Ponte Trucha

Call for pitches


Our goal is to deliver thoughtful, inclusive and high-quality content. Before getting in touch with your idea, please read this guide - it will greatly improve your chances of being accepted.

Who Can Submit A Pitch?

We ONLY accept pitches from people who currently live or grew up in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas (and North Mexican side of this border region including Reynosa, Matamoros, etc).

We will automatically turn down all pitches that do not center this community or written by someone who is not from here/lives here currently.

You need an idea, something you want to share, and the ability to put together an outline or sketch to show us that your idea is likely to be of interest to our readers. From that point on, we can give you any help that you need as you create your work. Experienced writers and artists all started somewhere, so we would be honored for you to start your career with us.

We are not currently accepting Spanish language pitches, but we aim to do so once we bring on a fluent bilingual editor. Our editor currently speaks pocha Spanish.

We publish content about immigration, reproductive justice, LGBTQ issues, climate justice, regional arts and culture, racial justice, and more.

To get a sense of what kind of content we publish, take a look at the following articles:

Content formats we publish include:

  • Longform Feature Article — An in-depth investigative piece or a well-researched essay, really digging into a subject. 2000 words at $0.50 per word.
  • Op-Ed — Do you have a strong opinion on a social issue tied to the U.S.-Mexico border and the research to back it up? 600 words at $0.30 per word.
  • News Blurbs — Short pieces describing a current event, such as a demonstration or protest, quick and high impact. 300 words at $0.30 per word.
  • Art — Including digital art, comics, and visual art; we’re open to whatever is thrown at us. The base pay is currently being finalized based on funding, but we are open to negotiate a rate with you.

We are currently not accepting pitches for video content.

These rates are determined from the Study Hall guide for fair pay practices.

We do not publish articles aimed for content marketing, selling a product, press releases, listicles or product reviews. The Trucha team will reject pieces pitched to us on behalf of a company, or nameless member of your team.

We work with individual writers. If someone you work with or organize with would like to write for us, great! Send them this guide and they can make contact in the same way as everyone else.

The Trucha audience are workers, teachers, writers, artists, dreamers, doers, organizers, neighbors, tias and primos, neighbors and people who care about sharing the under-told stories of our region. When you write, don’t automatically assume that your reader is a knowledgeable peer. Writing a beginner-level article about a social justice topic is great (we are all beginners at something), but you can assume a starting point of some familiarity with certain issues.

Writing that comes from real experience, plus well researched opinions are what we aim for.

When we give your outline the green light and ask you to write an article we ask that:

  • The article is an original piece of work for Trucha, not something you have published elsewhere.
  • You will establish a timeline for delivery with the Trucha Team, and if you realize you will miss a deadline, communicate with them as far in advance as possible. This helps with maintaining an open and healthy line of communication.
  • You commit to our mission and vision of equity, thoughtfulness, and kindness.

Creating great content is a two-way process:

  • We will pay you within three weeks after publication of your article.
  • We will help edit and review your writing for clarity and supporting your unique voice.
  • We will give you a byline with a biography, so readers can find out more about you and your work.
  • We will promote your article on Twitter and in all our other channels.

Pitch To Us

We would like to see an outline first, rather than a complete article. We can often help authors refine their outline to something we can accept.

Your pitch should include:

  1. Who is the target audience for the article, and what level of experience is it aimed at?
  2. What will the target audience take away from reading the article?
  3. Why are you the best person to write this article? Include links to other writing, and details of your own expertise.
  4. Your proposed outline. This will be 200-300 words with the main headings and detail of what you will cover in each section.


When submitting a pitch:

  1. Finalize your pitch outline – it can be written or an audio recording of your voice explaining the pitch.
  2. Include 2-3 writing samples of previous work. This can be previously published writing in a magazine or a newspaper (college newspapers accepted). We also accept blog posts, school essays, and other writings like short stories if you have not had previous published works.
  3. Send these materials via email or to hello@truchargv.com with the subject line “PITCH.”


Credits

This Call for Pitches guide has been adapted from the following two guides:

https://contingentmagazine.org/pitch-us/
https://www.smashingmagazine.com/write-for-us/

 

DONATE

Donate to help us publish more original work by Valley creators.