I want to publish dynamic, impactful LGBTQ stories. And I need your help.
So, I recently became the editor in chief of Grindr and was tasked with leading our new digital magazine called INTO. Yes, that Grindr.
While I’ve only been here a month or so, we’ve already begun hiring some of your favorite queer writers like Nico Lang and Mathew Rodriguez — as well as the fab Oly Innes to lead visuals.
We’ve also already published some incredible writing that’s helped Gavin Russom from LCD Soundsystem tell her story and come out. We’ve produced some amazing sneak-peaks into a video series by Matt Lambert starring the iconic Mykki Blanco. And we’ve done all of this with just a teaser website — the real one comes out later this summer.
But here’s the deal: I need your help.
In these polarizing times — not just in the US, but around the world — it’s more important than ever that all of us not only tell our stories, but that our stories are told in ways that are authentic and relevant.
Stories that don’t just focus on our sexuality or gender or body parts or how we may not have certain said body parts. Stories that don’t reduce us to parts of a sum, but show us the truly colorful rainbow we are.
INTO hopes to do this — and we are now accepting any and all pitches that will enable us to give it a good try. And we invite you to the table to join us on this journey — or to just keep us accountable as we move forward.
So far, we’ve commissioned work to launch with the new magazine that includes documentary footage in China on queer artists living there, portraits of LGBTQ Native American folk in Oklahoma, and even a profile on streetlights in Eastern Europe — it’s actually quite interesting.
Oh, and we pay. Crazy, right?
Here are some bullet points on what makes me very excited. Of course, pitches are not limited to what is outlined below, but we must start somewhere:
- Messy, expansive human stories.
- A bird’s-eye view — a story that doesn’t just tell us about something, but how that something is operating within a larger landscape.
- Hyper-local reporting in the places we rarely think about. And reporting that treats LGBTQ lives as worthy of all of time and energy.
- Portraits of people or places or things that rarely get the attention they deserve. A good portrait takes a subject, helps broaden and complicates their life in an intimate way.
- Personal essays and opinion writing.
- Technology, modern use of social media, internet communities, broader cultural trends and how they impact the LGBTQ community.
- Lists. But don’t be lazy.
- Content that holds a mirror to our community and then makes a joke or brings awareness or just makes us think more.
- Fashion writing that isn’t just republishing what a publicist told you so that you receive a free garment — but writing that tells larger stories related to human life, especially for queer people.
- Culture & feature writing that isn’t voyeuristic (read: you helicoptering into a place you actually know nothing about), but rather about celebrating your community and using your own positionality to tell a nuanced story.
- Sex and sexuality in ways that go deeper than just f*cking. Oh, and love stories. I love a good love story — not that sex and love are mutually exclusive (Breaking news: they aren’t).
- Modern or novel approaches to traditional forms. Pitch me a visual poem. A photo-column. A story told through stitched audio files.
- And most importantly: something you’d want to read.
You can email all pitches to submissions@grindr.com and we will try our best to get back to you in a timely manner.
Your pitch should not be long — I will probably stop reading after 500 words — and it should tell me a bit about you with links to past works. It should also argue why *you* are *the* person to tell/report/film/capture/etc. this story. And it should give me a sense of your style as a storyteller.
Being a digital LGBTQ magazine with a global reach, I am honestly interested in so much. So, feel free to pitch us anything that gets you excited. I really enjoy that.
So…r u into it?
Lmk.
Zach
