Submissions

Before You Pitch

• Please familiarize yourself with Synonym and the stories, interviews, and essays we feature. Many of our stories are available online.
• If the story you’d like to pitch has been covered already, please pitch something different!
• If you’re pitching an interview or profile, we ask that you have a connection to or contact for the person/place you want to write about.
• Do not send attachments—we will not open them.

How to Pitch

For every issue, we do a call for submissions, so keep an eye out or join our mailing list to find out when we’re accepting specific pitches. During that window, simply fill out our handy form! 

If you want to pitch a story between issues, that’s great too—we’re always looking for digital content or stashing ideas for a future issue, so email us! Please make sure your pitch includes a sample headline and 2-3 sentence summary. Tell us why you’re uniquely positioned to tell the story you want to write, and include any relevant writing clips.

What to Expect

• Due to the high volume of pitches, it may be awhile before you hear from us. But we do our best to respond to each and every inquiry.
• We may request a follow-up phone call/zoom meeting to discuss your pitch. We like talking human to human!
• We have a very thorough editorial process. Our editors will work with you through several rounds of revisions to sharpen the piece and make it the best it can be.
• If your submission is accepted, please turn in the story you pitched. If your idea shifts or your take on a topic evolves, it’s your responsibility to let us know that your story is changing so that we can approve the new direction. If the change doesn’t align with what we’re looking for, we reserve the right to kill the assignment.
• If we choose not to publish your piece after receiving the first draft — provided it was submitted on time and in good faith — we will pay a 25% kill fee.

Payment

Our current writer’s rate is $0.20/word for print/digital and $0.15/word for digital only.

Columns in Every Issue

• Community Board — Our version of editors’ picks. Cool things from the diaspora and befitting of Synonym — films, books, snacks, wares, or anything else that might interest us — gets written up here. If you have something that fits, send it our way. Galleys of cookbooks and books are helpful, and product samples are great too. If your item is chosen, we’ll need a hi-res image to print.
• Shelf Life — A profile of a chef we love with a focus on the items they keep in their pantry and/or kitchen.
• Chewing the Fat — A Q&A with someone in the public sphere (previous subjects have included The Linda Lindas, Ocean Vuong, Atsuko Okatsuka, and Natalie Morales) who has a diasporic and/or third-culture background. Typically 500–800 words.

AI Guidelines

We acknowledge that the use of AI is present and prevalent, but we prefer that all stories are original works without the use of AI. If you are using AI in any of your pitches, drafts, or stories, we ask that you include a statement on how, where, and why you used it. Any undisclosed usage of AI will promptly end the submission process and forfeit the pre-discussed kill fee. We may request documentation (including transcripts, research notes, etc.) for fact-checking. We also may request a follow-up phone call to discuss your pitch and submission.