Submission Guidelines

Founded in 2002, the TransAdvocate is investigative news and nuanced commentary from a boots-on-the-ground trans advocate perspective. What sets the TransAdvocate apart is its commitment to publishing contextual pieces based upon original investigative effort. In other words, we don’t simply repeat the news, we report the news as uncovered through actual investigation.

Specifically, the TransAdvocate focuses on watchdogging anti-transgender media tropes and misinformation that gains social currency. We’re willing to do what it takes to expose hate — especially when hate is being peddled as reason, faith, or journalism. We here at the TrasnAdvocate generally won’t pull our punches and we are all too happy to drag the truth – kicking and screaming – into the light of day. We’re interested in original fact-checking, evidence-based opinion pieces, international reporting, investigative work, interviews and well as gorilla, advocate, and gonzo journalism. We are committed to intersectional feminist dialectics, diversity and enjoying what we do.

In 2019, the United States Library of Congress selected the TransAdvocate for inclusion in its historic collection of Internet materials related to the LGBTQ+ Studies Web Archive. This means that work published on the TransAdvocate will become part of the Library of Congress, ensuring its preservation for generations to come.

Submissions

How to Send Us Your Work: We accept submissions only through our submission form. Your work must be in one of the following file formats: .doc, .docx, .rtf, .pdf, xls, xlsx, .mp3, .mp4, .wmv, and .mov. If you are sending artwork (comics, photos, etc.), we prefer images to be a PNG file format. You will need to add a single paragraph author bio and include links to both your Twitter and FaceBook.

Review Time: Our internal review process may take as long as 12 weeks. All four TransAdvocate Editors will review your submission. Once you’ve submitted your work, an editor will update you each step of the way.

Becoming a TransAdvocate Contributor: Once you’ve had at least 3 articles published on the TransAdvocate, the Editors will work with you in creating your own author page on the site, issue you a transadvocate email address, help you become an approved google author, set up your own Tip Jar, invite you to join the TransAdvocate Writers Collective, and issue you press credentials.

Fees:  The TransAdvocate is non-profit organization and as such is organized around the community work we do. While the TransAdvocate was never intended to be a capitalist endeavor, honorariums are paid to authors for their contributions.

Contribution Type

2020 Honorarium Ranges

Crosspost 10.00 – 20.00
Short content piece (lists, how-to, etc.) 15.00 – 25.00
Longform analysis with chapters, with and without original multimedia, photos, and/or graphics 35.00 – 250.00
An investigative piece with original multimedia, photos, and/or graphics 30.00 – 250.00
Essay with original multimedia, photos, and/or graphics 25.00 – 150.00
Interviews with and without original multimedia, photos, and/or graphics 25.00 – 150.00
Op-eds, with and without original multimedia, photos, and/or graphics 25.00 – 150.00
Other Discuss with editor

Additionally, we offer members of the TransAdvocate Writers Collective a “Tip Jar” that will remain active with each piece you write for as long as your work remains part of the TransAdvocate site. Tips are paid via PayPal from the reader of your work directly to you.

If you’re interested in submitting your work, but are in a position to forego the honorarium, you may designate that your payment is donated back to the TransAdvocate’s writer’s fund or, direct that your payment goes to another TFA project (the Transgender Archive, the scholarship fund, etc.). If you’re in the position of being able to support the TransAdvocate writer’s fund, please consider doing so:

The Tip-line:

If you know of a story or need to discreetly notify the TransAdvocate of a tip, call us anytime at 708-274-7826.