The Daring Magazine Open Call for Essay and Memoir

How to Pitch The Daring

Thanks so much for your interest, we look forward to reading and seeing your work. The Daring publishes pieces from freelance contributors and is always looking to commission new writers, storytellers, and artists. Our stories are organized around four categories: Art, Music, Poetry, and Opinion. This includes photography, illustration, drawing, painting, mixed media, multimedia, and video.

Our stories focus on but are not limited to the intersection between art and life, deepening craft, and mental health. Our guiding principle is a curiosity about how the literary and visual arts relate to the human experience. A strong piece for us has an element of the personal and also raises questions or addresses issues that are more universal.

We’re thrilled to get to know your work! When submitting, please keep your pitch to one to two short paragraphs, no more than 500 words. Include in your pitch your idea, methodology, and your sense of why now. Please, no artspeak or academic papers. We are looking to foster human connection with each piece.

We look forward to receiving your pitches! Below, please find the main topics we are interested in expanding upon at this time.

Music

We love stories that resonate for reasons other than just the artists’ songs. Artist profiles are great, so are essays about relationship to craft or about how a piece of music changed perspectives in a surprising or profound way.

Rate: $80 minimum for 800–1,800 words.

Opinion

We’re interested in personal essays and memoir, especially pieces that delve into identity, mental health, and the intersection between art and life.

Rate: $80 minimum for 800–1,800 words.

Deadline: May 31, 2022

Submit

Opportunities

Terms

Status: Closed

Deadline

May 31, 2022 (11:59 PM, EST)

Submit

Submissions are closed.

Brief & Application Procedure

• All submissions are made via a Story created from the Visura dashboard.
• Set your story to "private" within the Visura system.
• There is no entry fee.
• Please submit pitches for original, previously unpublished work.
• Write your pitch and save it as the Story text. Please keep your pitch to one to two short paragraphs, no more than 500 words. Include in your pitch your idea, methodology, and your sense of why now. Please, no artspeak or academic papers. We are looking to foster human connection with each piece.
• Include a short bio written in the third person and links to any relevant clippings of work.

Pitching tips

Pitch a specific story rather than a general topic. Know what your story is. For example:

“I want to write about recent changes in the music industry” is too broad. “I’d like to interview two musicians and two vocalists about their experience working with cultural critic Greg Tate, timed to the release of his last studio album with Burnt Sugar” is solid.

“I want to write about my mental health journey as a woman” is too broad. “I had postpartum complications, but the pandemic made it hard to get help from my doula or doctors” is substantive and grounded.

Check the archives. Read our site — that way, you end up pitching us new material and pieces that would have a natural home on The Daring.

Optimize your subject line. For example:

Personal Essay Pitch | “I had postpartum complications, but the pandemic made it hard to get help from my doula or doctors”

Music Essay Pitch | “Honoring critical giant, author, and Black Rock Coalition co-founder Greg Tate”