WEBSITE SUBMISSIONS & GENERAL PITCHES FOR BI-ANNUAL PERIODICAL

Our Self Care invite writers, creatives, artists, guru to submit pitches and work to be considered for publication in Our Self Care magazine ourselfcaremag@gmail.com. Additionally you can submit your pitch, pieces or submission for the website in the same way. We accept pitches to our online magazine twice a year, centred on a theme outlined by our call for submissions. Our Self Care accepts electronic submissions, through email or online submission forms available through ourselfcaremag.com.

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If you do not follow the guidelines below, your submission may go unread. Submissions are accepted from persons who identify as femme presenting, non-bianary, two-spirit, trans*, and/or women living with mental health challenges and their direct allies (think support systems… not just Silver Linings Playbook fans). Send typed, unpublished material only (we consider work published online to be previously published). If work is submitted simultaneously, please let us know as soon as possible if it was accepted elsewhere so it can be withdrawn from the OSC que immediately.

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So you want to submit your work for publication in Our Self Care mag? Here’s what you should know:
 

The OSC tone is witty, straight talking, accessible, authentic, with mild dash of humour. Each issue features a combination of short fiction, creative nonfiction, visual art, poetry/prose, photography, essays, comic strips, short film, music, art & culture, reviews, little-known facts, illustrations,  and more. This can be in the form of visual and written essays, interviews, comics, journalism, profiles. Depending on the medium/form, pieces tend to be between 300 to 3,000 words, less than 10 pieces of imagery, and/or less than 4 minutes of audio/visual. The magazine has a broad breadth that is all loosely related to mental health and wellness of young Canadian femme/wom*n. This means topics can range from: disability rights, legal issues, labour, the environment, Indigenous affairs, social services, public policy, education, health care, global trends, race/racism, youth, media, science, queer issues, feminism. [Many of these pieces may require imagery of some sort to aid in their telling.]

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Work should be:

• Thoughtful and challenge societal norms which are grounded in hate and oppression

• People-oriented stories that humanize and ground larger systemic/societal issues

• Pieces that use authentic voices based on lived experiences, feature compelling characters, tell use narrative/art as a tool to counter misinformation, and propose concrete solutions to pressing problems.

• Tongue-and-cheek satire that dissects the media’s bias against persons living with mental health challenges (such as pop culture continued use of stereotypes)

• pieces offering practical information not generally available in the mainstream media

• Literary journalism, essays and memoir about our society’s relationship with  mental health culture.

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Published twice a year, OSC Magazine is an innovative digital magazine that publishes relatable, engaging, diverse, and challenging writing and art by Canadian and international writers and artists.  Our Self Care articles should offer background and context to trending Canadian issues that directly affect our audience, or an important story that are not being told elsewhere, and/or challenge the mainstream media perspective. It’s important that OSC is involved in shaping a piece in early stages as our editorial process includes making sure content is accessible to all audiences of varying abilities. Issues are planned months in advance, sometimes issue lineups are often finalized up to two months before the issue date. Please consider this when pitching pieces tied to particular events or dates. [i.e. double check before submitting Christmas in July poems]

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Please include a brief bio and a cover letter with all contact information, title(s) and genre of work you are submitting. OSC submission categories are flexible. Keep in mind that our audience is national. Content needs to be informal and accessible for all potential audiences.

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• All submissions should be original and previously unpublished. Previously published work includes work published on social media and personal websites. If it is available publicly online, that means it is published.

• For fiction and nonfiction submissions, please provide a word count.

• Please also include a writing sample or links to your previous work.

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When submitting by email, please include your name and which category your submission fits under in subject line. Caterogies provided below:

• Fiction

• Poetry

• Illustration and photography

• Essays, features, and creative non-fiction

• profile, comic, other

• film, music, new media

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Our Self Care receives submissions daily, but the editors meet several times per year. Allow us a few weeks to respond to your query before following up. At most the response time will slow down to 3 months, because OSC receives a large amount of queries. If you have waited longer than this for a reply, please feel free to query us. We regret that we may not be able to respond in every case. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us at ourselfcaremag@gmail.com.