Pitches &
‍Submissions

queerbeat is an online magazine focused on deeply and accurately covering LGBTQIA+ persons in India. Its mission is to transform public conversation about LGBTQIA+ persons in society.

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queerbeat primarily publishes longform nonfiction narrative journalism. We love rigorous reporting that explores new horizons or offers audiences previously unexplored nuance on familiar issues. 

Pitches for opinion/analysis/critique pieces and personal essays are also welcome. Reviews of individual books are unlikely to be published, but literary analysis that analyses a trend across several books are welcome. We do not publish fiction.

Most of our stories will run between 1200 and 2500 words. We are particularly interested in stories from smaller towns and underreported regions or stories about queer people from historically marginalised communities such as Dalits and Adivasis. These stories should advance society’s understanding of LGBTQIA+ persons, break existing stereotypes or cover underreported identities and conversations in the queer culture. queerbeat doesn’t shy away from reporting about the problems within the LGBTQIA+ community. Those stories are welcome.

We are giving preference to LGBTQIA+ journalists/writers.

Rates

‍queerbeat is a small magazine with limited funds but we try to pay our writers well. We cannot afford per word rates so we are currently paying flat rates.

If a story goes beyond 2000 words, we’d still pay Rs 25,000. For columns and opinions, which are roughly between 800 and 1200 words, we pay a flat fee of Rs 10,000.

Pitching

Elements to be included in a pitch:

Start with a single sentence that captures the essence of the story, as far as possible.

Elaborate on the idea in not more than 250 words. The ideal story will have a unique angle and/or compelling characters. The pitch must explain the facts of the story as well as make a case for why it is important to tell this story now and why you are the right person to tell it. All our stories are people-centric — so try to  give a fair sense of the characters who will lead the story. Detail excites us — wherever possible, give us a thorough chronology of events, paint a visual image of potential scenes, and make sure to highlight the aspects of a character that makes them stand out. The pitch need not be comprehensive on all these fronts, but should give us a sense that the story contains some or all of these elements and that you will be able to bring them together successfully.

Include a list of interviewees (this can be in addition to the 250 word description) who would potentially be part of the story along with a sentence each explaining what they will contribute to the story. If you have done any pre-reporting or confirmed access to interviewees, please mention that. 

Travel

‍If your story requires extensive travel then we might not be able to fund that but we are happy to work with you to figure out ways like reporting fellowships to support the travel. queerbeat can potentially pay for short 2-3 day trips to nearby cities/towns.

The best way to pitch us is to send your pitches at pitches@queerbeat.org. If you don't hear from us within two weeks, please feel free to take your pitch elsewhere.

Should you have questions about the pitching process or any other thing that the pitch guide doesn’t answer please feel free to email. Give us at least a week to respond.