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Magazine Submissions

Magazine Submissions

For Plough’s website and print magazine, we accept submissions of nonfiction articles, reviews, art, and letters to the editor. Before sending your pitch, we ask that you read Plough to get a sense of our focus and style.

Unless you tell us otherwise, we assume that all submissions are being offered to us exclusively and that no piece accepted for publication will be published simultaneously in any form without our knowledge. Work previously published in English cannot be considered. We ask our writers not to use AI to improve their writing; we will reject pieces if we detect or suspect AI-drafted prose.

Please send us a detailed pitch or manuscript to submissions@plough.com, accompanied by a CV or one-paragraph biography, including your contact information. Please include links to your previously published work, if applicable.

For book manuscript submissions, see our book submission guidelines.

Frequent Topics we cover regularly include:

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Religion: how faith shapes everyday living in surprising and radical ways (while we primarily publish from a Christian perspective, we’re glad to include writers from Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, or other faith traditions as well);

Culture: reviews and essays on books, music, art, and popular culture;

Society: the relationship of faith and politics; nonviolence, peacemaking, and a consistent life ethic; equality, justice, and solidarity with the oppressed; building a society beyond capitalism;

Education and vocation: raising children; work and the trades; the university and higher education; religious and other fully committed callings;

Nature and technology: sustainability and food; humans before machines; creation care; nature and the outdoorsInternational: faith, culture, creativity, daily life, and profiles from people building community around the world.

Articles and Essays

The articles we accept are generally narrative-driven, built around a real-life story rather than around an argued thesis; all the same, we may take an idea-driven piece if the subject is urgent and compelling. We publish both short articles (1000–2000 words) and features (generally 2000–3000 words, though we also publish longer pieces if warranted by the topic).

Reporting

Reported articles are an important part of our editorial mix. Any reporting-related expenses must be pre-approved.

Reviews

Reviews should be 1000 to 2000 words.

Letters to the Editor

We welcome letters to the editor, which should be no longer than 500 words and may be edited for clarity, length, and style.

Art and Photography

Please send us a pitch with links and your CV or bio.

Fiction Contest

Writers are invited to submit one original, previously unpublished short story in the annual Plough Short Fiction Contest. The winning author will receive two thousand dollars and the story will be published in Plough Quarterly. Only fiction submitted via the award page will be considered; Plough does not currently accept unsolicited submissions of fiction.

Poetry Award

We do not currently accept unsolicited submissions of poetry. Instead, poets are encouraged to submit their original, previously unpublished poems for consideration in Plough’s annual Rhina Espaillat Poetry Award. The winning poet will receive two thousand dollars and the winning poem will be published in Plough Quarterly. Only poems submitted via the award page will be considered; other poetry submissions cannot be accepted or processed.

Response Time

We’ll generally get back to you within six weeks. Feel free to contact us by email if you haven’t heard from us by then.

Payment and Publication

We are able to pay for articles upon publication. If we’re interested in your pitch or manuscript, an editor will contact you with our offered terms.

Our editorial team will then work with you, usually through several revisions, until the text is ready to be accepted for publication. This may be either as a web exclusive or in the print magazine. Most of our content (and our readers) are online; unless otherwise specified, please assume this is where your story will appear.