Talk Poverty Magazine Is Accepting Pitches/How To Submit (Pay: $250)

Talk Poverty Magazine is a project of the Center for American Progress. It is dedicated to covering poverty in America by lifting up the voices of advocates, policymakers, and people struggling to make ends meet.

TalkPoverty is a U.S.-based publication and their work is grounded in the communities they work and report with.

What They Are Looking For?

They are seeking original content. They do not want reprints or book excerpts. Your work should be between 750-1,000 words.

Personal essays: First-person narratives about the systems that directly affect people. They are interested in stories such as “using government benefits” or “how social attitudes about poverty have shaped your experiences.”

Op-eds: Commentary on current events that integrates a strong and actionable opinion element.

Original Reporting: Reported features on poverty and inequity highlighting new research, exposing issues in low-income communities, and documenting experiences of economic insecurity and inequity.

Explainers: This an overview of a topic from a subject matter expert. It should ground readers in facts to help them understand an issue and use that knowledge in advocacy work.

Submission Guidelines For Talk Poverty Magazine

Please send a pitch of one story idea at a time.
Take your time to develop a thoughtful proposal that outlines the story you want to tell, how you plan to tell it, and the preliminary work you have done to prepare for it.
Your pitch should have a clear, coherent narrative. Take them on a defined journey, and tell them what makes your story unique and appropriate for this moment.
For example, “I want to write about water contamination” is a broad idea, while “I want to write about how drinking contaminated water while I was growing up made me sick” is a story. Adding that you would like to tell this as a first-person story that will include research on contamination and disparate impact will put your pitch in context.
Next, tell them about yourself. What are the credentials in the form of identity and experience that make you a good fit to tell this story?
Please include links to writing samples so they can see your prior work; they do not need to be professionally published.
Submissions sent to editorial@talkpoverty.org from new and emerging writers as well as established ones, will be considered.