WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR
Features, listicles, reports, essays that are feminist analyses or accounts of politics, culture, sexual harassment/abuse/assault, technology, dissent, mental health, casteism, racism, sexuality, disability, relationships, art, and intersectionality.
First hand narratives are not ideal and should only be used if describing abuse/assault or experiences such as surgeries, illnesses, or grief. Please make sure you are not jeopardising anyone in anyway or outing anyone with your writing. Editors may want to see written consent from people being mentioned.
We expect everyone pitching to go through our website to get an idea of what we have published before.
WHAT WE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO ACCEPT:
-Dissertation style writing or previously published articles/blogs.
-Submissions from writers identifying as centrist or right-wing.
-Fiction or poetry.
-Cis writing on trans subjects, cishet writing on queer subjects, Savarna writing on caste (unless they're questioning themselves/upper caste readers).
-Unsigned/anonymous pieces. (If you need to send anonymous tips to journalists if you are being sexually harassed or facing workplace harassement, we will definitely try to help you).
ALL CONTENT SHOULD BE ROOTED IN INTERSECTIONAL VALUES:
Anti casteist, anti-racist, LGBTQIA+ affirming, pro-survivor of sexual violence, anti-carceral, anti-capital punishment, anti-ableist, anti-ageist, anti-tribal/indigenous people etc.
WHO SHOULD DESIST:
-Cis-het men: at the moment, we are holding the space for only women, non-binary, and trans folk.
-People who have an ongoing complaint of sexual harassment, assault, or abuse against them.
-Anyone with an abusive past who has not repaired the harm inflicted or participated in some form of restorative justice with the survivor.
-People under 20 (unless they are writing about something that pertains to childhood, teenage years).
PRIORITY REVIEW:
-Submissions from trans writers or writers identifying as Dalit, Bahujan, Adivasi, or Vimukta will be reviewed on top priority.
-Submissions from BIPOCs living in Europe or United States will also be reviewed on priority. Please let us know about your intersections/location or simply mark your pitch as "Priority"
The articles that are already in different stages of edit will get precedence in our agendas but we will definitely treat your pitches before other pitches.
HOW TO SUBMIT AN ARTICLE:
STEP 1
Please write a short description of 200 words introducing your piece in the body of the mail.
STEP 2
Attach at least two previously published articles or television news reports in .PDF or .DOC formats along with links from news platforms or feminist publications.
STEP 3
Add any other details that help us know why you are in a good position to write this article. Tell us why what you are writing is important for readers.
STEP 4
If you have a final draft that you are keen to share (=/< 1200 words) please do attach it but also write a 200 word description in the body of the mail to tell us what it contains.
STEP 5
In the subject line of the mail please mention:
SUBMISSION/Your First Name/Topic of your pitch or draft
For example:
SUBMISSION/Carmela/Technofeminism/Priority
or
SUBMISSION/Akshi/Dissent/Urgent
or
SUBMISSION/Rubina/Health
Please mark your piece as "Urgent" only if the article is very time sensitive and tell us why it is so in your mail.
STEP 6: Send your mail to info@smashboard.org
WHAT TO EXPECT ONCE YOU HAVE SUBMITTED YOUR PIECE:
It takes us time to read your submissions and reply to them—sometimes just a couple of days and sometimes three to four weeks when we have a lot of pitches to process. If your piece is pegged to news or is time sensitive to readers, we will try to get in touch faster. If you don't hear from us, you are welcome to send a reminder after three weeks.
Once we read your submission, we will send you edit queries. If all goes well, we will start the editing process with you. This can sometimes be long and involve a lot of back and forth in a collaborative process of intensive copyediting. The editing process is often like feminist brainstorming sessions. If you tend to see your drafts as pieces of art that can't be touched, this may not be the ideal space for you.
Please be very careful about fact-checking and make sure you are using your own words and adding references carefully where required.
We are a very small team at Smashboard so please do not expect turnaround times as with bigger publications. You'd be required to be mindful of editing protocols (send edits with tracking on, resolve edits to help editors go faster, not leave edit queries unanswered). We don't chase authors with hard deadlines but we do require you to be mindful of our timelines.
Any article published on smashboard.org should not be republished anywhere without prior permission.
REMUNERATION
If you are willing to write pro-bono for our non-profit, naturally, you are most welcome! Otherwise, the remuneration for published pieces for this round of submissions will be: 4000 INR (or the equivalent in foreign currency) for a 800-1200 word piece
*The work of new writers or drafts that require significant copy editing will be remunerated 2000 INR (or the equivalent in foreign currency).
You'll be asked to send an invoice once the article is online and payments will usually reflect in your account within a week.
-Bank transfers can be made to accounts in India only and payments in the rest of the world will be made via PayPal for the time being.
-Please use this currency converter if required.
-Submissions or pitches are not paid for. Only published articles are remunerated.
LAST DATE
The last date for submissions has been extend to January 1st. Pitches sent early go into the editing process on priority and articles get published sooner.
Waiting time for articles to be published can range from a few days to a couple of months.
We love working with our writers and are always very excited to read pitches.
Look forward to hearing from you!
Last updated: Sept 2023
