwest aims to share ideas that make Midwesterners more visible and connected, raise up the stories that challenge assumptions, and build flourishing communities that are powered by opportunity, authenticity, and a deep sense of belonging. More information here.

• Read through a selection of recent articles/stories on its website.

• Review the submission guidelines here. Note that these are the publication's general guidelines to help you refine your pitch. You must still follow the editor's specific instructions above.

• Check out our collection of pitch excerpts on this page and find more sample pitches at The Open Notebook and at SuccessfulPitches.com.

• Do not forget to end your pitch with (1) a short introduction about yourself; (2) a few lines highlighting your writing experience, relevant credentials and publication credits; and (3) links to your strongest work or portfolio, and online profile.

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