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The next time you have work that’s ready to submit, why not send it to us?

The Sun is a reader-supported ad-free magazine. We’ve been described in many ways: celebratory, fierce, unflinching, thoughtful, truthful, dark, darkly funny, tender. Contributors tell us that after their work reaches more than 70,000 engaged Sun readers, they often hear from old friends and new admirers.

To save your time and ours, we suggest you take a look at The Sun before submitting. We’ve provided some samples below.

“I’m looking for a writer who doesn’t know where her sentence is leading her; a writer who starts with her obsessions and whose heart is bursting with love; a writer sly enough to give the slip to her secret police, the ones with the power to condemn in the blink of an eye. It’s all right that she doesn’t know what she’s thinking until she writes it, as if the words already exist somewhere and draw her to them. She may not know how she got there, but she knows when she’s arrived.”

— Sy Safransky
Editor and Publisher of The Sun

Writing

Writing from The Sun has won the Pushcart Prize and been selected for the Best American Essays and Best American Short Stories anthologies.

We publish nonfiction, fiction, and poetry. We tend to favor personal writing, but we’re also looking for provocative pieces on political and cultural issues.

We encourage submissions from writers of color.

Surprise us; we often don’t know what we’ll like until we read it.

We rarely run anything longer than seven thousand words; there’s no minimum length.

We discourage simultaneous submissions.

Writing is a solitary act, but when what you’ve written goes out to our loyal subscribers, it can feel a little less so.

What We Pay

Nonfiction
$300 to $2,000
Read a sample essay

Fiction
$300 to $2,000
Read a sample story

Poetry
$100 to $250
Read a sample poem


We purchase one-time rights. All other rights revert to the author upon publication.

Submit Online ▸
Mailed Submissions

You can also send your typed, double-spaced submission to:

Editorial Department
The Sun
107 N. Roberson St.
Chapel Hill, NC 27516 United States

Interview pitches

The Sun publishes interviews with innovative and provocative thinkers. We like interviews that stretch us intellectually yet remain accessible.

We’re always on the lookout for voices not traditionally heard in the mass media and are particularly interested in interviews with women and people of color.

We publish only question-and-answer-style interviews: no profiles.

Before you conduct an interview, send us a query telling us about the person you want to interview and what topics you plan to cover. (If you’ve already done the interview, no query is necessary.)

Transcripts should be at least six thousand words and can be as much as fifteen thousand. In-person interviews are best.

What We Pay

Interviews
$1,000 to $2,000
Read a sample interview


We purchase one-time rights. All other rights revert to the author upon publication.

Submit Online ▸
Mailed Submissions

You can also send your typed, double-spaced submission to:

Interviews
The Sun
107 N. Roberson St.
Chapel Hill, NC 27516 United States

Readers Write

Readers Write asks readers to address subjects on which they’re the only authorities.

Topics are intentionally broad in order to give room for expression. We publish only nonfiction in Readers Write.

Writing style isn’t as important as thoughtfulness and sincerity. There is no word limit, but we encourage you to familiarize yourself with the section before you submit.

Feel free to submit your writing under “Name Withheld” if it allows you to be more honest.

You can also suggest a future Readers Write topic.

What We Pay

Read a sample Readers Write section


We request one-time rights. All other rights revert to the author upon publication.

Submit Online ▸
Mailed Submissions

You can also send your typed, double-spaced submission to:

Readers Write
The Sun
107 N. Roberson St.
Chapel Hill, NC 27516 United States

Select the topic to which you are submitting

Upcoming Topics Deadline
What Really Matters September 1
Upstairs October 1
Odd One Out November 1

Photography

We’re interested in black-and-white photographs. We’re not looking for photojournalism, just unique perspectives on the world around us — especially human interactions.

When we accept a photograph, we keep the image on file until we find a place for it in the magazine. It can sometimes take quite a while for us to find the right issue for an accepted photograph, but we review every image in our file when putting together each monthly issue.

What We Pay

Interior Photos
$100 to $200

View sample photos

Cover Photos
$500

View sample covers

Photo Essays
$500 to $1,000

View a sample photo essay


We purchase one-time rights. All other rights revert to the photographer upon publication.

Submit Online ▸
Mailed Submissions

Send your photos to

Photography
The Sun
107 N. Roberson St.
Chapel Hill, NC 27516 United States

You may mail us traditional black-and-white prints between 4 × 6 and 11 × 14. Websites and promotional sheets with multiple photos per page will not be considered formal submissions. We cannot review slides. All submissions by mail must be accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope or box for our response and the return of your photographs. Your work will not be returned without sufficient postage. Please include protective packaging to ensure safe shipment.

  • You may upload up to 30 photographs. Image files must be in 72 dpi GIF, JPEG, PNG, or TIFF format. Individual files must be smaller than 2 MB.

    If you are uploading more than 5 images, please compress photographs into a single ZIP file, which must be smaller than 60 MB.