PRINT'S NOT DEAD, ITS ORGANS ARE JUST OVERLOOKED, UNDERCOOKED, AND ONLINE
AN OPEN CALL FOR PITCHES, COMICS, COMPLAINTS, ETC.
Zines are alive and well in the hearts of punks, cartoonists, unpublished writers, broke-ass artists, and amateurs everywhere. Making a zine isn’t amateur work, though it allows space for them. I will soon be attempting to join that space and hopefully GUTS will be found on the shelves of the coolest libraries, independent book stores, and comic shops the world has to offer. Or at least one near me. Or at least in the home of some of our devoted readers. Or at least in my own hands.
I find this work inspiring. It’s easy to be inspired by pure forms of expression by artists with no backing but themselves. Look no further than
, , or to find supreme inspo for this artform. Look no further than Pitchfork announcing a quarterly “zine” to prove its power. Self-publishing can be an incredible thing, so of course the traditional publishing business wants in.These are just a few examples, but the beauty of zines is that there can be as many as there are people in the world. More even, some people make multiple. As I attempt to give GUTS its day in print, I am a bit daunted by the task. Reading
’s piece on realizing and paying for her cookbook zine “At Heart Panderia” has helped a lot. Seeing what Sophie Hambling & Madeleine Sanders are doing with Off Cuts is extremely inspiring. The newsletter ecosystem here can feel like an online zine fest sometimes, and as the media landscape has been dispersed across the internet, individual writers are showing off their skills constantly.Just some of the people and concepts here that impress me regularly are
, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,, , , , , ,, , , , , and god, I’m probably forgetting somebody, apologies. It becomes hard to keep track. There are so many talented people in the world, a few of them are on this website, and I feel lucky to read their words and discover more brilliant writers every week.I’ve already spoken to a few people about writing for the first issue, and some have reached out, but I thought would make the pitch call official. Like streaming services reinventing cable, I am reinventing the magazine, which is to say, I’m not doing that at all. I just want to get a gang together and publish something cute. The print edition of GUTS will depend heavily on collaborators, so if you’re reading this and have an idea, even if it’s about how much you hate liver, don’t hesitate to shoot it this way.
AN OPEN CALL FOR OFFAL AND HOSPITALITY RELATED PITCHES, POETRY, FICTION, COMIX, ILLUSTRATIONS, JOKES, INTERVIEWS, RECIPES, MOVIE REVIEWS, WHAT HAVE YOU
If you have ever wanted to write for GUTS, or just about guts, please send something our way. We’re a loose-concept, very malleable publication. If you’re passionate about an idea, we would love to have you in our pages. There are, of course, caveats. While I am seeking sponsors behind the scenes, as of now, I am jobless and independent, so funding is at a low. I would like to pay every contributor and am working on a pre-order scheme for the first issue but it’s still early days. As I work on the layout and contributors get finalized I will calculate the length of the first issue and printing cost and announce pre-orders after that. So, at the moment all I can offer is the chance to see yourself in print and an opportunity to work with a bitchy editor (me). I know that’s a big ask.
THINGS WE ARE LOOKING FOR
HISTORIES. Every country has a recipe for tripe, I want to learn about them all.
PERSONAL ESSAYS. I always enjoy hearing about peoples experiences eating offal, love it or hate it.
SHORT STORIES/FICTION. This is actually my first love. Space is limited, so setting a maximum limit of 2000 words.
RECIPES. We’ve never published any recipes, that’s not really my wheelhouse, but I would love to publish some offal forward dishes from cooks who are passionate about organs.
COMIX. Single panel, multi-panel, or even full page comics are all welcome. Anthropomorphic, misanthropic, talking organs are a plus.
CONFESSIONS. GUTS was originally theorized as a safe space to publish restaurant misdeeds for restaurants. We’re not looking for gossip per se, but, if it’s juicy enough…
EAT/FUCK MOVIE REVIEWS. There will be a section of the magazine dedicated to these reviews. Any movie of your choice, judged on a 1-10 scale, based on the criteria of the food and sex scenes. Can be any length. Read more about the EAT/FUCK scale here.
HOSPITALITY PERSPECTIVES. This is a hospitality magazine! I want to hear from waiters, bartenders, bar-backs, dishwashers, cooks, runners, and yes, even restaurant owners.
POETRY AND MICRO-FICTION. Got a brilliant sentence about the heart you don’t know what to do with? Now you do.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. I want to hear from people!
BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY. The issue is going to be black and white, would love to include some high contrast images of cooks on their smoke breaks.
AND MORE! Like I said, we are a fairly loose concept magazine. If you have an idea, please send it to us. The only limitations are adherence to an offal/hospitality theme.
SEND ALL PITCHES TO GUTSMAGAZZINO@GMAIL.COM BY JULY 31st.
Yes, I know magazzino means warehouse in Italian. What’s a body if not a guts warehouse?
Looking forward to hearing from you.
yes to this!!! i'm also developing an idea for self-publishing something in print right now because we need more of this
Hell yeah - this is exactly what we need right now!