Pitches wanted (bodies) | 50+ cents per word

COMPANY/PUBLICATION: YES! MAGAZINE

Deadline: 2 August 2022

Send us your story pitches! Our base rate for print stories is USD $.50 per word assigned.

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: THE “BODIES” ISSUE

Send us your leads and pitches by Aug. 2.

Bodily autonomy is under attack, especially in the United States—from the end of Roe and its attendant attacks on reproductive freedoms, to punitive laws criminalizing health care for transgender youth, to unrelenting gun violence. This trauma not only ripples through our communities, but it also impacts the ways we relate to one another, stunting the hopes we have for the future and our ability to conceive of—let alone implement—transformational solutions.

At this point in late-stage racialized capitalism, it is clear that institutions will not save us. But rather than succumbing to despair or resorting to individualism, we see another way. We believe community care, collective action, and radical acceptance—like that long modeled by Indigenous communities, Black and Brown communities, and communities of disabled folks and people of size—offer an alternate path to healing on an individual, collective, and even environmental level.

“Bodies,” the theme for our Winter 2023 issue, will explore the ways our bodies, in both the literal and metaphorical sense, can provide avenues for resistance, healing, community cohesion, and societal transformation. Our conception of the body is not limited to the physical body, but rather includes the bodies of which we are also a part: our communities, our body politic (local, national, and global), and our planet. The “Bodies” issue begins with an understanding that we are interdependent, that none of us leads single-issue lives, and that attacks on any one of our personal, political, or planetary bodies are a threat to us all.

But how do we build an embodied community in an era of ever-increasing isolation and polarization? Many of us live less in physical community than ever before, and technological forces, from artificial intelligence to the “metaverse,” continue to beckon us deeper into isolation and alternate realities, where our opportunities for cultivating collectiveness are all but nonexistent. And where do we draw the line between our bodies as avenues for resistance and regeneration, and the cultural tendency to believe we must carry our burdens alone, for fear of overburdening others? In the absence of systemic or institutional support, which communities have already modeled the kind of collective care that might help us all chart a path toward a more just, compassionate, equitable, and sustainable world?

We’re seeking solutions in this issue that include individual practices, like embodiment, that help ground us in our sense of self and our connectedness to our time and place, and solutions that can leverage our bodies—both individual and collective—in service of political and cultural changes. We know our bodies are porous, so some questions we’re considering include:

• How do we balance our ability to absorb trauma, suffering, and abuse, with our need for rest, healing, and restoration?
• What do Indigenous cultures have to say about the relationship between the individual and collective, communal body?
• What can we learn from elders about healing generational trauma, about resilience, about perspective?
• Where does individual freedom and autonomy intersect with collective liberation?

We’d love compelling, layered stories on these topics. Who is doing this work in your communities? Send us your leads and pitches for reported stories on initiatives, groups, and movements that are transforming the way we relate to our bodies—beyond ourselves.

All the stories we seek will be examples of excellent journalism and storytelling: stories that are well-researched, with compelling characters and that demonstrate struggle and resolution. Hurry and send your pitches to winter2023@yesmagazine.org by Aug. 2 to be considered for the Winter 2023 issue. (After that, you can continue to send them to submissions@yesmagazine.org.)

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

• Questions / submissions: winter2023@yesmagazine.org
• Website: https://www.yesmagazine.org

TO HELP YOU CRAFT YOUR PITCH:

• Learn more about the publication: YES! Magazine is a non-profit publication that supports people’s active engagement in building a just and sustainable world. It reframes the biggest problems of our time in terms of their solutions, and aims to outline a path forward with in-depth analysis, tools for citizen engagement, and stories about real people working for a better world. More information here.
• Read through its selection of recent articles/stories, categorized into Social Justice, Health and Happiness, Economy, Democracy
• 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 paragraph highlighting your writing experience, relevant credentials and publication credits; and (3) links to your strongest work or portfolio, and online profile.