Pitches wanted (North Africa, the Sahel) | $800+ per article

COMPANY/PUBLICATION: NEW LINES MAGAZINE

Erin Clare Brown, North Africa Editor at New Lines Magazine, is looking for pitches:

I am looking for pitches for ambitious, insightful, groundbreaking long form reportage or first-person stories for New Lines Magazine.

At New Lines Magazine, we publish top-tier reporting, from the ground, on angles and stories you won't find elsewhere because we are big ole geeks for the parts of the world that only make headlines when there's a coup or a crisis. We go beyond that to get at deep, meaningful stories.

We love a deep dive, a good yarn, a story anchored in history but that shifts the conversation about a current event. We also love stories about the weird, joyous and wonderful side of a region most news outlets only look at when there's conflict.

We also love to publish local writers, whose insights and expertise are nonpareil when it comes to showing the world what's really going on in a place, regardless of what their first language is. If you've got a great story and solid reporting, let's talk.

Si vous lisez ceci et que vous écrivez normalement uniquement pour des médias francophones, parlons-en.

• And I am particularly interested in INVESTIGATIVE stories, with real meat on their bones. Take a look at this absolute stunner/heartbreak of a story by Kunle Adebajo if you want to see what I mean: https://newlinesmag.com/reportage/investigation-nigerias-war-with-boko-haram-may-have-killed-thousands-of-innocent-people/
• Another example of the kind of ambitious investigations we are after: Lynzy Billing on the US's ecocide in Afghanistan: https://newlinesmag.com/reportage/how-americas-war-devastated-afghanistans-environment/
• Not all stories need to be heavy investigations! I love a funky angle into a much covered topic, like Elizia Volkmann's great piece about the perils of parody and satire under an autocrat: https://newlinesmag.com/reportage/under-tunisias-humorless-autocrat-satirists-wonder-who-will-get-the-last-laugh/
• Putting a human face to big, national and regional issues is a key to the kinds of stories I like. See
• Andrei Popoviciu's piece on the search for reparations in Gambia: https://newlinesmag.com/reportage/thousands-of-gambians-were-accused-of-witchcraft-and-tortured-can-their-country-make-them-whole/
• Going beyond the headlines and unpicking the structural issues at the core of a crisis — and what people are doing about it — is another theme I love. See Stephane Kenech's piece on residents trying to survive wildfire season in Algeria: https://newlinesmag.com/reportage/into-the-inferno-a-week-in-algerias-fire-ravaged-mountains/
• Another example of going one layer deeper than others had, Monica Marks tracked down and interviewed the conspiracy theorist whispering the Great Replacement Theory in Kais Saied's ear this spring: https://newlinesmag.com/reportage/tunisias-president-gives-life-to-a-zionism-conspiracy-theory/
• I'm also looking for compelling first-person stories that shed light on a bigger issue through an intimate lens. There is no better example of this than Hamdi Baala's great reflection on his time at HuffPo Algeria and the legacy of Radio M: https://newlinesmag.com/first-person/after-a-brief-moment-of-hope-algerias-free-press-falls-silent/
• Another story I want to add to the examples! When violence broke out in a small town in Ghana, people cried "terrorism!" James Courtright went there to find out what was going on... and it wasn't what you'd expect: https://newlinesmag.com/reportage/a-small-town-in-ghana-erupted-in-violence-were-jihadists-fueling-the-fight/

Okay, to the nitty gritties. In your pitch please include: a smidge of background (2 lines); a short synopsis of the story you plan to tell (the nut graf often works well for this); who the sources will be for the story and what access you have to them; and a timeline for filing.

Please don't send me: a topic instead of a story ("I want to do a story about Tunisian youth crossing the Mediterranean" is not a pitch); work you've published elsewhere; a pitch that is over 300 words; a story very similar to one we've already published (search the site).

Also please DON'T send pitches for: Op-eds (we don't publish them); research papers; 450-word spot news stories, etc. Take a minute and read the stories we publish on our site... if you don't see something in a similar format, chances are we don't do that kind of story.

My email is ebrown@newlinesmag.com. Please put [PITCH] and a proposed headline in the subject of your email. And please be patient. These pitch calls tend to yield a lot of responses... and lots of chaff in with the golden little nuggets of wheat (I'm sure your story is wheat).

Please put pitches in the body of your email. It makes it so much easier than downloading an attachment.

No deadline for getting in touch — I'm always looking for great stories. Our standard rate for stories of about 2500 words is $800, with flexibility for stories that require exceptional travel, access, etc. or that come with quality multimedia components.

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

• Questions/submissions: ebrown@newlinesmag.com
• Website: https://newlinesmag.com

TO HELP YOU CRAFT YOUR PITCH:

• Learn more about the publication: Newlines Magazine is a forum for ideas and writing about the Middle East and beyond. It specializes in long-form essays, including reportage, arguments, and memoirs, which bring together politics, culture, and history. Newlines is an initiative of the Newlines Institute for Strategy and Policy, a think tank in Washington D.C. More information here.
• Read through a selection of recent Africa-related 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 Database 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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