Writer's Guidelines
Sacred Fire is looking for writers who know what’s cooking! Times are changing. If you sense the awakening world and can light a fire with your words, we want to know you.
Sacred Fire is a provocative magazine that provides a fresh perspective on modern culture. We want articles, interviews, stories and poetry that explore the connection between people and the living world, and the value of traditional wisdom to guide us toward sustainable living. During the last five years we have attracted an international readership through contributions by writers such as Barry Lopez, Louise Erdrich, Martín Prechtel, Dorianne Laux, and Malidoma Somé. We are broadly distributed across America through Borders, Barnes and Noble, and countless smaller newsstands. Sacred Fire seeks talented writers who can produce short material, develop features and pitch great stories that reach and enrich our readers.
Appropriate Submission Lengths:
Creative non-fiction, articles and interviews: 1500 to 4500 words
Poems: 50 lines or less--please no more than three poems per submission.
Fiction: 3000 words or less
Miscellaneous pieces: 50-500 words. These may include short profiles or interviews of spiritual leaders or prominent thinkers; media reviews—books, films, music, etc.; vignettes of powerful experiences you’ve had; profiles of groups doing interesting and important work in spiritual transformation and/or sustainable living, especially if you have personal experience with those groups; news items, especially those that are left uncovered by the dominant media, that seem indicative of the way the world is speaking to us.
We prefer electronic submissions that are typed double-spaced in standard fonts of at least 12 point type. Make sure that your contact information is included in both your cover letter and first page. These should be sent to submissions@sacredfiremagazine.com. If you need to send hard copy (which will not be returned), please submit with an SASE to:
Editors
Sacred Fire Magazine
10720 NW Lost Park Road
Portland, OR 97229.
If you have an idea for an interview or feature article that you'd like to do, send a written proposal to submissions@sacredfiremagazine.com. Or contact Jonathan Merritt, Editor-in-Chief, jmerritt@sacredfiremagazine.com, 503-701-8168. Include your phone number along with your contact information.
Here are some ideas that we are interested in pursuing. We are always open to more.
• The manifestations of heart—courage, ferocity, wisdom, passion and compassion—as it leads us toward deeper connection and transformation
• Traditional wisdom—especially personal experience of wisdom traditions and wisdom keepers.
• Fire as a spiritual presence
• Organizations at work towards transforming consciousness
• Blessing ceremonies/Ceremonies of Connection and Gratitude—again, personal experience
• Humor—jokes, anecdotes or cartoons that are in line with our vision
• Healthy Cooking/ Recipes-particularly focused on traditional diets and lifestyles
• Natural Remedies—How did the people who lived here before us treat injury and illness
• Spiritual Healing-especially as experienced through traditional healers
• Sustainable practices for a transforming lifestyle
• Initiations—both formal and those the world brings to us
• Intentional communities, particularly those gathered around traditional spiritual practice
• Media Reviews—especially those books, films, music albums, art exhibits, webcasts, etc. that might escape the attention of popular media.
• The Voice/Experience of Youth—What do young people have to say about these times of transformation?
• Satiric (but not cynical) commentary on current events
• Emotion as the experience of divine energy
• The Livingness of the World
• Encounters with the Divine