Submit Your Work

Founded in 2015, The New Territory is a biannual indie magazine of the Lower Midwest, edited by and for Midwesterners. Send us your work. Pitch us your dream projects.

Women, people of color, members of the LGBTQ+ community, and people with disabilities are strongly encouraged to send their work our way. We want to hear from you!

The New Territory is known for its longform journalism, personal essay, Midwestern-forward literature, lush photography and strong, simple design. Before submitting, please be familiar with The New Territory. Read our founding principles and order a print or digital copy here.

We pay modestly for printed pieces. Online series are written by volunteers. Our editors all volunteer their time.

Click here for more information on guidelines and Submittable instructions for the following sections:

  • Journalism Features (~2,000-5,000 words)
  • Fiction (up to 25 pages)
  • Creative Nonfiction (up to 25 pages)
  • Poetry (up to 8 poems)
  • Reviews (up to 750 words)
submit
A few sections of the magazine function outside of Submittable. Jump to details:
 

Here Essays

The Here section is devoted to short (200-750 words) personal essays situating the personal in a sense of place, whether that be a specific location/building, a community/region, or even a specific object/animal/photo. You should have a tie to the lower Midwest (primarily, but not exclusive to Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska)—whether that means you grew up in, are a transplant to, or have had a meaningful experience in the region.
What to Submit:
  • 200-750 word essays.
  • File name should begin with author’s last name and include genre of submission.
  • Include page numbers and your name and email address in the header or footer.
  • .docx files preferred.
  • Although we prefer completed essays when choosing Here pieces for publication, we will be happy to consider pitches or photo collections that fit the section guidelines.
Contact editor Andy Oler at andy@newterritorymag.com with questions or pitches.

Literary Landscapes

The New Territory is seeking brief essays on the experience of or connection to an important site related to Midwestern literature. We seek essays of 400-600 words, accompanied by a photo of the site, to publish on our website for a series called Literary Landscapes. Sites may include author houses, locations within the literature, or sites that have been destroyed. All contributors will receive a one-year subscription to The New Territory as a thank-you. We’ve spelled out more details, including a wish list of authors, here on this blog post. Contact editor Andy Oler at andy@newterritorymag.com with questions or pitches.  

Shop Talk

Who do you talk with that makes your heart full? Who changed the way you understand the world, practice your craft, or experience the place where you live? The New Territory‘s new series, Shop Talk, puts Midwesterners in conversation with people they admire. They might be contemporaries, mentors or family. They might discuss creative life, spiritual life, the natural world, or their community. (We are grateful to poet John Andrews, who pitched us the idea for a conversation with his friend and fellow poet Luisa Muradyan, which we published in Issue 08. We also draw inspiration from Interview Magazine, which for decades has curated talks between famous artists, musicians and other creative people, edited into a lively Q&A. ) Here’s how we see this going:
  1. Our editors connect with interesting Midwesterners who are making a mark on the region or who simply make us proud to share common ground with them.
  2. We invite said Midwesterner to choose a conversation partner who shares their delight and passion. Their shared connection can deal with their community, craft, or discipline. We trust that said Midwesterner will find someone who can not only delight them personally, but create some insight that our readers will find universally uplifting or thought-provoking.
  3. Those two talk. The conversation is recorded. Salient parts are transcribed for print and/or online.
Contact Publisher Tina Casagrand at tina.casagrand@newterritorymag.com with questions or pitches.  

Photography and Art Submission Guidelines

The New Territory is proud to publish the work of our region’s artists and photographers. If you want to submit your work for consideration, please follow these guidelines:
  • We’ll consider anything, from anyone. If you or your work has a tie to the Lower Midwest, we’ll consider it! We aim for diversity in subject, media, and location. Landscape photos are welcome, but images featuring other subjects (architecture, people, animals) get bonus points.
  • Please send no more than five images. We appreciate receiving a well-curated selection of work. Let us know if you’ve got more, and we may ask to see it.
  • Initial images can be sent in any size or format. Whatever is convenient for you is convenient for us! We accept links to services like Google Drive and Dropbox, as well as email attachments.
Introduce yourself and send images to katie@newterritorymag.com.  

File Type and Setup

  • jpeg, tiff, psd, pdf, ai
  • 300 ppi
  • to print in a full-size spread, images should be measure 4500 x 3200 pixels or larger