Submitting article to a Jewish magazine- help a first timer!

amother

↑ Obsidian

Sun, Jan 12 2025, 11:27 am

amother Lightgray wrote:

How would I know to ask for payment if I don’t buy all the magazines each week? I might not even know my article was printed a few months after submitting…

Why can’t they issue payment at the same time they print?
Why would I have to reach out to them and ask them to pay me?

They should absolutely pay after printing without you reaching out, and in my experience, the reliable magazines do. Some of them also tell you the week when your piece is running.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Yesterday at 2:00 pm

Thank you everyone, I submitted my piece, now trying not to hold my breath!

Sharing this for anyone else in the future, this was the automatic response I got:

Thank you for your submission to Binah Magazine.
All submissions must include your name in addition to a pseudonym if you wish to use one, your email address, and a contact number.
Binah will honor confidentiality if specified, but we must have a way to reach all contributors.
Please note that all submissions are subject to edits. We try our best to notify the contributor and discuss edits but Binah reserves the right to publish even if the author cannot be reached. Binah’s submission policy is that all works are to be original and unpublished. Handwritten submissions as well as faxes are no longer being accepted.

PinkFridge

Yesterday at 4:16 pm

amother OP wrote:

Hatzlachah! Looking forward to reading it. Though you'll have to tell us it's you!

amother

↑ Lightgray ↓

Yesterday at 4:44 pm

I submitted one article to the Ami and they didn’t accept it.
That really discouraged me as I have many pieces that I wrote and thought I chose a really good piece to submit.
It’s possible that it was a little too short for that particular magazine.

I bought a laptop recently to do more writing but I became lazy and hardly wrote anything. It’s probably the fear of rejection in the back of my head…

I think once I see something good enough to be published it will encourage me to write and submit more.

amother

↑ Eggshell ↓

Today at 4:35 pm

amother Bluebonnet wrote:

A personal narrative is usually 700–1000 words. I think magazine are open to new writers. I would write your pen name under the title and mention that in the cover letter.

The length really depends.
My most recent story was a bit more than 5,000 words.
Most of my stories have been between 3-5,000 words.

amother

↑ Eggshell ↓

Today at 4:50 pm

amother Lightgray wrote:

If your article gets accepted, you will be notified. This is what you can expect.

1. You submit the article. You may get an automatic email saying that they need 4-6 weeks to review. Binah asks for 8 weeks. Ami responds the fastest.

2. You will get an email letting you know if it was accepted. If you don't get one in the timeframe they said, you can email them for an update.

3. If your article gets accepted, it may be weeks or months before they print it. THey will send you the edited version before it goes to print. You will have a chance to look it over and let them know if you approve any changes they made. You will know which week it goes in so you can buy the mag that week.

4. If it's your first time, you need to reach out to Accounts. This is because until now you were dealing with the editorial office and they are separate from the business office.

5. You can expect to get paid at the end of the month after the piece was printed, assuming you got your paperwork in before payroll. As far as I know, they pay a flat rate per word. It's not like you name your price. All 3 mags pay the same rate (accurate as of 2018. Not sure how it is now.)

6. Any future articles that gets printed will be reimbursed automatically- you will not need to ask for payment.

amother

↑ Eggshell ↓

Today at 4:56 pm

amother OP wrote:

Hatzlacha. I would encourage you not to hold your breath.
I don't know why you chose Binah, but they take super long to respond. As I said above, I have had 2 pieces published in Binah, and my experience has been that they are very slow with decisions. Both times I reached out to them several times before they finally let me know that the article has been accepted, way past the initial timeframe they gave me.
Maybe things have changed since then, so I hope for your sake that you get a faster response.

amother

↑ Eggshell ↓

Today at 4:59 pm

amother Obsidian wrote:

They should absolutely pay after printing without you reaching out, and in my experience, the reliable magazines do. Some of them also tell you the week when your piece is running.

How can they pay if you haven't given them the payment info?
Not sure what your experience has been, but I have had a similar experience with Binah, Ami and Mishapacha regarding payment.
They all tell you when the piece will be published.
Once it's in the editing stage, you will be exchanging emails so you can ask them at that point.

amother

↑ Eggshell ↓

Today at 6:44 pm

amother Copper wrote:

How do you submit an article?

ETA to clarify, what are the magazine contact emails? Or do you physically mail it in?

Each magazine has an email for submissions. They can be found in the first few pages by the table of contents. I think its:
Submissions@mishpacha.com
Submissions@amimagazine.org
Stories@binahmagazine.com

(Double check please before sending. )

They generally do not accept things mailed in with physical mail.

amother

↑ Copper

Today at 6:44 pm

amother Eggshell wrote:

Thank you!

amother

↑ Eggshell

Today at 6:46 pm

amother Stonewash wrote:

What type of writing do you submit?

Fiction/ real life, etc?

Do they want submissions in all categories?

I always thought they have staff that they pay, but didn’t realize they pay individual writers as well.

Whatever you want.
I think Binah accepts poems, though I dont think I’ve ever seen any poems in Mishpacha or Ami.
I usually send in real life stories. Best thing is to familiarize yourself with the magazine.
Each magazine also has their own staff, but they occasionally will print things that are sent in from random people.