Submissions

The Dirty Spoon is currently open to new submissions.

Please email us your stories and pitches at thedirtyspoonavl@gmail.com

 

 

Contribute Your Writing, Interviews & Art

We welcome contributors–first-time authors, established writers, chefs, servers, food industry workers, farmers, foodies, non-foodies, and everyone in between to pitch or submit your full-length writings for Dirty Spoon.

The Dirty Spoon publishes a monthly radio show, podcast, and online journal. The radio show, hosted on WPVM 103.7 in Asheville, airs on the first Friday of every month. We publish a podcast episode of the monthly show afterward on our Soundcloud and Apple Podcasts. The digital journal publishes the written pieces at the same time, with custom artwork for each piece.

We work about 1-3 months ahead, sourcing stories and working with writers for upcoming publications. We feature approximately 3 or 4 pieces per show and journal. While we don’t have themes for issues, we find that pieces line up to complement each other and create a cohesive, well-rounded show.

 

What we look for:

We look for essays, interviews, and articles about people who work in our consumable culture of food and beverage.

You can submit short email pitches OR full completed manuscripts. Please wait 2 weeks for a response to your pitch OR 2 weeks for a response to your full manuscript. In your pitch, we don’t need anything fancy, just a short introduction to you, your idea or story, and perhaps a link or two to past clips of your writing. If you’re a debut author, that’s okay, too! In your full manuscript, make sure your name appears somewhere on the file.

Nonfiction only.  Personal essays, story-driven interview profiles, and narrative nonfiction journalism. No PR puff pieces. No recipes or how-to.

Finished essays, profiles, and articles typically run between 800-1500 words.

To get a sense of what we’re looking for, please see past pieces here online and listen to a recent episode! We describe ourselves as “If StoryCorps or This American Life focused on food and had a homemade mix tape playing throughout.”

 

 

What we pay:

At this time, we offer an honorarium of $25-$50, determined by length and style of the piece, as well as if this is the first place it’s been published. Payment is made upon publication via Paypal, Venmo, or mailed check. We are an unpaid volunteer team and raise our funds through Patreon. We promote your work generously through the website, radio, social media, and other media platforms where we can.

 

Please see our FAQ page for more info on The Dirty Spoon and submissions.