Call for pitches: Books & Authors special issue 2019
Help us celebrate the West’s writers and writing.
Pitch Deadline: July 21, 2019
Each fall, High Country News produces its Books & Authors issue, showcasing some of the best and most exciting writing about the modern American West. We intend to surprise and delight our readers with interesting titles and writers, and with excellent longform essays and narratives. This year, we’re especially interested in highlighting diverse perspectives.
We're accepting pitches in the following categories:
- Book excerpts
- Book reviews
- Author interviews
- Author profiles
- Essays
See below for details.
Book Excerpts (1600-4000 words)
For excerpts, we’re interested in fiction and nonfiction published between July 2019 and January 2020 that connects to the American West.
Note that we can’t accept excerpts from self-published books.
Example excerpts:
- How beavers make the desert bloom
- In line at the Great Wall
- When the health of your land is beyond your control
Book Reviews (800-1600 words)
For reviews, we’re interested in fiction, nonfiction and poetry published between July 2019 and January 2020 that connects to the American West. We’re looking for sharp, insightful, essayistic book reviews on a single book, or comparing/contrasting two or more books.
Note that we can’t accept reviews of self-published books.
Example reviews:
- Why we should celebrate unlovely fish
- Under Trumpism, truth is under relentless attack
- An island from the past
Author Interviews and Profiles (700-1600 words)
We’re interested in profiles of authors who live in the West and/or write about the West. Profiles should help readers understand authors both as people and as artists, and examine their work's motivations, themes, influences, perspectives, messages, etc.
Example interviews and profiles:
- The search for Native identity on city streets
- The Kumeyaay poet who’s disrupting nature poetry
- Insights from a climate oasis
- A way of unforgetting
Essays (1600-4000 words)
We’re seeking thought-provoking, sparkling pieces with a literary bent. We’re looking for pieces grounded in real-world experience, rather than just abstract musing.
Example essays:
- Why we don’t mention my great-grandfather’s name
- So what if we’re doomed?
- On love in Death Valley, and what’s been lost
The Nitty Gritty (Deadlines, etc.)
If you're interested in writing something for this special issue, please pitch by July 21 at the latest. Send a query first rather than completed work. Deadlines for first drafts will fall between Aug. 1 and Sept. 30.
Email pitches or questions to Maya Kapoor: [email protected].
Please include “B&A pitch” in your subject line.
