via guerillagirls.com
Pretty much since launching this glorious website I’ve been periodically proposing the idea of doing “theme issues” — 2009’s The Fall Preview Issue was supposed to be the first of many themed months of content but um, a lot of things we wanted to do back then didn’t get done.
I’ve always loved how Bitch Magazine does its themed issues and as an intern at Nerve.com I learned how to deftly execute a themed issue for an online magazine (they no longer do themed issues or maintain those archives very well, it seems, unfortunately) AND SO when recently my co-editors were discussing our mutual nostalgia for the glory of last year’s Pure Poetry Month, I realized this sentimental moment was the perfect opportunity to re-introduce my idea of doing theme issues. I was successful.
I think we’ll get into a lot of fun stuff, and it’ll also often be an opportunity to dig in to a lot of topics we don’t cover as much as we’d like to because we’re not in-house experts. Also, one of the other things that is especially exciting about this is the opportunity for more guest contributors (for Pure Poetry, we had a handful of reader-submitted posts as well as guest posts from Marissa Meltzer, Sady Doyle and Tao Lin). Perhaps one of those guest contributors could be you or someone you know!
February’s Theme: ART ATTACK!
We’re soliciting funny/smart/edgy/original essays, feature articles, galleries, personal narratives, artist spotlights, interviews, DIY how-tos, reviews, Dinner & A Movie Nights and lists/top 10s which address the topic VISUAL ART. All forms of visual art, design and illustration are considered. All submissions should relate somehow to LGBTQ and/or feminist culture. Articles about female artists of any orientation are likely applicable. (Some examples of stuff we’ve done in the past: Street Art’s Gritty, Sexual, Honest and Very Very Queer Side, Embodiments that Matter: Queer America Looks Like You, Close-Up on the Most Iconic Lesbionic Photos Ever, The Museum of Broken Hearts, How to Make Honest Art). Feel free to talk about well-known artists in unique ways and feel free to show us things we’ve never seen or heard of. Be daring and fresh.
Also! We’ve not done artist posts before but now we are. So if you’re a professional artist we encourage you to submit your work to be featured on Autostraddle.
We generally accept about 15% of the submissions we receive and anticipate that rate will be similar for this project.
Submission Guidelines (read these carefully, any submissions that do not meet our guidelines will be immediately disregarded.)
Writers:
– Pitch your idea or submit an already-written piece via email to laneia [at] autostraddle [dot] com and rachel [at] autostraddle [dot] com. Include your resume (as a PDF) as well as three links to writing you’ve published elsewhere (if you’ve only published in print, please send a PDF attachment).
– We will consider articles that have already been published in print or online.
– Generally feature articles run between 1,000 and 4,000 words, spotlights/reviews run between 600 and 1,500 words.
– Art Attack Artist Spotlights are perhaps best defined by looking through the Pure Poetry posts. Just do it like that, but with pictures of the art instead of poems. It’s an introduction to and feelings about an artist you’re obsessed with who gives you a lot of feelings.
– Deadline for pitches is February 10th. If your pitch is accepted, you and the editors will sort out a deadline for the completed piece.
Artists:
– Submit at least 4 and no more than 20 images and/or a link to your online portfolio, along with your biography, website URL and any other information you feel is pertinent to laneia [at] autostraddle [dot] com and rachel [at] autostraddle [dot] com. Please detail your exhibition/publication history and professional background.
Comments have been closed on this post in an effort to streamline the process, but if you have any questions that can’t be answered by carefully reading the information above, email laneia [at] autostraddle [dot] com and rachel [at] autostraddle [dot] com. Thank you!
We’ll be announcing March’s theme with way more advance notice.
