Submission Guidelines
Up, Up with Liberation! is a digital collective dedicated to liberation through creative expression. Born out of a community of organizers pursuing justice for immigrants and communities of color in the DMV, we are nurturing a culture of resistance through storytelling.
Up, Up with Liberation! is an unapologetically brave space where we provide room for people to speak their truths in whatever ways feel authentic to them — even in ways that feel most difficult. We believe storytelling is a powerful tool that can build solidarity and serve as a catalyst for collective action. Too often, the stories of people that don’t fit into popular narratives of the privileged and powerful are pushed to the margins. When they do appear, their inclusion exists precariously, conditional on remaining timid and tidy bystanders in someone else’s deliverance. Through this new platform, we seek to lift up these experiences through responsible reporting and reflection. Check out our guiding principles here.
What we are looking for
We aim for this platform to allow for sharing of lessons learned and best practices for channeling, hope, rage, and joy. We are seeking submissions that explore, reflect upon, and demand liberation in all its potential pluralities. We are especially interested in voices from the DC, Maryland, Virginia area, and those that are not normally given space, including contributors who identify as immigrants, Black, Indigenous, People of Color, LGBTQ+, and/or other identities at the forefront of struggles for liberation.
We understand that these can be the most challenging stories to share. In publishing your work, we aim to follow ethical storytelling methods by upholding the dignity of contributors, ensuring informed consent of community members mentioned in stories, and labelling potentially triggering content. We will not share or identify the names of community members who wish to remain anonymous and work with contributors to ensure that no harm is done through work being featured on UUWL!
Guidelines
PROSE: We accept op/eds, reflections, commentary, and analysis up to 1,000 words. For fiction and creative non-fiction we accept work up to 5,000 words. Translations are welcome.
You’re welcome to include multiple pieces in single .doc or .docx attachment as long as they fit within word count totals. (Email us if you’d like to discuss submitting longer work!)
IMAGE AND TEXT: We accept artwork, photography, comics, and other image-based work up to 10 pages. We accept both in color or in black and white images in .png or .jpg format at the highest quality possible.
AUDIOVISUAL: We accept recorded readings, short film, music and other audiovisual-based work up to 10 minutes.
You’re welcome to submit up to 5 pieces as long as the runtime totals 10 minutes. Audiovisual submissions should be submitted in .mp3, .mp4, or .wma formats, or compressed video files [160 x 120]. Audiovisual files should be no more than 3MB per email. You can use a service like Soundcloud to create your file. For files larger than 3MB, please use YouSendIt.
We prefer previously unpublished work. If your work has appeared elsewhere, please note where and when in your submission. For unpublished work, we are happy to accept simultaneous submissions. If your work is accepted elsewhere, please let us know. You are welcome to republish any work published with UUWL! elsewhere. We ask that you give us first publication credit but we reserve no rights over your work.
How to Submit
We strongly recommend you read some of our content before you submit.
To submit content, please send your work to submissions@upupwithliberation.com with “Submission” and the type of piece you are submitting in the subject line. If you have an idea for a piece, we also accept pitches.
Please include your name and the type of submission in the subject line. You’re welcome to include a cover letter in the body of your email but it isn’t necessary.
Please include a 1–3 line bio with your submission along with a high-resolution jpg either taken by you or free use/Creative Commons image from sites such as Unsplash, Pixabay, Pexels, WIkimedia Commons. You’re also welcome to attach 3 images for the body of the post that editors will include if possible, preferably landscape orientation. Please include a caption and credit for all images.
Response Time
Our timeline for response is around one month. If you haven’t heard from us by then, please feel free to reach out about the status of your submission.
If your work is accepted, the UUWL! team will be in touch with you about any final edits. UUWL! may lightly edit pieces for style and consistency. Any substantial edits to style or content will be discussed with the author before finalizing.
As we are a brand-new media project, we are unable to pay at this time. We will cross-promote your work across our social media channels and our affiliated organizing collective Sanctuary DMV’s channels.
Thank you for trusting us with your work. We are honored to lift up these voices of liberation as we nurture a culture of resistance rooted in storytelling.
