How to Pitch The Daring

 

Thanks so much for your interest, we look forward to reading and seeing your work. The Daring publishes pieces from freelance contributors and is always looking to commission new writers, storytellers, and artists. Our stories are organized around four categories: Art, Music, Poetry, and Opinion. This includes photography, illustration, drawing, painting, mixed media, multimedia, and video.

Our stories focus on but are not limited to the intersection between art and life, deepening craft, and mental health. Our guiding principle is a curiosity about how the arts relate to the human experience. A strong piece for us has an element of the personal and also raises questions or addresses issues that are more universal.

We’re thrilled to get to know your work! When submitting, please keep your pitch to one to two short paragraphs, no more than 500 words. Include in your pitch your idea, how you plan to convey it, and your sense of why your story matters now. Please, no artspeak or academic papers. We are looking to foster human connection with each piece.

We look forward to receiving your pitches! Below, please find the main topics we are interested in expanding upon at this time.

 

The Daring Spotlight

The Daring Spotlight is our regular Q&A series delivering the voices of storytellers in visual media. Every month, we spotlight a different visual storyteller through an in-depth conversation about their creative process and most moving work.

This is an opportunity for visual artists and storytellers of Ukrainian heritage to receive an invitation to be part of this series published on The Daring. We’re particularly interested in storytellers making visual content that reflects their communities or topics they have deep personal experience with. On an ongoing basis, visual storytellers will be invited to participate in this Q&A series because they were selected by the editorial team either through an open call on Visura or their own research.

Music

We love stories that resonate for reasons other than just the artists’ songs. Artist profiles and interviews are great, so are essays about relationship to craft or about how a piece of music changed perspectives in a surprising or profound way.

Rate: $80 minimum for 800–1,800 words.

Opinion

We’re interested in guest essays that delve into the Ukrainian refugee crisis from an arts perspective, and pieces that examine intersections between art and life.

Rate: $80 minimum for 800–1,800 words.

Pitching tips

Pitch a specific story rather than a general topic. Know what your story is. For example:

“I want to write about recent changes in the music industry” is too broad. “I’d like to interview two musicians and two vocalists about their experience working with cultural critic Greg Tate, timed to the release of his last studio album with Burnt Sugar” is solid.

Check the archives. Read our site — that way, you end up pitching us new material and pieces that would have a natural home on our site.

Optimize your subject line. For example:

Music Essay Pitch | “Honoring critical giant, author, and Black Rock Coalition co-founder Greg Tate”

Details and Rights

  • Email any questions to info@thedaring.co
  • Please submit pitches for original, previously unpublished work. This includes your personal website.
  • We accept simultaneous submissions. Please notify us if your work is accepted elsewhere so we can wish you a warm congratulations and remove your work from our queue.
  • Upon publication, commissioned contributors will be paid a fee, amount depending on the format and length of works published.
  • Authors retain copyright.
  • We acquire first serial rights worldwide in English and non-exclusive anthology rights.
  • Each piece will be published on our website and will become part of The Daring archives.
  • We’ll do our utmost to respond within three months, but due to the volume of submissions we receive, and the careful and collaborative nature of our review process, that may not always be possible. Thank you for your patience.