Sixty welcomes writers and artists of all experience levels and backgrounds to pitch ideas for traditional and experimental arts writing as well as creative writing around topics and practices that are relevant to the cultural landscapes of the Midwest.

Priority will be given to writing by, about, and for BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ artists, artists with disabilities, and the long list of writing, art-making, and cultural practices that have been neglected in mainstream conversations and canons. We publish writing, photography, art, archive materials, video, and conversations that are thoughtful, generative, experimental, and relatable to our variety of readers.

*Please note that we are not accepting poetry submissions at this time.

We publish articles in Spanish, English and Bilingual in the following forms:

• Archive and collection highlights, curated selection of digitized archive materials, archivists writing about cultural archives
• Topic-driven columns + series
• Interviews (transcribed, email exchange, audio, or video)
• Essays and reviews of exhibitions, performances, talks, screenings, conferences, public art, current ideas, artist books, or catalogs
• Photo essays that 1) showcase a selection of your photography, 2) documents a specific segment of Midwest arts communities, or 3) document an event
• Sound + video including interviews, profiles, performance or talk documentation, mixes and playlists, and short films
• We also publish hybrids and experimental writing in any of the fields above.

---

---

Notes on Pitching:

We accept pitches on an ongoing basis and pay all writers. (more under Payment.)

Our editorial team meets twice a month to go through pitches. Please note that if your pitch isn’t accepted initially, we’ll often ask for clarification or revision rather than discarding the pitch altogether.

Pitches are accepted based on the following criteria:

• Relevance to Sixty’s communities — is this article heightening or exploring the narratives, art, and histories of disabled, Black, Indigenous, immigrant, or LGBTQIA+ people, as well as any other historically marginalized people? Is it based in the Midwest?
• Thoughtfulness of a pitch — what is the scope and angle for this pitch? How does the author intend to cover their given topic? What is the culture being perpetuated by this subject and coverage of it? Try to give us as many details as you can up front.

Pitches are rejected immediately based on the following criteria:

• Journalistic narrative of an interview, exhibition, or event without a critical angle or authorial perspective
• Redundancy — we do not accept pitches for an event already being covered.
• Irrelevance to Sixty’s communities — if a pitch’s subject is not, in some way, discussing labor, liberation movements, ecology, archives, aesthetic experimentation, non-canonized works, and is not about or based out of the Midwest, it is highly unlikely that pitch will be accepted.

---

Editorial Process:

Once a pitch is accepted, writers have free access to our editors, transcribers, translators, photographers, and illustrators to support the creation, development, and completion of the final piece. The work of photographers or illustrators outside of Sixty is allowed upon approval from Sixty’s Visuals Editor. All written submissions must be open to editorial feedback.

Upon acceptance, an editor will be assigned to work with a writer, who will then send their piece to the editor as a Google Doc. The editor will go through and make suggestions for house-style, clarity, and style. Once this is completed, the writer will go through and accept suggestions as they see fit.

Please note that publication-readiness is at the editor’s discretion. If an author does not accept required edits, we may withhold publication until those edits are completed. Each editor has slightly different processes, but please note that many of us are highly collaborative and we request that you enter into this partnership open to this collaboration.

---

Payment:

Sixty Inches From Center pays a standard rate of $150 per article to writers, photographers, and illustrators. For interview transcriptions, we pay $1 per minute transcribed. Payments go out on the 10th of the month. All contributors must send us an invoice and W9 Form to be paid, and will receive payment after publication.

Partnerships are exceptions to this standard. If Sixty is partnering with an organization on articles, the pay rate may be increased. Check with your editor if you aren’t sure.

To submit your pitch please complete the form below. If you have any additional questions, you can email us at WriteForSixty@sixtyinchesfromcenter.org.

Please allow 7-14 days for a response to your pitch.