Sisterhood Call For Submissions
Write for us! Image by Getty Images
Hello and welcome to the Sisterhood, a blog at the Forward, a venerable Jewish publication based in New York, but with contributors around the world. Want to write for us? Fabulous!
The Basics
-Please email pitches to Batya Ungar-Sargon and Avital Chizhik-Goldschmidt, at [email protected] and [email protected]
-As “Sisterhood” would suggest, the blog has a women’s focus.
-You do not need to be Jewish or a woman to write for the Sisterhood.
-You do not need to be a religious Jew to write for the Sisterhood.
-Word count varies by type of post but aim for the 500 to 600 word range, 800 tops.
-Sisterhood contributions are paid.
Practical Matters
-A pitch should be a brief description of what you wish to write for us, and should be about a few sentences long.
-Please also say a little bit about yourself as relates to the piece you’re pitching. Have you published on the topic before? Is it an area where you have professional or personal experience? If you have written for the Forward or other publications before, please mention this (ideally with links, or a link to your website), but it is not necessary to have done so!
-Please include the topic you wish to write about in the subject heading of your pitch email.
-Check to see if a very similar piece has appeared elsewhere, particularly at the Forward, even more particularly on the Sisterhood. A new perspective on an already-covered topic may work, but if this is what you’re pitching, please indicate that you’re aware of the existing Forward/Sisterhood coverage and how what you’re proposing is different.
-Please notify me if you’re pitching the same story (or a very similar one) to other editors at the Forward, or if you have already done so and that other editor has either passed or not yet responded.
-If it’s been a few days and you haven’t heard back, please send me a follow-up email to [email protected]. Please do not follow up about your pitch by contacting me through other channels (social media, etc.).
-In most cases pitches will come from the author of the proposed article, but in those other cases… If you’re a writer’s agent, publicist, assistant, cousin, etc., and you’re pitching on behalf of that writer, please identify yourself as such, and please cc the writer herself or himself in your email.
What I’m Looking For
Like every editor, I look for great writing. More specifically, I seek a wide range of political, cultural, geographic, and religious (and non-religious!) perspectives. The blog is Jewish-broadly-defined and inclusive. All ages, all life stages.
Here are some ideas:
-Opinion pieces on timely news topics
-Arts and pop culture criticism
-Interviews with accomplished Jewish women
-Commentary on current events informed by expertise you happen to have in a related area
-Coverage of events with a Jews-and-gender angle
-The story behind a Jewish women’s undertaking of some kind that you’re involved in or find compelling
-Personal essays with a Jewish religious, cultural, or identity component
What I’m Not Looking For
-Please do not send a completed piece as an attachment.
-We cannot accept previously published material.
-If you submit a personal essay, please do not include sensitive, confidential information about your adult relatives or other named/identifiable adults without clearing this with them, and please skip those details altogether where children are involved.
Thank you for reading! I look forward to your pitches!
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