Pitch call: Write for Catnip Vol 2
Get paid to write about cats.
Hello writers,
Ask a cat, and they’ll tell you: any time is the right time for more catnip. And here at Broccoli, we’re listening. It’s time to make Volume 2 of Catnip—our joyful, sweet, sometimes silly but always smart print magazine celebrating all things cat—and we’re looking for your cat tales. Want to be notified when Volume 2 launches? Get on the waitlist here.
The best way to understand the type of work we’re looking for is to read Catnip Volume 1. If it has yet to cross your path, here’s a recap of some of the fiction, essays, interviews, profiles, and cat facts in it:
Cattitude Adjustment: A Q&A with cat behaviorist Kristiina Wilson reveals why cats do the things they do
Pawparazzi: How Terry deRoy Gruber strayed into becoming “the cat photographer.”
Catnap: The subversive art of sleeping
On the Cat Walk: Chris Watson of @catluminati on how to make friends with your neighborhood cats.
LOLcats: Before there was Grumpy Cat, Maru, or Oh Long Johnson, there was diabellalovescats.com.
Fiction: “Cat Pictures, Please”
Claws of a Viper, Feet of Cloudberries: Cats in folklore
Do Robot Cats Dream of Wireless Mice?: On the ineffable embodiment of divine grace that is a cat's love
From Catpricorn to Pawsces: What does your cat's astrological sign reveal about their purrsonality?
Cough it Up: Antidotes, jewels, and talismans; a hair-raising history of hairballs
Caturday Night Fever: On dressing up like a cat.
ASMeowRRR: The soundtrack of life with a cat
Legal Claws: Codifying cats in medieval Celtic laws.
Kitty Corners: Catty locations around the world
Cat Calls: Ways to say cat in many different languages
Kuroneko: Crossing paths with Japan’s black cats
The Year We Became Cats: On transforming into someone else and being yourself
Jardin du Chat: Plant a pleasure garden for a cat
Wings of Desire: A brief history of winged cats
My Cat’s Other Family: The story of a cat living a dual life
Ghost Cat: Remembering a beloved pet
A brief history of notable cat ladies
Round-ups of cat-themed books and films
Please note: We aren’t looking to repeat stories or themes in volume 02, so please don’t pitch us something we’ve already covered. Scratch a different part of the sofa!
Some helpful notes about Catnip to keep in mind as you think through your pitches:
It’s fun! Catnip is a magazine of joy and appreciation, so stories exploring challenging themes that skew sad or problematic (think ethical quandaries around domestication, big cats in cages, etc) are not a good fit.
While we may include product or brand features written by our in-house team, we’re not accepting pitches about brands or brand founders from writers or PR agents. If you are a brand interested in appearing in Catnip, please write to Jessica, our director of partnerships, about an advertising package (jessica@broccolimag.com).
Pitches for Catnip vol. 2 are due before Wednesday, February 26, 2025, at 9:00 A.M. Eastern Time.
Stories will be assigned by March 4, 2025, and first drafts will be due April 4, 2025. The magazine will be published spring, 2026.
How to pitch us:
Send all pitches to editors@broccolimag.com.
Use the pitch email to convey your voice and tone, and be sure to include a suggested format and proposed length. Here are some of our tips for crafting pitches.
If you pitch, be willing to embark on a collaborative and involved editing process with Broccoli’s editorial team (there will be edits!).
Rates will be $.50/word, negotiated as a flat fee upon commission. This means that we will set the rate based on the expected length of the piece. We do not recalculate the fee based on the final word count of your piece.
Extra questions? Email editors@broccolimag.com.
If you are a visual artist, there will a separate submission call later on. Stay tuned for that!
See you in the cardboard box,
Stephanie Madewell
Broccoli Editor
The following is a mostly true account involving pet cat Mimi, who was quite an adventurous indoors/outdoors cat. I say 'mostly true', because I obviously cannot read the feline's thoughts.
________
‘If only I had something new,’
she thought, ‘something adventurous
to do, like when the fields grew tall
fields from which wild fowl fed and flew’;
she the black feline feisty and precious
needed something new or to climb the wall.
.
She walked over to the windowpane
and looked out to the neighboring homes
to where she hoped to find something
—something new, beyond the back lane
rocky road where she often roams
to where her eyes would be wandering.
.
And when her attention was caught
by the towering shingle roof
sheltering the large corner store
she at once decided she ought
to climb to its high peak as proof
of her worth to those who did her adore.
.
Through the yards one by one she went
glancing around this and that corner
over then under fences tall
till she stood at the wall she’d meant
to conquer as a foreigner
without any fear that she’d fall.
.
She looked to the two garbage cans
leaning against the wooden shed
right next to the store that was so pink;
up she jumped, her feet and hands
reached the top by but a thread
of no better place could she think.
.
Having achieved her noteworthy climb
she gazed over to the swaying trees
unaware that her hostess stood near;
at the bus stop as passed the time
the woman looked up into the breeze
and saw her feline who knew no fear.
.
Thus the feline had done something new
and not seeing her hostess’s stare
she returned home fulfilled and content
for from this day excitement she drew
and she thought again she’d climb and dare
those high places worthy of her scent.
The following also is a mostly true account involving Mimi, who loved to play with my feet as I slept.
_________
She laid by his bared feet
at the foot of his bed
though in his dream they’d meet
which they did in his head.
.
For this sleek black feline
she’d been in there before
such she’d never decline
as that cat he’d adore.
A myth it couldn’t be
that her claws touched his toes
as the dreaming did he
was about that she knows.
.
The dream she boldly caught
that night she did invade
was the dream she had sought
the dream she’d long delayed.
Within she placed her claws
upon his sleep-bound feet
all performed with no flaws
then and there they did meet.
.
Though not feeling abused
by prickling on his toes
he still looked down confused
at each of five toes, two rows.
.
Naught of her did he find
in his dream created
though back to wakened mind
he saw her and stated
‘Mimi, it’s you — you rascal!’
yet he still adored her
while finding special
her response a smooth ‘mrrrrr’.
.
From the thick mattress down
she landed easy goes
as he said, ‘You little clown —
you leave alone my toes.’
Thought she: ‘Again we’ll meet
as you dream fast asleep
when the toes on your feet
from my paws you cannot keep.’