Spirit magazine is on the hunt for hungry young writers (old and middle-aged also welcome) to breathe some life into our feature well. Think you’ve got the chops and ambition to craft a great narrative? We’re eager to cultivate new talent. (Also, if you’re like Ben and have a great new book out, we can get your byline in front of 3 million captive readers.) Either way, we’re committed to publishing the kind of storytelling celebrated here at Gangrey. Our writer’s guidelines are below. Introduce yourself and/or send along ideas to jknickell@paceco.com.
Spirit, published by Pace Communications for Southwest Airlines, attracts more than 3.5 million readers each month. We typically publish two works of narrative nonfiction each issue, usually around 3,000 to 3,500 words (though we’ve gone shorter and longer). We’re looking for a compelling tale with memorable characters, none of who have to be famous.
What kinds of nonfiction stories do you accept? Personal narrative essays. Profiles. Trend stories (so long as each has strong characters). Story is the key word here. We salivate over a well-spun yarn. We’re less interested in stories about particular places unless they contain a personal angle or remarkable character.
What about tone? We love stories that lift the spirit—we’re suckers for happy endings. At the same time, tension is a must. Also, humor of the un-snarky kind tends to get a positive response.
What do you want in a pitch? Start with a sentence or two that tells us what your story is really about. Boil it down to the guts. Why will our readers care? Then, give us an idea of the story’s arc, and the kinds of scenes you could capture. Lastly, it’s a good idea to let us know why you’re qualified to tell the tale.
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