Submission Guidelines

High Country News is an award-winning nonprofit magazine that tells the ongoing story of the modern American West through coverage of its environment, natural resources and diverse communities and in the belief that the West holds lessons of national and global importance. We publish 22 print issues a year and maintain a robust website, providing unique insight and analysis to a region with special significance to millions of people. This page describes our submission guidelines for writing and photography.

WRITING

High Country News will consider pitches for well-researched reportage, analysis, opinion, essays or criticism on issues vital to the West — especially under the broad frameworks of science and nature; conservation and preservation; food and agriculture; water; environmental justice and racism; climate change and energy; post-colonialism and the legacy of conquest; the rural-urban divide; environmental law, policy and philosophy; public lands and resources (including water, wildlife, rangelands, minerals, timber, recreation and preservation); military and nuclear activity and legacies; and economics. We are especially interested in stories and perspectives from underrepresented communities where they intersect with these issues.

The magazine provides meaningful journalism and writing about the American West, not only as a geography, but also as an idea, part history and part mythology. We are looking for sophisticated storytelling that examines the varied landscapes and people across the 11 states west of the 100th meridian — Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming—and, because they face similar issues, Alaska and the High Plains. The writing in High Country News explores the region through the unique stories that only the West can produce but that have broad significance beyond our borders. We emphasize intellectual honesty, clarity, accuracy and nuance.

We divide submissions into front-of-book, feature, and back-of-book stories. FOB stories include in-depth news and analysis, ranging from 800 to 2,100 words. Features include investigations, long-form narrative, deep-dive explainers, or big-idea essays, 2,800 words and up. The back of the book is where we explore the ideas that shape the West, through reviews, criticism and short essays, from 800 to 1,500 words. We pay on publication, between $0.50 and $1.50 per word, depending on the writer’s experience and our experience with the writer. Our kill fee is 25 percent.

All pitches should include the word “query” in the subject line, and should be emailed to the addresses below. No phone calls, please. We do not accept pitches from public relations professionals, advocacy groups or other biased parties. We assign stories to professional journalists and independent writers.

We are a small, scrappy magazine staffed with a handful of talented, over-tasked editors, so if you have not heard from us after two weeks, please write a polite follow-up. Pitch stories with relevance beyond the current moment: Our lead time can be up to six months for front- and back-of-book stories and a year for features. If we haven’t worked with you before, consider a pitching a short piece first.

Please keep pitches brief, between 200 and 300 words. Tell us, in an engaging and jargon-free style, what the story is, its scope and what’s at stake, and why High Country News is the best place to tell it. We have been covering the region for nearly 50 years, so please review our online archives and tell us how your story advances our coverage. Pitches should be sent to Editor-in-Chief Brian Calvert at [email protected]

Features, essays and criticism

Our feature stories seek to expand our (very knowledgeable) readers’ understanding of the West, through investigation, in-depth reporting, thought-provoking essays, deft profiles or some other alchemy of great writing and storytelling. Essays and criticism should be sharp, fresh and unexpected. In these, as in all our submissions, we are especially looking for pitches from diverse writers who bring a variety of experiences and perspectives to the magazine, including writers of color, LGBTQ writers, and other underrepresented groups. We welcome writers with a strong point of view and a sense of story, especially if they challenge prevalent narratives about the West and the people who live in it.

Here are some examples of successful features, essays and criticism:

Features:

• How humans nurtured the hated mosquito: Alexander von Humboldt and the spread of Aedes aegypti.
• Why we don’t mention my great-grandfather’s name: On a family’s shadowy past in New Mexico.
• How to love a weird and perfect wilderness: A desolate Oregon landscape offers lessons on the modern wild.
• ‘If you don’t want us, tell us to go back’: The making of a California prison town.
• Inside the firestorm: New technology allows scientists to see the forces behind the flames.
• When private pain becomes a community problem: How a rural clinic sparked a small-town addiction crisis.
• The darkness at the heart of Malheur: A Westerner traces the roots – and meaning – of the Oregon occupation.

