Due to the current volume of submissions,
we are not accepting new pitches
or essays at this time.
***
Start a conversation.
STIR publishes provocative essays, interviews, and videos that tackle controversial issues. We’re looking for pieces that combine a strong personal narrative with a bit—or a lot—of well-researched reportage.
Here are some really broad topics that interest STIR:
- social justice
- environment/sustainability
- food industry
- political shenanigans
- gun violence
- education
- animal rights
- religion
This list is not comprehensive. Glance at the titles on our home page and read a few pieces to get a feel for our vibe. Talk about issues that make you passionate. We prefer compassion to judgment, hope to cynicism, strength to anger. Be persuasive yet open-minded, thorough but concise. Avoid polarizing rhetoric that shuts people down. Pose questions. Make room for discussion.
Compensation
STIR loves to pay writers! Payment starts at $250 per published essay.
Submissions
Please read and follow these guidelines.
We welcome pitches as well as completed work. If we love your pitch, we will encourage you to submit your work, but we can’t guarantee acceptance of the final piece.
We accept previously unpublished work only, with rare exceptions (usually solicited).
Simultaneous submissions are fine, but please notify us as quickly as possible if your work has been accepted elsewhere.
Response Time
Our team is small, but we will try to respond to submissions within 4 – 8 weeks. If you don’t hear back from us, please send a follow-up email.
Length & Format
For the love of our editors’ sanity, please follow these instructions.
Articles should be 1500 – 3500+ words. Feature-length pieces welcome!
12-point type, single spaced, double spaced between paragraphs, no indents, one-inch margins, numbered pages.
Include links to sources in brackets after the relevant passage, like this: Cat people are smarter than dog people. [http://www.cnet.com/news/cat-people-are-smarter-than-dog-people-study-says/]
Please submit in one of the following formats: .doc, .docx, or include text in the body of your email.
Videos may be up to 1GB and should be submitted in one of the following formats: .mp4, .mov, .wmv, .avi, .mpg.
Please send submissions to our Submissions Email (submit AT stirjournal DOT com).
Rights
STIR Journal retains exclusive first serial rights for six months from date of publication, after which time rights revert back to the author. Subsequent publication(s) should note, “Originally published by STIR Journal,” and link to the original article.