Pitches wanted (cannabis, culture, arts, etc.) (worldwide) | 40 to 50 cents per word

COMPANY/PUBLICATION: BROCCOLI MAG 

Deadline: 14 July 2023

We just wrapped up our first IRL Broccoli editorial team meeting in FOUR YEARS (whoa) and our brains are brimming with plots and plans for our ever-expanding galaxy of publishing projects. Mushroom People II is happening and look out for a future call for book-length projects. In the meantime, though, here’s a call for Broccoli Issue 19, which will be out in the wild sometime in the spring of 2024.

FIRST, THE ESSENTIALS:

• All pitches in response to this call are due by 9:00 p.m. EST Thursday, July 14, 2023.
• Send pitch emails to editors@broccolimag.com.
• All Broccoli Issue 19 stories will be assigned by July 19, 2024.
• First drafts for Broccoli Issue 19 will be due starting August 30, 2023.
• Rates: $.40-$.50/word, negotiated as a flat fee at commission, with flat rates for shorter pieces (under 300 words) around $100.

Broccoli Issue 19 will go to print in late fall and hit stands in Spring 2024. All commissioned writers will receive a free copy of the magazine where their work appears.

NEXT, THE STORIES:

• STRANGE MEDIUMS: Broccoli has a long-standing fascination with mediumistic art (see Issue 01, where we talked about a then-little-known artist named Hilma af Klint back before she dominated the Guggenheim). Right now, we’re mesmerized by Barbara Honywood’s floral fantasies, but we’re always open to pitches from smart, impassioned writers on artists who look to forces beyond (or within) themselves to conjure strange worlds. Could be a profile of an individual artist or a group, or a q&a with a curator or scholar. 500-1200 words.
• THE ALNWICK POISON GARDEN: Have you wandered among the caged plants in this peculiar and deadly garden? Tell us about it: 300-500 words, bringing in points of historical and botanical interest.
• Q & A WITH LELEN RUETE: Seeking a conversationalist to chat with Ruete, a cannabis photographer, on her career and weed culture in South America. 800-1200 words.
• WOMEN UNDER THE INFLUENCE: Q & A with the Los Angeles-based WUTI on their approach to curating works and events celebrating women filmmakers. 800 words.
• CAROLINE ZIMBALIST: Zimbalist sculpts works that evoke alien flowers and frozen explosions of color from bioplastics and materials she makes herself. Seeking 600-800 words on her work and practice.
• STEPPING INTO THE PORTAL WITH EQUIHUA: 800-word profile of Brenda Equihua, maker of the coziest and most covetable coats, on her eponymous fashion line.
• SCORING WEED IN NYC: The weed scene in NYC is undergoing continual revolutions. Looking for a human and humane essay styled as a journal documenting what it is like finding weed in the city these days. How is the weed community changing? What feels the same? What’s changing? What’s better? What’s worse? Looking for something approachable and relatable, not a festival of flexes, name-dropping, or scene-y humblebragging.
• FLASH FICTION: CYBERWEED. Fiction writers and fantasists, this one's for you. Send us the full text of a tale, no more than 250 to 500 words long, on the theme of cyberweed (whatever that means to you). Rates between $75 and $150 for those selected for publication, based on length.
• POTLUCK: Want to pitch us something else? Go for it! Broccoli is mostly about looking at culture through a stoned lens, meaning we prioritize any story that invites wonder, curiosity, beauty, and/or a good laugh with friends. Stories don’t need to have a specific cannabis angle to fit the brief.

We read and respond to every single pitch. We’ll try and get you a reply as quickly as we can, but we appreciate your patience—we’re a super small team. We care a lot that you take the time to write.

Before you smash that send button, here’s some helpful hints, especially for those potluck pitches:

• Stories, not content. We’re about creating opportunities for writers to explore the stories they want to write, especially the ones that won’t find a home anywhere else. In other words: all killer, no filler. So don’t pitch us anything you aren’t actually passionate about writing.
• If you have more than one story idea (wonderful!), put them all in a single email. No attachments, please.
• Make sure you’ve got the goods. If you pitch an interview, know you can get access. If you pitch an artist, understand who holds the rights.
• Think evergreen. Our production cycle is too long for this-very-instant trend pieces. More questions? Reach out to editors@broccolimag.com. If you are a brand or PR agency interested in being featured in the magazine, please contact hi@broccolimag.com to learn more about paid partnership opportunities.

About Broccoli Broccoli is a publisher of unusual delights. We create artful magazines, art books, and an array of creative products designed to spark curiosity within niche interest communities. We are an independent, women-led company known internationally for creating best-selling, collectible publications like Broccoli magazine, Mushroom People, Snail World, and more.

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

• Submissions: editors@broccolimag.com
• Website: https://broccolimag.com/

TO HELP YOU CRAFT YOUR PITCH:

• Learn more about the publication: Broccoli explores and shapes modern stoner culture by looking at cannabis through an art, culture, and fashion lens, giving the plant a dedicated space to be discussed in a fresh, stylish, and approachable new way. In each issue, it explores everything from ambient music to screenprinting nuns to the latest CBD products with humor and style. More information here.
• Review the submission guidelines here.
• 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 paragraph 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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