Essays and criticism:

• Big Dan, a couple of beers and thousands of honeybees: A tale of removing a bee infestation.
• California, state of hate: A rise in hate crimes through the eyes of a former white nationalist.
• Coal. Guns. Freedom?: How the Trump administration has seized mythologies around coal.
• Why do white writers keep making films about Indian Country?: Try as they might, two new films can’t escape old tropes.
• The watcher and the watched: Observation transforms our bodies and minds.

Here’s a sample pitch for a recent feature essay by Editor-in-Chief Brian Calvert, for “Down the Dark Mountain, or how to face grief in the age of ecocide”:

It seems to me that many people, and especially HCN readers, are facing despair in what is today called the Anthropocene, or what others call the ecocide. I would like to write a feature essay that explores different ways of addressing this new kind of grief and despair, using the ideas of a California poet as seen through an emerging group of environmental philosophers called The Dark Mountain Project. This essay will inform readers about the ideas of this Western poet, Robinson Jeffers, and how his work runs through the philosophers. It will ultimately argue for the pursuit of beauty and justice as salves to daily despair. The dominant themes will address climate change, exploring not only the human impact on the world, but its reciprocal impact on our overall well-being. It will be written in first person, with a participating narrator who will take readers on a journey through a Dark Mountain retreat in Spain, and through the memories of the narrator as he grapples with grief in the age of ecocide. HCN has done little with Robinson Jeffers in many years, and nothing with the Dark Mountain Project, an emerging, controversial movement led by the “recovering environmentalist” and writer Paul Kingsnorth. I suspect the idea of facing grief this way will be new and relevant to readers at the pointy end of the Anthropocene.

Front-of-book and reviews

Front-of-book stories cover a diverse array of topics relevant to the West. These are most often dispatches, profiles or analyses. To pitch the FOB, find an insight into why the West is changing, describe a person in a place solving a problem, explain a new policy, point out a hypocrisy, explore a conflict over values, or tell us how something works. Surprise us — and our well-informed readers. We’re looking for hard-nosed reporting, deliberate writing and a good story well told. You may also have an idea for an infographic, a pure Q&A interview, or some other unusual story form. We’d welcome those, too. For book reviews, we are looking for innovative comparisons of ideas, either in concert or contradiction.

Here are some examples of successful front-of-book pieces:

• What the anti-Shariah rallies point to: Islamophobia and Trumpism are bringing disparate right-wing groups together.
• Inside the moss mystery: Surveys of tree moss uncovered contamination that may have led to higher cancer rates.
• A new use for old produce: Inside the cross-border operation that saves fresh food from the trash.
• Zen and the art of wildflower science: In the Rocky Mountains, a long-term study yields surprises.
• A bear named Irene: Grizzlies make a tenuous comeback in Montana’s Cabinet-Yaak Ecosystem.
• The toxic legacy of Exxon Valdez: We are just beginning to understand the true cost of one of America's worst ecological disasters.

Here are some examples of successful reviews:

• How much do salmon still shape the Northwest?
• How to know what we don’t know about natural disasters
• A fictional Gilead in the Northwest
• How we risked losing the West
• Why are coyotes so polarizing?

A brief pitch for the front of the book might look like this:

What fire researchers learned from Northern California blazes

The recent fires in Northern California provided a testing ground for researchers who have long advocated for controlled burns. As climate change continues to lengthen fire season and contributes to more wildfires (in combination with fuel load build-ups from decades of poor management), I propose to write a story to inform readers about the use of fire to fight fire. The dominant narrative is of science and nature, and the story will be told through a first-person reflective observer, who journeys to California to learn what she can from researchers — especially a charismatic young firefighter — and put that knowledge in the context of the latest fire season. 

