Our sixth issue is nigh.
As Plumbago enters its third year, we’re playing around with topics and themes. One pattern we see over and over again is that of writing, drawing, and creating in nature, and while traveling.
We keep coming back to the experience of writing in nature or a new location, creating outside and while traveling. Whether it is under a tree in the woods, in a lonely spot on the beach, or sitting at a small table in a cafe in a different city or country, getting out of our physical element and immersing ourselves in new surroundings often inspires us and boosts our creative juices. Indeed, a new place in which to create can lead to some of our best work.
For issue six, the editors of Plumbago would love to hear about your analog perspective around traveling or going outside. Maybe that’s an essay or memoir about your own experiences with analog technologies while traveling or camping. Or maybe it’s a short story about a roaming pencil salesman and her hijinks along the way. We'd love to see your ideas here, and the world is your oyster—make a comic, or a crossword puzzle, or a finger play.
How to pitch us
Just email us (Andy and Harry) at plumbagomagazine@gmail.com, or select the "Submit Your Pitch" button.
Topic: Travel and Nature, and how our analog tools enhance or shape that experience.
Short Pitches: Send us a few brief paragraphs to give us a general idea of what you have in mind, and why it’s important. If you have it, send us a sample of your previous work, or a link to it. New, strong voices are welcome, and we especially encourage people from underrepresented or marginalized to contribute. You don’t need to have published before, but we are looking for evidence of your capabilities.
Guidelines
Prose
1500 words typed
3 pages hand-written (get in touch first if you'd like to submit a handwritten piece)
Poetry
You may submit up to five (5) poems, with a max of two (2) poems to be published
Illustration
1 page
Comics
2 pages
Photo stories
2 pages
Other media in mind? Let’s talk.
All art will be run in black and white
Deadlines
You have until June 15 to submit pitches, but rather than a super-polished, “all or nothing” pitch, we’re most interested in your ideas, so that we can give feedback on them, and help nurture and strengthen then.
From then, you’ll have till July 15 to work them before we need to lock down our content for publication. That will include at least one editing session with Harry Marks and Andy Welfle, our editorial team. Shortly thereafter, we'll start taking preorders.
We'll then try to design, ship, and mail out issues by August 15.
Your pitch should be:
Brief: Don’t dig into the detail quite yet — we want to talk with you about your idea first.
Personal: We want to hear your unique voice and strong point-of-view shine through here.
Relevant: Is this relevant to the topic on hand and to our audience of thoughtful analog lovers?
Open for Feedback: This zine is a collaborative effort, so we want to help you refine and steer the direction of your piece.