Managing editor LE Francis, lefrancis@sagecigarettes.com, will read submissions & pitches for content to run on the Sage Cigarettes Blog on a rolling basis. Response time may vary.
We are unfortunately not a paying market at this time but offer a platform, an editor, promotion on socials, & nominate select work for literary awards (typically Best of the Net &/or Pushcart). If you have tip jar or Kofi links you are welcome to include those in your bio for readers.
What we are looking for:
- Pride themed work of all genres — In the month of June, we will be reading & giving publication preference to pieces celebrating LGBTQIA+ pride. We will consider creative non-fiction, fiction up to 4k words, poetry, reviews, art, & hybrid work.
- Music reviews — We are interested in most genres & are open to pitches from independent artists who are looking for reviews.
- Movie reviews — We are primarily horror fans on staff here & even have a horror review podcast (A Ghost in the Magazine) but we’re open to new opinions on horror movies & opinions on movies that we otherwise wouldn’t consider covering.
- General pop culture commentary — We have published a wide variety of pop culture pieces in the past — format is flexible. Check out the pop culture tag on our blog to see what we’ve already published. These are primarily handled by our pop culture editor, Mel Sherrer (melsherrer@sagecigarettes.com).
- Specific pop culture calls — We typically have a series of pop-culture specific calls open. Details for these calls are on our blog.
- Interviews — We are willing to publish interviews with writers, publishers, artists, musicians, pretty much anyone who is in the business of exploring creativity. Creatives can also pitch us interview opportunities, our staff has done a handful of interviews in the past & is open to talking to new folks.
Guidelines for submitted work:
- Only send one piece or pitch at at time. Simultaneous subs are fine but make sure you let us know asap if your work is picked up elsewhere.
- If the piece is previously published, make sure you retain the rights to the material & are past any agreed upon exclusivity period. You also need to let us know when & where it has been published in the past so we can credit the original publisher.
- We prefer .doc/.docx files but will read a .pdf in a pinch. Preferred formatting is a 12 point, serif font, double spaced. Please let us know how many words are in the document in the email.
- Cover letters are fine but make sure your email includes a short bio, your socials (we use Insta & Twitter), & the word count of the document.
- If you don’t hear back within a month, feel free to query.
Guidelines for interview/review pitches:
- Only send one piece or pitch at a time.
- Be clear as to what you’re looking for — an interview, a review, whatever else.
- An EPK or a detailed website are preferred but if you have neither of those, please let us know what the deal is in a detailed email. Even a well-done interview requires some foreknowledge of the artist & their work. Writers, publishers, & editorial professionals should include a headshot if desired. Artists can include photos of their work & a headshot if desired. Musicians should provide a photo of the band/artist & photos of any art related to any release that is being requested for review.
- Musicians will frequently be dealing with me (L) where reviews are involved. If you’re interested in my review style & what genres I’ve reviewed in the past you can check out my previously published work on the blog.
- Pitching an interview or a review for a Sage Cigarettes staff member is a longer process than submitting a finished piece of work. I will still try to get back to you within a month but may only tell you when I expect to have someone available to handle the job. Patience is required & any hard deadlines should be disclosed up front to determine if working with us is possible or even the right fit.
All blog content can be submitted to managing editor LE Francis at lefrancis@sagecigarettes.com.