Circulation: 60,000
Frequency: Quarterly
Background: Most lifestyle publications on any given newsstand tend to be crammed with content that focuses on women’s relationships with men. But in 1990 the creative minds behind Curve magazine realized that there was a gap in the market and set out to develop a publication that catered to lesbians and queer women.
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Curve’s mission is to keep its readers (women in the LGBTQ community ages 25-44) up-to-date on current affairs and community politics with a focus on lifestyle content, says Merryn Johns, editor in chief.
What to pitch: A lot of Curve’s content is created in-house, but freelancers may be able to get a byline by pitching profile stories. Celebrity musicians, actors, and athletes are all fair game—including people who have recently come out, are allies of the LGBTQ movement, or just may be of interest to Curve’s target readership. Profiles of lesser-known people (lesbian business owners, politicians, etc…) may pique an editor’s interest as well. “It’s very important that we do offer a kind of coverage to show the diversity of our community in a positive way,” says Johns. Word count: 500-2000.
Fitness pitches can have a home at Curve as well. Editors are looking for profiles of fitness professionals, as well as trend articles, first-person essays, and reported stories. Word count: 1200.
Photographers are also welcome to submit images for consideration: $30/image.
What not to pitch: Travel stories are handled in-house, so only send a pitch if you have an extraordinary angle.
Online opportunities: CurveMag.com has about 250,000 unique visitors, so it can provide up-and-coming writers with a great opportunity to get their names out into the digital space. Instead of pitching one-off pieces freelancers should focus more on providing regular column-style content that focus on music, beauty, fashion or movies. Bloggers have tackled topics like parenting and a comedian’s take on touring with the military: $50/post
What publicists should pitch: Send pitches that are of interest to female members of the LGBTQ community. Pitches for products or organizations that are fair trade, cruelty free, certified organic or helmed by a female owner may bump you up to the top of the list.
Percentage of freelance content: 40%
Percentage of freelance pitches accepted: 10%
Recent freelance story pitched and published: Freelancers pitched profiles that focused on burlesque icon Dita Von Teese, The Indigo Girls and Grammy-nominated artist Mary Lambert.
Etiquette: Limit your pitches to about one paragraph that outlines the focus of your story idea. Include links to clips. And please let the editors know if you can supply hi-res artwork along with your story.
Lead time: Three months
Pay rate: $.20 a word
Payment schedule: On publication
Kill fee: 25%
Rights purchased: All rights for first three months
Contact info: Twitter handle: @TheRealCurve | Facebook
Direct all pitches to: Editor in Chief Merryn Johns: MERRYN at CURVEMAG dot COM or EDITOR at CURVEMAG dot COM
[EDITOR’S NOTE: Though we’ve updated this article recently, the speed at which things move in media means things may have already changed since then. Please email us if you notice any outdated info.]
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How to Pitch
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