Tribal affairs

High Country News is dedicated to three-dimensional storytelling from Indian Country, via our tribal affairs desk and Indian Country Newsletter. We are seeking stories that go beyond typical media coverage of tribal life, especially from Indigenous writers. To write for our tribal affairs desk, please make note of the following guidelines, “How to Cover Indian Country,” by Tristan Ahtone, the former vice president of the Native American Journalists Association:

Indigenous people should be identified by their specific tribes, nations or communities. Native American or American Indian should only be used to describe two or more individuals of different tribal affiliations. When in doubt, consult the individual you are speaking with and official tribal websites for proper names. For additional style tips, you can go here: http://www.naja.com/

Avoid the WD4 Rule (and other stereotypes). According to Indigenous journalist Duncan McCue, the WD4 Rule refers to the ways in which Native people typically make the news: To be a Warrior; beat your Drum; start Dancing; get Drunk; or be Dead. Avoid these clichés and stereotypes. You can read more on Native stereotypes in journalism from McCue’s website here: http://riic.ca/the-guide/at-the-desk/news-stereotypes-of-aboriginal-peoples/

You can avoid clichés, stereotypes and common tropes by using the NAJA-HCN bingo board. These rules often apply to other under-represented groups in similar ways. We recommend using them for pitches. Tribal affairs pitches can be directed to Contributing Editor Graham Lee Brewer, at [email protected]

Here are some examples of successful tribal affairs stories:

• The teenage whaler’s tale: Internet death threats hound a young Alaskan after a successful hunt.
• A Northwest tribal sovereignty battle, centered on culverts: Twenty-one tribal nations wait to see if the Supreme Court will hear a decades-old case about salmon.
• Northern California tribes face down massive wildfires: Some evacuees return home as clean-up begins and resources are stretched thin.
• A Navajo musician’s quest to spread jazz across the Nation: After gaining international fame, Delbert Anderson and his ensemble bring their music home.

Opinion pieces

Like many passionate denizens of the American West, you might have an opinion you’d like to express, in which case you can submit your idea to Writers on the Range, our syndicated column service. To prevent heartache — yours and ours — please read what we’ve already written for any given subject. We are looking for taut and pithy opinion pieces about issues that affect Westerners. Write to editor Betsy Marston: [email protected] Put “WOTR” in the subject line. Please send a draft as an attachment, at no more than 750 words. Opinions should be original to High Country News. We do not accept multiple submissions. 

PHOTOGRAPHY

We’re always looking for great photographers and artists who work in the West and are interested in the issues we cover. Typically, we reach out to photographers for stories we already have in motion, either for stock or assignment. We accept pitches for photo stories that show surprising aspects of the West or offer intimate looks at communities or people doing something unique. We rarely use photo stories featuring only landscape images, and we rarely use standalone images (except for funny ones, for our back-page humor column, Heard around the West).

If you have a photo story or essay you’d like to pitch, or if you want to introduce us to your work, please send a link or a selection of images for review to [email protected] We need quality, high-resolution images saved as JPEG files, at 300 dpi or higher at about 10 inches on the long side. For larger files, send via electronic transfer, such as Dropbox. Please send only electronic images.

All submissions should include the name of the photographer as it is to appear in the credit line and a description of the place or name of the subject for the caption. We also need your name, address and phone number for payment purposes and for our files.

Prices for individual photographs range from $35 to $100, depending on quality, published size and location in the magazine. We pay more for cover images. Photo stories for the magazine (also published online) pay $300 for one page, $500 for a spread. Web-only images are $50 for singles and up to $400 for a web gallery (which includes use of one image for print, to promote the piece). HCN pays for work on publication.

High Country News’ purchase includes the right to publish the photograph/art in our print magazine and digital efforts, including social media outreach, to archive it on our website, and to authorize reprinting for classrooms or publication in small nonprofit newsletters. Other commercial uses of the work will be negotiated with the photographer/artist.

Updated January 2018.