Contribute to Peppermint
Want to write for Peppermint or would love to see your brand or story on our pages? Read on! As we are inundated with submissions emails and are not able to respond to everyone, reading (and following) our submission guidelines will help all of us!
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
What is Peppermint about?
Peppermint is an Australian quarterly print magazine and digital platform focused on style, sustainability and substance. As a small, independent publication that champions ethical fashion, diversity, climate action, inclusivity, slow living, sewing and DIY, social justice and more, we tell stories with authenticity, thoughtfulness and passion.
We care deeply about not just elevating others making change, but in making a difference ourselves. Read more about our impact over here.
What is your ethos?
Our ethos and purpose is to provide information and inspiration through content that aims to empower, entertain and educate – with the aim of making the world, our environment and our communities more inclusive, hope-filled, fair and sustainable.
Are you accepting new writers and contributors?
Peppermint magazine accepts submissions of photography, illustration and written work. However, before contacting us, we firstly ask that you have read Peppermint and understand our style, content and tone. Any pitches that do not clearly state how your pitch fits with our ethos and editorial pillars, will not be accepted at all.
We are always looking for writers (especially in the social justice, First Nations, climate change, sustainable fashion and sewing genres) to have on our books that can write in the Peppermint voice, so if you don’t have a specific pitch but would like to be considered for commissions, get in touch with samples of your work.
As with writers, most of our photography and illustration work is commissioned for specific features (unless it’s a feature on the artist themselves). But we are always open to the work of new talents to have on our books. A simple email with some examples of your work and/or a link to your website or blog would be great!
What kind of stories and pitches do you accept?
We love receiving pitches and submissions that cover our main editorial categories. Rather than covering timely or current news issues for the print magazine, our main aim is to publish evergreen articles with longevity. Please keep this in mind when preparing your pitch.
EDITORIAL PILLARS:
We cover all of these these topics through an ethical/sustainable/fair lens:
- Sustainable/ethical fashion
- Sewing, craft and DIY
- Environment and climate change
- Diversity and inclusion
- First Nations stories
- Sustainable and regenerative food, farming and gardening
- Mindfulness and mental health
- Slow and considered travel
- Green houses (including decor and lifestyle) and environmentally-aware design
- Natural beauty and body positivity/neutrality
STORY TYPES:
- Third-person explainers and in-depth features
- Personal essays and first-person stories that have a unique perspective on a universal issue.
- Smaller, lively round-up pieces covering lifestyle topics, brands and products
FOR THE WEBSITE:
Our website is a sister, not a twin, to the print magazine. Here, we have more flexibility in terms of style and tone though pieces should always be well-researched, fact-checked and based on our main content categories and ethos.
We’re open to a mix of features on our website, from inspiring stories, roundups, listicles, tutorials, sewing hacks, DIYs, upcycling projects and more. Here’s a short list of some of our most-loved pieces, as an example.
Roundup: https://peppermintmag.com/ethical-sustainable-sneaker-brands/
Roundup: https://peppermintmag.com/sewing-films/
DIY tutorial:https://peppermintmag.com/diy-fabric-planters/
Brand feature story: https://peppermintmag.com/great-wrap-plastic-waste/
Roundup: https://peppermintmag.com/where-to-buy-fabric/
Informative feature: https://peppermintmag.com/how-to-respectfully-navigate-26-january-and-above-all-be-a-good-ally/
DIY tutorial: https://peppermintmag.com/continuous-bias-binding-tutorial/
What kind of stories do you not publish?
Before you pitch, here is a rough guide of what we don’t publish. It’s not a hard and fast list, but a general guideline.
- Basic, entry-level sustainability articles (we assume that our audience has a fairly strong understanding of this area)
- Product reviews (unless part of our Experimint series)
- General mums, babies and parenthood angles
- Any brand or content that does not align with our sustainability ethos
- News and current affairs
- A press release about your brand
- Events (unless they are part of a partnership)
- General health and wellness
- Any content, story or brand that makes claims that can not be verified.
GENERAL SUBMISSION FAQS
Who do I direct my pitch or enquiry to?
Please do not send any pitches through social media DMs. Send your idea to either the submissions email (submissions@peppermintmag.com) or directly to the editor (check the Contact Us page). Although we are a small team that generally works across all channels, it’s best to direct your pitch to the individual in charge of that channel. Currently, for all editorial enquiries across print and digital, it is Peppermint‘s editor Samantha van Egmond (sam@peppermintmag.com) and for sewing/DIY it’s our sewing coordinator Laura Jackson (sewing@peppermintmag.com). If you are interested in advertising, please contact Michelle Holt (michelle@peppermintmag.com). For any non-financial partnership ideas (media sponsorships, events, general assistance) get in touch with our community and partnerships manager Kelly Yates (kelly@peppermintmag.com). All contact details for our current team are published in each issue of the magazine. See Our Team page for more details.
