In The Mood Magazine is a pop culture journal about the things we like to watch.

Newsletter: Submissions are always OPEN. We publish once a month for our paid subscribers, and especially welcome timely pieces on new releases or seasonal topics (e.g. horror in October, summer films).

Magazine: Submissions are currently OPEN for Issue 13.

Theme: TEEN
Deadline: May 4th

👇 Please read our full guidelines below before submitting:

To mark our thirteenth issue, we’re going back to our TEENS. From your fave teen movies, to your teenage celeb crushes, to memorable MTV moments, we’re looking for experimental film and pop culture criticism on the teenage experience.

💡 Some topics and films we’d love to see pitches for:
‍
- Cinema’s teenage years: films of the 2010s or 1910s
- Focusing on a particular era of teen media (The Brat Pack, CW TV shows, teen it girls like Hilary Duff, Lindsay Lohan, Amanda Bynes)
- Film & TV stars who started their careers in their teens
- Adult actors playing teenagers
- Formative film/pop culture experiences from when you were a teenager
- Nihilistic teens (The Devil Probably, Virgin Suicides, Dangerous Encounters of the First Kind, Battle Royale, Deep End, Sugar and Spice)
- Movie franchises (High School Musical, Twilight, The Hunger Games)
- Crime films (A Brighter Summer Day, Jawbreaker, Better Luck Tomorrow, Wild Things, River’s Edge)
- Teen sexuality (Cruel Intentions, U.S. Go Home, Smooth Talk, 36 Fillette, Pauline à la Plage, Love & Pop)
- Shakespeare adaptations with teens (10 Things I Hate About You, O (2001), She’s the Man)
- Horror films (The Faculty, Carrie, The Craft, Christine, Unfriended)
- MTV, reality TV (Pretty Wild, My Super Sweet 16, Laguna Beach, Teen Mom)
- Teen film auteurs (John Waters, Gregg Araki, Amy Heckerling)
- Sex comedies (Can’t Hardly Wait, The Girl Next Door,  American Pie)
- Other teen films we like: Boyz n the Hood, Mustang, Fish Tank, Girlhood, Attack The Block, Rushmore, Project X, Cold Water

‍Please keep in mind that we generally focus on films made post-1970. You can also check our past issues to see if we’ve already covered your film.

And remember... we love surprises, so think outside the box! 😉

What we publish

We’re looking for writers with a distinctive voice, who aren't afraid of getting personal, and who are curious about why we watch what we watch. We appreciate thoughtful analysis but also a playful tone; we want intelligent pieces that aren't too full of themselves. We don't think of ourselves as an authority, but a confidante.

🎬 We publish the following about film, TV, pop culture, and moving image media—click for some examples we love:

• Personal essays, non-academic essays

• Conversations, roundtable discussions, interviews

• Poetry

• Round-ups, lists

• Experimental pieces, fan fiction, spec scripts

• Games, questionnaires

• Visual art, comics

• First-person, on-the-ground pieces about going to movies or working behind the scenes

• Film diaries

• Anniversary pieces (but try to think beyond just "this movie is still great!")

• Works on other moving image media, e.g. music videos, celebrities, commercials, filming locations, interesting areas of the film industry

❌ Things to avoid: 

• Straight up reviews

• Excessive plot summary

• Academic or overly formal tone

• Flat-out pans (if something is bad, tell us why that's interesting!)

• We generally focus on media made post-1970

• Clickbait/hot takes

Please explore our past issues and our newsletter to get a sense of what we publish!

How to submit

‍We strongly prefer completed pieces (max 1,000 words), but we understand that writing on spec is not a realistic prospect for many writers. With that in mind, we still accept pitches.

‍👇 Please include:‍

• Completed piece (max 1,000 words - doesn't need to be perfectly polished!)
  ‍OR if you’re pitching: a short paragraph about your piece (topic, format)

• Why you think this is a good fit for In The Mood

• If pitching: 1-2 writing samples (they don’t need to be published)

• Short bio or link to your website

Send submissions & queries to:

inthemoodmagazine@gmail.com‍

What then?

For magazine submissions, we review all of them at the end of our submission period, after which you’ll receive a response from us with our publication decision. Usually this is within 10 days of the submission deadline.

Please keep in mind that a rejection is not necessarily a reflection on the quality of your work! We get a large number of submissions and only have a very limited number of spots, which unfortunately means we have to pass on many great submissions.

If your piece is accepted, it'll go through an editing process. As a volunteer-run passion project, we pay a modest honorarium of $30 CAD per feature, sent upon publication. We acknowledge that this is not a market rate, and won't be doable for some writers.

Thanks for pitching to In The Mood, we're looking forward to reading your work. And remember, we love surprises! 😈