Pitches (TTRPG)
Hello! I appreciate your interest in writing for The Hearth Magazine! I’m excited and proud for what this magazine is and will become, and excellent articles are the foundation of that.
The Hearth Magazine is committed to publishing work by writers and creators from the global TTRPG community, as well as writers from groups traditionally marginalized within our industry and hobby. We especially encourage people of color, 2SLGBTQIA+, Indigenous people, and people living in the global south to pitch to us. You do not need to explain or justify your marginalization for us or make your pitch about your identity.
I want to help you get the best result from your submission, so please read about our Commitments as well as the guidelines below fully before submitting. If you have questions please contact me at TheHearthMagazine@Gmail.com. – Brent Jans, Editor-in-chief
What We’re Looking For
The Hearth Magazine features articles, games, and supplemental material for tabletop roleplaying games that are not Dungeons & Dragons, with a particular focus on games from independent and small press creators and publishers. The Hearth has nothing against D&D, it’s a fine game, but it already has plenty of support. We want to look at the rest of the hobby.
For at least the first year of publication we are looking for submissions to a maximum of 1000 words. Submissions can be any of the following, and this list is not exhaustive:
Articles about some aspect of the general TTRPG hobby
Articles focused on some aspect of a particular non-D&D TTRPG
Supplemental materials for any non-D&D TTRPG; short adventures, magic items, monsters, encounter locations, non-player characters, original playbooks, and so on
Short tabletop roleplaying games for multi-player or solo play, as well as games that could act as a minigame inside an existing TTRPG
Something you pitch us that you don’t feel is covered above
The Hearth Magazine is not currently accepting short or serialized fiction; while we love good SF, that work is currently outside the magazine’s scope.
How to Submit to The Hearth Magazine
Your first step is pitching your article idea. Pitches should be emailed to the magazine at TheHearthMagazine@gmail.com and have “PITCH” and your name in the subject line. In your pitch email please include:
Maximum of 150 words explaining what you want to write about, what game system it’s for or if it’s a general interest piece, why it’s of interest to you, and why it might be of interest to readers;
A short (50-100 words) biography including your pronouns, your website/portfolio (if applicable), and where we can find you on social media.
I will contact you by email within two business days (even I take weekends off) to confirm receipt of your pitch. I want your best idea, or at most your best two ideas; please send a separate email for each pitch. If you submit more than that before I have contacted you to accept or reject your pitches, I’ll ignore and delete anything sent after the first two.
I promise to read every pitch that comes to me and I will respond as soon as I am able, whether your pitch is successful or not. I’m hoping that process won’t take too long, but honestly I don’t know yet how many pitches I’ll receive so I’m not setting a time frame yet. If it has been longer than two weeks you are invited to send me one follow up email, to which I’ll respond.
If your pitch is not successful I’ll let you know by email, and I’ll do my best to explain why. If I think it’s a good idea but could use some work, I’ll tell you that as well and I’ll be as specific as I can. Please understand that I may receive the same or similar pitches from multiple writers, so I may reject your pitch simply because I’ve accepted it from a writer who submitted ahead of you. But the magazine will never take one writer’s pitch and commission another writer to do it; if I take your pitch it’s for your work.
If We Accept Your Pitch
If your pitch is accepted I will contact you by email to set the terms by which you’ll write for The Hearth Magazine and be paid for your work. The specific details in that email will include:
Confirmation of the pitch made and any modifications to the pitch we might suggest;
Confirmation of which issue we want to publish you in and the deadlines for turnover of your first draft (generally 30 days prior to issue publication date) and your final draft (generally 21 days prior to issue publication date);
Confirmation of your payment information;
Confirmation that, while the accepted piece remains your sole property, by paying you to write for us The Hearth Magazine is licensing first world serial rights of your work;
Confirmation that, after ninety (90) days of the original publication date you retain the right to republish the work in a book, anthology, collection, or similar product, as well as on a personal website or newsletter, with credits and acknowledgement given to The Hearth Magazine;
Confirmation that, excepting the above, you do not have the right to republish in another website, magazine, or similar publication.
Your receipt of this email and your response accepting the terms within, including any interim emails expanding or confirming these terms, will constitute an agreement between The Hearth Magazine and you as a writer.
Writing for The Hearth Magazine
Only when we have both agreed on the terms as outlined above, will you be encouraged to begin writing. The Hearth Magazine pays fifteen (15) cents USD a word to a maximum submission length of 1000 words. Payment will be based on the word count of your final draft, the amount confirmed with you at time of turnover, and paid to you within thirty (30) days of receiving your final draft. Any editorial changes made after accepting the final draft and confirming the word count will not reduce or change the payment amount. Payments will be made through PayPal unless alternate payment arrangements are agreed upon while setting the terms. You will also receive a free copy of the issue of The Hearth Magazine in which you appear.
Your first draft is due thirty (30) days prior to publication date as outlined in the email at terms. At this point we will also ask you for an updated bio (if it doesn’t need updating then you’re good) and a selfie or headshot we can use to credit you and for promotional purposes.
When you turn over this first draft it will be read by an editor and returned to you with any requested changes. You will have seven days to complete these changes and return a final draft; deadline for the final draft is twenty one (21) days prior to publication date. Receiving your final draft starts the clock on your payment, which you will receive within thirty (30) days of that turnover.
Promotion
In addition to your credits, photo, and bio in The Hearth Magazine issue in which you appear, you will be tagged whenever we specifically mention your article on social media. We also plan to maintain a list of contributors to the magazine on our website which will include your photo and bio, with links to wherever you keep an online presence. Time allowing only, between issues we may also conduct a short interview with you either online or in print, to post to the website and social media.
A note about your photo: if you would prefer not to have your photo used you are not required to provide one. Let us know your preference when you turn over your first draft and we will credit and promote your work with just your bio and social media tags. To avoid confusion over identity we will not use any placeholder images or icons.
All of the above, including any details specific to your work, will be included in the email confirming the terms of your work. They’re included here on the website for the sake of transparency. Importantly, until you receive that email from The Hearth Magazine and confirm any terms with us, you are not yet working for the magazine, so please don’t start any work prior to that.
About AI
While The Hearth Magazine’s stance on generative AI is made clear in our Commitments, it bears repeating here.
The use of generative AI for any creative purpose is theft and plagiarism, and The Hearth Magazine will never knowingly publish generative AI work of any kind. If you submit an AI generated pitch or work to us, you will be banned from our publication and exposed publicly for the protection of other projects and publications. If this discovery is made within the thirty day window for payment you will not be paid. If it is made after publication, the AI generated work will be stripped from the issue and the issue will be republished. The Hearth Magazine will then take steps to recover your payment by any means deemed necessary.
If you read through this all, give yourself a gold star and the tasty drink of your choice! If you have any questions about the above, please contact me (Brent) at TheHearthMagazine@gmail.com and I will do my best to answer them.
