Collaborate With Us

We hope our stories will inspire, connect, and catalyze creative communities.

We are looking for stories that:

• you are excited or inspired by, or want to tell a friend about
• focus on people and their passion and inspirations, rather than just organizational perspectives
• are rooted in community activation, cross pollination, and creative intersections between people
• expand the understanding of what it means to be a Midwesterner, and highlight diverse perspectives and identities, especially BIPOC, Native, and rural voices
• seek to celebrate what has happened, rather than inform the public about events that will happen
• show examples of creativity beyond what might be shared in traditional arts coverage

We work with writers, photographers, videographers, and illustrators to produce and cover impact-driven, people-focused stories across the region, with an emphasis on stories created of, by, and for people of color, Native communities, and rural communities.

We do not accept book proposals, manuscripts, or any works of fiction.

Yes, we commission stories year-round on a rolling basis! You can pitch us a story idea here.

Yes, we pay for all contracted work! See our compensation rates above.

We review story pitch submissions bi-weekly and commission them on a rolling basis. We follow up with creatives/story pitches that align with the goals of our storytelling initiative every 2-4 weeks.

Creatives (writers, photographers, videographers, illustrator, and podcasters) interested in staying informed about this initiative can join our Midwest Creatives Pool via this form. We send our open calls and other collaboration opportunities to this group via email.

We value the insight of people reporting from their community, and are actively considering proximity to place and story subject in our commissioning process. While we are currently only accepting pitches from our region’s nine states and the Native Nations making up that geography, we encourage anyone with a strong connection to the Midwest to submit their information to the pool for potential opportunities in the future.