Jokien with Tolkien Submission Guidelines

Want to write for JwT? Here's what you need to know

Credit: New Line Cinema

So you want to write for Jokien with Tolkien. Excellent! I’d love to have you! And I’m accepting submissions on not just Tolkien-related subjects (obviously) but also myriad topics, including literature, sci-fi/fantasy, adaptations of your favorite stories, satire, and more!

Some General Submission Guidelines

• this is a place for both satirical and humorous takes on our favorite literary subjects and for more serious literary/film/television analysis. (Anything not directly Tolkien-related but that is still literary/sci-fi/fantasy/etc. will go under my ‘Through the Wardrobe’ section)

• priority will be given to new stories that have not been published elsewhere, though if you’d like me to cross-post a story or republish something you’ve already published somewhere else we can talk about what that would look like

• keep the media you’re interacting with front and center. an occasional joke referencing politics or current events is fine, but if the main point of your piece is political and heavily partisan, this probably isn’t the place for your work

• no NSFW topics or language. this is a family-friendly newsletter. If you feel like you must include some salty language or subject matter, be prepared to answer "Why is this piece stronger/funnier/sharper with this content in it than it would be without it?"

• proofread your submissions — I will send your piece back to you if I find myself editing it instead of reading it

• credit your images — either state the publisher/distributor/owner of the image in the captions (like I have done in this post’s featured image above) or use stock photos and give credit in the captions

• length — aim for more than 300 words but fewer than 2,500. If it’s shorter or longer, your piece needs to justify it by either delivering on the premise concisely or keeping my attention!

• NO AI — that goes for both AI-generated images and words. I want to showcase your work, not a Frankensteinian amalgam of other people’s work compiled and spit out by a machine

Formatting

• give your piece a Title and Subtitle

• include a quality featured image

• use headings and white space to break up the article whenever possible for a pleasant and organized read

Submitting

1. email me your submission at jrrjokien@jrrjokien.com

2. write JWT Submission in the title

3. include either a short pitch about the article you intend to write (what’s the premise? what will you argue? what will your subject be) or—if you’ve already put it together—a link to Your draft. For this I prefer either a link to your submission on Substack (from the Substack editor, select ‘Preview’ in the upper right, then select ‘Test’ in the same place and copy the “Secret Draft Link” then paste it into the email) or a link to a Google doc (please allow me editing level permissions!)

4. feel free to include a hello and why you want to write for Jokien with Tolkien, but keeping it brief and to the point is fine

And that’s it! my goal will be to reply to you within 3 days and share whether I’d like to run the piece or will be passing at this time.

If your draft is accepted, I will

• review your draft and make some comments/suggestions to give you feedback. Mostly these are just that: suggestions, meaning if you disagree I'll defer to you. But occasionally I'll strongly suggest a change/revision/addition/etc. I'll also do a light copyedit of the article for grammar, consistency, etc.

• suggest some specific dates to schedule your piece. I generally do one guest post a month and I publish on Thursdays most weeks. However, if I have an excess of content and submissions I'll occasionally do an extra post on Tuesdays and/or more than one guest post a month

• ask for a brief bio. When introducing a guest piece I usually say a sentence or two about the author at the very beginning. This usually includes a brief bio and a link to your website, your social media platform of choice, or anything else you'd like me to mention or link. For examples, please peruse examples of past intros in any of these previous guest pieces.

Thank you! I am looking forward to seeing what you have to share with me and working together to share it with the readers of Jokien with Tolkien!

Namárië,

Josh