Pitches wanted (HIV) | $500 to $750 per article
Added 2024-03-27 08:52:31 +0000 UTCCOMPANY/PUBLICATION: THE POSITIVE SIDE
Deadline: 29 March 2024
The Positive Side was established in 1993 by CATIE to fill a need for health and wellness information for people living with HIV. Each issue featured a cover story spotlighting a Canadian living with HIV, and the articles published throughout shared information and stories relevant to people living with HIV. The Positive Side received a 2021 National Magazine Award Honourable Mention in the Profiles category.
When CATIE’s federal funding agreement was renewed in 2022, it unfortunately did not retain financial support for the magazine. Understanding the importance of the magazine to people living with HIV across Canada, we sought out new funding sources beyond public health grants, including arts, culture and community service grants from public and private sources. Partnering with The Public Studio, an activist design studio specializing in co-creative practices, and Sheila Sampath, Editor Emeritus at Shameless magazine, we are excited to re-launch this publication as a community-centred project, nourishing and honouring the leadership, creativity and vision of people living with HIV.
Our new editorial board, composed of 11 brilliant community members from across Canada, is in the process of slating our first issue together (to be published this summer), and we are soliciting pitches from people living with HIV to write for us.
To submit a pitch, please review our call below, and send an email to contact@positiveside.ca. In the subject line, please write “PITCH: [SECTION NAME]” (replacing “section name” with the section that you are interested in writing below, or “multiple” if submitting to different sections of the magazine).
Each pitch should include the following:
A short (1-2 paragraph) overview of where you’d like to take the article (your focus, angle, perspective, etc.),
a short (1 paragraph) description of why you’d be a good fit for this piece, and
1-3 writing samples, if you have them (and no worries if not; all are welcome to submit, and our editorial board is here to support emerging writers)
A note about confidentiality and privacy: The first name and email address of selected pitches will be shared within our editorial collective, but not beyond, nor will it be published without explicit consent. If a pitch is selected and carried through to a completed article, the writer will maintain full control in how they want to be named and credited publicly for published work.
Articles solicited in English
SECTION: REPRODUCTIVE CARE
SUBJECT: To breastfeed or not to breastfeed/living past the fear of breastfeeding for poz parents
Word count: 500 words
Pitch deadline: March 29, 2024
First draft deadline: April 13, 2024
Final draft deadline: April 29, 2024
Writer’s fee: $500
Description: Public health messaging on breast- or chestfeeding by poz parents with an undetectable viral load has sometimes seemed contradictory. It is recommended in many low- and middle-income countries, while in Canada the official guidance is to recommend formula feeding. These differences are not always clear to parents, many of whom have migrated from countries where guidelines differ. It's also not always clear how service providers should balance official public health recommendations with the need to support their clients who have made a different decision.
This article will explore:
Can positive parents breastfeed without putting their babies at risk?
What does the current research tell us?
An interview with leading researchers and a positive parent who has chest/breast fed
SECTION: UNSUNG HEROES
SUBJECT: Looking for your HIV/AIDS (Un)Sung Hero, pre & post pandemic.
Word count: 450 words
Pitch deadline: March 29, 2024
First draft deadline: April 13, 2024
Final draft deadline: April 29, 2024
Writer’s fee: $500
Description: Spotlight a person living with HIV that you love, and give them some recognition for making a difference in their community. Consider centring BIPOC and 2SLGBTQIA+ community leaders. We all have a voice, and let’s use yours to highlight your unsung(s) hero!
SECTION: DIY
SUBJECT: How to fire your healthcare provider
Word count: 500 words
Pitch deadline: March 29, 2024
First draft deadline: April 13, 2024
Final draft deadline: April 29, 2024
Writer’s fee: $500
Description: A doctor knows best. Better than me? People living with HIV are connected to a healthcare provider to help with managing their health. A relationship with your provider plays a vital role in your physical, mental, and emotional health. But what if you and your doctor don’t agree? What if they don’t listen to you about your body? Or what if you’d rather have a provider who understands your cultural preferences? Many people believe the healthcare provider you get is the only option, or do not have the knowledge or courage to dismiss their doctor. Can I fire them? How? This piece will explore these questions as well as the following below:
How to communicate your needs and concerns to your healthcare provider in a meaningful matter
How to express what it is like living every day with HIV with your provider
How to raise concerns with a clinic or hospital about your health professional
Why is HIV stigma so prevalent in healthcare facilities?
How race, gender, sexuality, and income can play a factor in relationships to healthcare
SECTION: RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT
SUBJECT: HIV and syphilis
Word count: 650 words + 4 x 100 word round up side bar
Pitch deadline: March 29, 2024
First draft deadline: April 13, 2024
Final draft deadline: April 29, 2024
Writer’s fee: $750
Description: HIV and syphilis are intersecting epidemics and the prairie provinces are facing a sharp increase in both, with high rates of co-infection. This column will focus on syphilis and HIV and highlight a research project that has the potential to have a pronounced impact. The round up side bar will touch on projects in other regions/provinces looking at similar issues.
Syphilis is a significant sexually transmitted infection with potentially serious consequences if not treated promptly. Outbreaks often affect populations that are challenging to reach through conventional healthcare services, including individuals experiencing homelessness.
Additionally, cases are emerging in rural and remote areas where access to services is limited, leading to potential delays in treatment. Having syphilis can make it easier to contract HIV and although syphilis is treatable and curable having HIV can make syphilis harder to treat. Lastly, and of great concern, the increase of babies born with congenital syphilis has dramatically increased.
This article will explore:
What is syphilis and how does it intersect with HIV?
Current incidence rates and why they have increased.
How early diagnosis of syphilis can impact HIV?
The projects’ impacts on everyday life, treatment and care?
The congenital syphilis crisis in the prairies
Access, approval and utility of syphilis/HIV testing
Articles solicited in English or in French
SECTION: INTERNATIONAL VIEW
SUBJECT: Challenges of migration for people living with HIV around the world
Word count: 650 words plus 4 x 100 word blurbs (total 1050 words)
Pitch deadline: March 29, 2024
First draft deadline: April 13, 2024
Final draft deadline: April 29, 2024
Writer’s fee: $750
Description: Despite many years of fighting against the stigmatization of people living with HIV, there are still many countries where positive people are prohibited from entering, working, studying or migrating. This article will unpack:
What should people living with HIV know before making travel plans to another country?
Where to get up-to-date information for travel restrictions (aidsmap.com) .
Overview of restrictions abroad
Travel restrictions for people migrating to Canada.
CONTACT INFORMATION (please do not share the email address publicly):
Questions/submissions: contact@positiveside.ca
Website: https://www.catie.ca/education-publications-websites-client-publications/the-positive-side
TO HELP YOU CRAFT YOUR PITCH:
Learn more about the publication: The Positive Side is a health and wellness magazine for people living with HIV. It is published by CATIE, a resource that aims to connect at-risk communities and healthcare providers with the knowledge, resources and expertise to reduce transmission and improve quality of life. More information here.
Read through a selection of recent articles/stories on its website.
Review the submission guidelines here.
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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