Who is the Peppermint audience?
Peppermint’s reader is part of a rapidly growing number of individuals who appreciate good design and creativity, but also care about social and environmental issues and things that matter.
Peppermint Demographic:
- 98% female, all ages (from 16-65)
- 13% aged between 16 to 25 years old
- 30% aged between 26 to 35 years old
- 22% aged between 36 to 45 years old
- 35% aged between 46 to 66+ years old
What are the cutoff dates for pitches for each issue?
We are open to pitches all year round, but if you are aiming for a particular issue, we are always working at least three months ahead. That means that for our Summer Issue, the cut off for feature content pitches is mid-August. For our Limelight, Eco Abode, Entertainmint and Beauty sections, we do consider content closer to our deadline period, which starts at around six weeks before the issue goes to print.
Can I offer my content or idea to another magazine or publication?
If you have pitched content to another publication or media organisation, please let us know that your pitch is not exclusive. If it has only been offered to us, then please indicate a reasonable timeframe that you’ll need a response by, before it is pitched elsewhere. We will not accept pitches or articles that have been published anywhere else (online or in print) and will consider any omissions of this information as a breach of contract.
How do I get my brand featured?
We are happy to accept press releases from brands or PR companies and we love hearing about new brands doing good work in the sustainability space, however please keep in mind that due to deadlines, resources and space limitations, we can only ever cover a limited number of brands. If your brand fits with our ethos and aesthetic, we may be in touch to let you know. Because we create all content in-house, we often don’t need to reach out prior to inclusion, unless we need extra information or high resolution images.
The only guarantee to have your brand featured is by advertising – get in touch with Michelle if you’d like to chat about options.
I own a brand and I’d like to contribute a guest article for the magazine.
Generally we do not accept stories from brand owners unless it is about a topic other than your brand, or something that is not a promotional piece. We will not link to your brand if you have been commissioned to write something for us. Personal stories about your journey or business challenges may be accepted occasionally, or if your story is something we’d like to cover, we will commission a writer to interview you.
I run an event – will you feature it?
We don’t publish print stories on one-off or annual events so that our content is as evergreen as possible. We rarely feature events online unless it’s part of a partnership.
I’m just starting my brand/kickstarter/social enterprise and I have yet to launch. Will Peppermint run a story on me or support my campaign?
Usually we cover brands that are available to readers via a website or in real life and unless your story relates to a more overarching theme or issue, is an innovative piece of tech that’s part of addressing a larger environmental/sustainability issue or something similar, then we’d recommend waiting until you are almost ready to launch.
I’ve emailed submissions with my pitch. When can I expect to hear back from you?
Unfortunately we cannot respond to all individual pitches and brand submissions. Generally, if the content is of interest, we will contact you as soon as we are able to, although, because of our quarterly cycle, it can sometimes be a couple of months before we are actively working on a particular issue. Particularly for brands and businesses that we include in our round ups, Limelight and Eco Abode sections (for example) our editorial process can sometimes mean that things can move and change between issues, right up until prior to when we send the magazine to print. As a result, we sometimes can’t give time frames for when something may or may not be included in the magazine.
I would love to meet in person to share my idea/brand/pitch.
We love meeting and chatting with passionate business owners and individuals but we are a really small team with very limited availability, so in-person meetings for story pitches and brand introductions are not possible, sorry. This applies to PR companies too.
I would like to send your team a promotional product.
Please feel free to send your product for consideration, however, keep in mind that it does not always guarantee coverage. We are sent a lot of products in the office and space is extremely limited so there are many factors that determine a product or brand’s inclusion. We also are very mindful of not having products sent to us that will not be used by our team, so we are happy for you to ask first before sending us something. Please also consider your packaging when delivering to us – sending a small organic face moisturiser packed with polystyrene pellets in a big box wrapped in plastic will not win you brownie points around here.
FAQS FOR WRITERS AND CONTRIBUTORS
What do I include in my pitch?
Please send an email to submissions@peppermintmag.com with the following information included. Remember to be as succinct as possible – keep emails very brief (no more than a few short paragraphs) with minimal attachments if necessary (a simple .doc format or PDF is preferred). Please do not send a Dropbox link for us to download images unless requested.
