Want to make an issue with us? How to pitch
Kindly read this page in full before sending your pitch.
What makes a good pitch
There is no theme to fit, which means the bar is the work itself. An essay, a photo series, one good interview, a thing you cannot stop thinking about.
A pitch is two or three short paragraphs: what it is, why now, why you. We care less about a CV than an angle. Don’t guess our taste; show us yours.
What to send, and where
Send:
- A working title and a few lines on the idea.
- The form: words, photos, illustration, something else.
- A rough sense of scope.
- Past work, if you feel like sharing it. Entirely optional.
Sending a pitch starts a short automated exchange. Read the first email and follow it; once you reply, a second email confirms your pitch is in. Only confirmed pitches are read.
The terms you accept by email are the ones that apply. If there is any discrepancy between this page and the email, the email version prevails.
During submission periods we may not manage to reply to every pitch with a final decision. We contact the people whose work we want to move forward with. Selection comes down to the direction, structure, balance and available space of each issue; a pass is not a judgement on the quality or value of the work.
The honest part
Nobody at NoThemeYet is paid right now, including the people editing it. We do it because we love it. That goes for contributors too: if we publish your work, we cannot pay you for it. There is no budget because there is no revenue: the magazine is free, with no ads and no paywall. We are telling you this before you pitch, not after.
What we can offer instead: you keep full rights to your work. Publication is non-exclusive, so you can place it anywhere else, anytime. You get proper credit and links wherever the piece appears. And if the magazine ever earns money, the people who made it are the first expense, not the last.
If that trade doesn’t work for you, that is a completely fair position and we won’t argue with it. The formal version lives on the contributor terms page.