So you want to be a guest writer for The Middle Spaces?

The Middles Spaces actively seeks out guest writers to publish here at least quarterly but is always open to pitches on comics books and/or music or some related medium (film, television, radio, etc. . .).  While most of our guest writers are recruited from academia, you don’t have to be an academic to write for us. There is a long tradition of fan scholarship in comics studies that The Middle Spaces seeks to foster as well.  All you need is a strong voice, a distinct point of view, and a willingness to critically interrogate texts (defined broadly) in line with this blog’s area of focus.

The Middle Spaces follows an open, developmental model fostered by digital humanities, in which editors and advisors are known to our writers, and provide several rounds of feedback, commentary, and collaboration before publication. We publish short essays (1000 to 3000 words), but will consider longer pieces  when compellingly written.  You should seek to strike an approachable and balanced perspective.  In other words, you can assume your audience knows something about the music or comics you are writing about, but deep knowledge or obscure references should be explained enough to provide the necessary context.  You’re encouraged to use hyperlinks to web sources that better explain your references.

We encourage prospective guest writers to read The Middle Spaces before submitting to The Middle Spaces, especially the work of our guest writers. Once accepted, submissions usually go through a two to three step editing process.

Upon publication, guest writers will receive an honorarium. While this compensation is unfortunately nominal, we at The Middle Spaces value the labor of our guest writers and want to pay them something for their time and effort. We understand that the honorarium is not very much, but while if you write for us it will likely be out of love and/or intellectual interest in the material and a desire to participate in a growing community, we’d still like to pay for a lunch or a new book.

Guest writers retain the publication rights to their work after a negotiable first publishing rights period of six months to one year.

Sound like something you want to do?

Shoot us an email at themiddlespaces@gmail.com with links to a writing sample and a brief pitch for what you want to write about.