THE MAGAZINE SCENE
FREELANCE MARKETS
Adam Carpenter gives a round-up of launches, trends and other magazine news
Sex advice wanted
Online magazine Scarleteen offers
‘sex education for the real world’,
with ‘inclusive, comprehensive,
supportive sexuality and
relationship information for teens
and emerging adults’. They are
looking to expand their freelance
pool and are open to all kinds of
voices. Here are some pointers:
■The fi rst step, as ever, is to
look around the site to see if
you are happy with the style and
subject matter and feel like you
have something to offer. Search
for your idea before pitching it,
as it may have been done many
times over the 21 years that
Scarleteen has been running.
■Make sure your tone and
language is fi tting. Founder and
director Heather Corinna says:
‘Some of the most popular styles
of internet content – super-
snappy, snarky, or where much
of the content is image-based –
are not a good fi t for us.’
■You may be a parent or a
teacher, but don’t talk to the
reader like one. Heather
explains: ‘We ask that writers
demonstrate and convey a
true respect for young people,
presenting themselves as a helper
or guide, not a parent, leader or
director.’ The content is ‘friendly
and accessible in style, and plain
and direct in tone’.
■Write inclusively as well
as professionally. Although
all are welcome to join the
freelance pool, Heather says
they are always keen to hear
from particular groups. ‘We
are especially seeking content
from queer and LGBT writers,
BIPOC writers, women, trans
and nonbinary writers, people
with disabilities, young writers
and other marginalised and
underrepresented groups.’
■There is a long list of topics
that the site is looking to cover at
the moment. As well as the more
explicit topics, there’s pregnancy
and young parenting, dating and
relationship information for men,
and healing from and dealing with
sexual assault and abuse. Visit
the guidelines page for further
inspiration.Fees: encouraging – $100 per
piece for new writers, rising to
$150 for regular contributors.Visit: http://www.scarleteen.comSerious horror
Horror isn’t just for Hallowe’en.
Something Ghoulish is a multimedia
platform made up of videos,
podcasts and think pieces all in
celebration of the horror genre.
The team recently appealed forhorror writers to contribute
ideas for editorials.
The idea is to see past the usual
negative cries for censorship,
or criticism that the genre is an
inferior art form, and present a
perspective as to why a particular
fi lm frightens you to the core.
Founder Anthony Derington,
told Writers’ Forum: ‘ We’re
particularly interested in genre-
focused editorials and personal
stories. We wholeheartedly
believe that in order to have
a more rounded conversation
about fi lm we need to create a
space where people of different
backgrounds may thrive.’
Avoid fi lms that are parodies
or don’t take the subject matter
seriously and dig deep into
your collection to fi nd personal
favourites that you would like
readers to discover. Send pitches
to [email protected]Homes and away
In the battle of the sexes there
was little joy for either men’s or
women’s magazines in the latest
ABC fi gures, which chart national
sales in the last six months.
Most publications registered
a dip, with the likes of women’s
weekly Pick Me Up and men’stech monthly Stuff both suffering
a decline of almost 25 per cent.
It is particularly ironic for Stuff
given that it was the second most
popular publication on magazine
streaming service Readly in 2019.
It’s a stark sign of the times.
The only good news was in
the travel and home sectors.
National Geographic Traveller
celebrated a 22 per cent rise with
an average of almost 50,000 sales
per issue, although almost 40 per
cent of these were given out as
free copies. Which may explain
why parent magazine National
Geographic saw a 22 per cent dip
to 113,554 in the same period.
Meanwhile, in the homes
sector, Period Living rose six per
cent to 27,296 copies, as did
Real Homes to 22,272. But the
biggest winner in percentage
terms was Homes and Interiors
Scotland, whose circulation rose
by 31 per cent to 13,047.Share about care
Logic is a technology and society
magazine published three times
a year in print and digital format,
and the small team want pitches
for their next issue on the
theme of ‘care’. It aims to look
at technologies that are changing
how we give and receive care,
as well as the care that those
machines need themselves.
Suggested topics include:
‘healthcare, elder care, childcare,
and other headaches; the apps
that claim to provide and cure
them; corporate responsibility
and robot shrinks and child
safety settings.’ Have a think to
see if you have an example of
something that could fi t with any
of these.
Fees are encouraging: $150 for
shorter features of 1000-
words and $400 for 2000-
words and up. Get your pitches
in by 1 April to pitches@
logicmag.io, making sure you putHeather Corinna