If we open up the call again, we'll announce it through our email newsletter. You can sign up here or in the black area below.
When you're ready to submit your work, please use the form on our Submittable page. We require your contact information, bio, and a headshot along with your manuscript. Please send a large, high-resolution image for your headshot.
Upload your written manuscript as a Word document (.docx). Manuscripts should be double spaced and use a generic, legible 12pt font, such as Times New Roman. Please use regular black text. Follow additional instructions below that might pertain to your piece.
We’re looking for original voices of all kinds that communicate in broadly accessible (not academic) styles. The primary language of publication is English, though we welcome works that include words or phrases in Spanish, Nahuatl, and other languages.
If you include phrases from these languages, please provide a parenthetical translation or restatement in English. If you include phrases in Nahuatl, please share which dialect you prefer, along with a link to a dictionary or similar reference for spelling. (We acknowledge that there are several varieties of Nahuatl, and we would like to respect yours.)
Ofrenda is not an academic publication, and we prefer pieces that rely mostly on the author’s own expertise and experience as opposed to cited sources. However, if you need to cite a source, please do. As much as possible, blend the reference into your sentences. Please avoid descriptive footnotes if you can. If you need to list works cited, please use MLA style. (We simplify using a house style that is close to MLA.)
We encourage you to provide photos or other images to accompany your text. Please label each file, include descriptive captions in your manuscript, and provide credit/attribution for all images included. All images should be uploaded to the submission form as individual vector files or print-quality JPEG files (a minimum of 300 DPI at 11 x 17 inches).
Important: You must have the legal right to share/publish these images as your own. Do not copy/paste from the internet or add others’ artwork without their written permission. If there’s an artist you like, and you feel their work would illustrate your ideas well, provide us with their name and examples, and we’ll try to obtain the appropriate permissions to publish their work with yours.
You can also include audio and video to enhance your piece, submitted as mp3 or mp4 files.
If we accept a piece, we’ll send you a permissions agreement with contributor-friendly publishing terms. A quick summary: We request first serial publication rights (typical of magazines) and reprint rights (to reprint it in any Ofrenda collections or ancillary products that we might produce this year or in the future). You retain the original copyright.
Thanks to a generous grant from Kalliopeia Foundation, we are able to extend an honorarium* for accepted pieces. (The current rate is $250 for written pieces accepted through our open call.)
*Subject to change based on our needs and budget. Because of our fiscal sponsor agreement, paid contributors must be based in the United States for tax purposes. International contributors can donate pieces if they wish.
We’ve shared our responses to the most frequently asked questions below; if you have any more questions, feel free to reach out on our Contact page.
The general focus of the magazine is Latinx and Xicanx healing and spirituality—sometimes reflecting “nepantla spirituality,” or “spiritual mestizaje,” and often incorporating elements of curanderismo and similar traditions. We recognize this “spirituality” comes in many forms, and we encourage you to interpret the definition broadly. In general, we have a strong orientation toward earth, healing, embodiment, and interconnectedness. In submissions, we look for strands of any of the following:
No, we are not a religious publication or affiliated with any particular religious organization, though we do encourage exploration of topics and themes (e.g., spirituality, wisdom, faith, belief, epistemology, ontology, ethics, material expression) that are sometimes placed in that bucket.
We currently use “Latinx” and “Xicanx” as cultural labels for this collective work, although we recognize the imperfection and ongoing evolution of these terms. Our primary audience is English speaking and based in the U.S., where the use of Latinx is relatively common.
We use Latinx instead of Latino to honor all the gender expressions among our community. We use Xicanx rather than Chicano to honor the leadership of feminists/mujeristas who first started using the X at the beginning of “Xicanisma.”
We might evolve these labels over time, depending on what our audience finds most respectful and inclusive. We encourage you to identify as you wish. You are welcome here.
Our team and primary audience is based in the U.S., and we have the editorial bandwidth to focus on English for now. We would like to produce a bilingual version in the future. We welcome funding for this purpose if you’d like to support the work.
If you want to submit but don’t feel that English is your strongest language, please don’t worry. We’ll help edit any work that we accept.
Yes. While most of our contributors identify as Latinx (or something similar), we also publish the work of people who could be called “allies.” We look for wisdom and understanding.
Yes and no. We definitely consider publishing book excerpts and pieces that have been published in print (in part, to help you sell books you’ve written). For SEO purposes, we do not publish work that has already been published online (on the searchable web). We don’t, for example, republish blog posts.
Currently, Ofrenda is a start-up, operating mostly with the volunteer energy of founder Marcy Carbajal. We have received a generous grant from Kalliopeia Foundation that allows us to pay honoraria to contributors and contractors.
We are actively seeking the partnership of additional donors and granting organizations so that we can sustain our work and grow our team, and we welcome inquiries from anyone who’d like to help. (Say hello at ofrendamagazine.com/contact.)
Currently, we collaborate with a nonprofit 501c3 fiscal sponsor called Fractured Atlas, which provides the infrastructure that allows us to receive donations and grants. Please see the required legal language below.
Ofrenda Magazine is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a nonprofit arts service organization. Contributions for the charitable purposes of Ofrenda Magazine must be made payable to “Fractured Atlas” only and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.
