Personal essays / pitches wanted (non-COVID) (worldwide) | $150-$200 per piece
Added 2020-05-21 13:34:35 +0000 UTC[This opportunity was posted 30 days ago and has expired.]
This is a call for pitches for non-COVID essays. I'm looking for personal essays that use an external artifact to illuminate a personal story—I've put out calls for these before, but will go over details again. Please read it before pitching:
By "external artifact," I mean a critical/researched component, engaging with a piece of art or a resonant story from history or a scientific concept or something decidedly outside of your personal experience, as a lens through which to explore the personal story.
IMPORTANT: I'm NOT looking for timely pop culture takes about a movie/album/show that recently got a lot of media coverage. Dig deeper, bring in your random idiosyncratic fascinations, I want to learn something. The more obscure/surprising, the better.
ALSO IMPORTANT: The personal narrative should still be the main focus. There needs to be an arc, you need to learn something about yourself, or change as a person somehow. The artifact is there to further this change, but it shouldn't steal the show. These are still personal essays
And I said this in the first tweet but it's worth reiterating: I am looking for essays that are NOT about COVID-19. There are tons of outlets that are publishing quarantine essays, I want to read about something else, please.
Email pitches or completed essays (1,800-2,500 words) by 6/1.
This is a paid opportunity.
Pitches should be thorough: explain the narrative arc, the emotional growth, and how the artifact relates.
Completed essays as Word docs only. And even if you're attaching a draft, tell me a little bit about the essay in the email.
See what I mean? In each of these, the personal story—a narrative of personal growth/realization/discovery—is the central focus, but it's scaffolded by an external, secondary story that lets the writer find a new way into the story. Send me essays like these, please.
PLEASE do not follow up after two days or a week to "make sure" I got your pitch. If you sent it, I got it. And I will respond. But it might take a few weeks.
PAYMENT: It depends on the piece and the writer, but generally in the neighborhood of $150 to $200.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
[This opportunity was posted 30 days ago and has expired.]
