SAPIENS

Each year, we select most of the magazine’s contributions at two deadlines: February 1 and September 1.  However, we consider pitches and poems throughout the year—especially  on urgent topics and those invited by the editors—to ensure the magazine  keeps pace with current events and the latest research.

Please see the detailed guidelines here.

SAPIENS uses a “pitch” process, where interested authors submit a  brief synopsis of their story idea. A pitch helps our busy editors  quickly evaluate ideas for potential pieces—and saves you the time of  writing a whole piece before you know if we’re able to accept it. When  evaluating pitches, our editors consider:

• Is it grounded in anthropological insights?
• Does it have a clear and compelling message at its core?
• Does it have a clear storytelling component or argument?
• Is the author well prepared to tell the story or make the argument?
• Is it a timely story or argument, adding new viewpoints and diverse voices to current conversations?

If you have never pitched a magazine or newspaper before, no problem!  We understand this will be a new process for many scholars. Please read our guidance on how to pitch, or watch our webinar on writing and pitching for the magazine.

For the pitch, we’ll ask for your name, email, the story type you’d like to contribute, and four questions:

What is your background in anthropology?
We are looking for rich storytelling grounded in research and deep  personal experience. Please share if you have an advanced degree, a  recently published article or book, and/or relevant work or community  position. (100 words)

Will your background, perspective, and/or research contribute to  the magazine’s goals of bringing historically marginalized voices  forward?
We are especially eager to publish voices and stories that share diverse  viewpoints from people historically marginalized by anthropology. (100  words)

What anthropological insights are you hoping to share with readers?
We are looking for research-driven stories that are holistic,  historical, comparative, field- and lab-based, or otherwise draw on  anthropological theories, methods, conversations, or frameworks. (100  words)

What is your pitch?
We are looking for pitches that have a powerful and clear message,  tell a compelling story or make a strong argument, and are  well-structured. (300 words)

For book excerpts, please submit your full proposed section. This can  be a complete chapter, an abridged version of one chapter, or parts of  multiple chapters combined and lightly edited for clarity, with the full  permission of your book’s publisher. The excerpt should be about 2,000  words or less and work as a standalone piece. (See here for examples.)

For multimedia pieces, please provide the relevant artwork, video,  sound files, illustrations, et cetera, along with a brief synopsis of  the story you are proposing to tell and your vision for the structure  and layout of the piece.

When ready, click on the link below. You’ll create a Submittable  account; it’s super easy, and we won’t share your information with  anyone.

Please reach out to the editorial team if you still need advice or have questions: editor•sapiens.org. We are here to help!