EMAIL SUBJECT LINE
All submission emails must have the subject line ‘Peppermint magazine submission: [title of submission]’. Any emails without this subject line will unfortunately not be opened, due to the overwhelming volume of submissions we receive. This helps us to know that you have read (and followed!) our guidelines, and helps your email stand out above the bulk emails we receive.
SUGGESTED HEADLINE
Please include headline ideas for the story. What’s the crux of the article? The point that you’d like readers to take away? What made you interested in the idea or topic? How would you communicate that to an acquaintance who knows nothing about it?
RELEVANCE
What content pillars does it fall under? What makes it relevant to Peppermint and our audience? Let us know briefly and clearly why it’s perfect for us.
BACKGROUND
Why now? Has it been in the news? Is everyone talking about it online? Has someone important/interesting made a comment on the issue? A study or research released? A new/innovative product launch? Is it your story? Is it an area you are qualified in? What’s the hook that will pique interest? If you think you’re the perfect person to pen this article, let us know why.
CONTENT
What is the article going to cover and how? Please explain, briefly, how you plan to cover the topic in the Peppermint style, and what sets it apart from how it has been covered or will be covered elsewhere. Please list the experts you’ll speak to and any research/case studies/sources you plan to use.
CONCLUSION
How will you wrap up the article and what do you want the reader to conclude? It’s fine if this changes as you write, but it’s always a good idea to check in with the briefing editor to let them know the change of direction, especially if it’s a large deviation. Also include the word count you think you’ll need.
PHOTOGRAPHY OR ILLUSTRATIONS
Do you have any imagery to accompany the piece? Will we need to shoot or illustrate it? Having great photos or illustrations available will greatly support your pitch.
ABOUT YOU
If we have not worked with you before, please attach or link to any articles to showcase your work that is in a style relevant to Peppermint.
FACT CHECKING
At Peppermint we are very protective of our content, and take great pride in cutting through the noise of difficult issues with education and information. As there has been an increase in disinformation and misinformation recently, we have been refining and strengthening our policies on claims – especially regarding any evidence-based information on topics particularly surrounding health, sustainability, climate, etc. We require any stats, facts or claims (in editorial and also advertisements) to have a clear reliable origin (for example be backed by peer-reviewed scientific evidence or the origin to have an easily identifiable, verifiable source) to assist us with our fact checking. All factual assertions must be linked to a credible source (please ask for a copy of our Style Guide for more information).
Do you accept photo shoots?
If you have created a fashion or beauty shoot (or are planning on shooting one) that you think may suit Peppermint, then by all means feel free to contact us with some sample shots and details/concepts of the shoot. Please include the follow information:
- The brands/clothing used
- How it suits our ethos (organic, recycled, vintage, handmade, fair trade, locally-made etc)
- The model’s age (not under 16yrs) and the location of the shoot.
- Any other details that are important – eg. model diversity (body, size, ability, race) or message (what story/idea/belief the shoot is trying to portray that fits with our ethos/content).
Please remember that Peppermint encourages the use of relatable, diverse, un-retouched models and will also not publish any images with models wearing fur, fast fashion, smoking or engaging in any other behaviours that go against our core values. Also please keep any attachments small, preferably in jpeg format. We will contact you if we require any higher-resolution images or further details.
Please note that a shoot for one specific brand is not a fashion shoot – it’s a brand campaign. We will not publish that sorry.
Also note: if you are planning on submitting a photo shoot, then please do not publish it on your website or social media. We will only accept it if it has not been published elsewhere.
Important things to note for contributors:
- Say you love the magazine? Then read us! If you’ve never read Peppermint magazine before, then pick up a copy and get stuck in before you pitch. The pitches that win us over are from writers that understand the publication, how we cover topics, our sections and the balance of content, as well as tone and style. The best way to do that is to become familiar with our print and digital content. Get in touch if you’d like a copy of our style guide.
- Please search “Peppermint + the topic” online (or search our website) before pitching to make sure we haven’t covered it recently, though most of the print content we publish doesn’t make its way onto the website. We are open to pitches that cover similar ground to previous articles, however your idea needs to be fresh, unusual or offer a different perspective that is helpful for the reader.
- We want our content to be inspiring, uplifting and hopeful but it also needs to be useful and applicable to the everyday person. Aspirational stories are lovely to read and look at, but the average reader also needs to learn something new or take away a new idea or perspective that helps inform their actions too.
- Always keep diversity in mind when researching articles and finding sources/talent, even if the article isn’t about race, identity, or inclusion.
- We can’t take responsibility for any unsolicited emails or ideas, as many people often contact us with similar ideas and pitches (or it may be something we have already thought of ourselves but just haven’t fit into our schedule yet).
- Please keep in mind our lead times of several months before a print issue is published.
