Submissions

64 Parishes, a project of the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, encompasses an award-winning quarterly print magazine, online publication, and encyclopedia on regional history, art, literature, folklife, foodways, archaeology, music, religion, architecture, and more. We are primarily interested in pitches for the magazine but will occasionally consider entries for the online encyclopedia.

Magazine

We are especially drawn to articles that show connections between the past and the present or between Louisiana and the rest of the world. We welcome content from freelancers but suggest that detailed pitches be submitted to our editors in advance. Queries should include a description of the writer’s credentials, both writing experience (including writing samples) and expertise in the subject being proposed. The magazine’s editing and production cycle often requires us to work on content six months or more in advance of publication, and most successful proposals will address topics that are not time-sensitive and will remain relevant after publication. On rare occasions, we may commission online-only content regarding timely topics.

We also consider pitches for reviews of recently published or upcoming books. 64 Parishes accepts pitches from photographers or visual artists if their work comments on history, culture, or the humanities.

Feature articles typically range from 1,500–3,000 words, and we will also consider shorter pieces, ranging from 500–1,100 words, for our Parish Spotlight department, which focuses on community events and festivals that feature humanities programming; museum exhibitions; educational initiatives; historic preservation; and profiles of authors, scholars, artists, musicians, and community activists. Freelancers are encouraged to read past issues to familiarize themselves with our content.

We are unable to consider fiction, work primarily concerned with genealogy, or self-published materials (for book reviews). We also require that any pitch or prospective submission be original work that has not been published elsewhere and does not include any content generated through AI technology.

Encyclopedia

Encyclopedia entries are typically written by credentialed scholars, but we also welcome pitches from authors with special expertise gained outside academia. Entries are commissioned, peer reviewed, and published on a rolling basis and range from under 500 words to 2,000 or more depending on topic.

Writing for 64 Parishes

64 Parishes purchases articles on a “work-for-hire” basis. Text will go through an in-house editing process, and we reserve the right to title, subtitle, caption, and make final illustration selections. Contracts will be forwarded via email prior to publication, and all reprint rights, including digital publishing rights, are retained by 64 Parishes unless other arrangements are made.

Plagiarism and/or the use of AI to generate any part of an author’s submission, if detected, will result in cancellation of any and all publication agreements for the article in question.

Our articles are heavily illustrated, and while it is not required, we encourage authors to send available photographs and illustrations (with permissions information) or contacts for sources that can supply images.

We follow the Chicago Manual of Style, with a small number of house rules for locally relevant situations. All submissions are expected to follow our style guide, which may be found here. Footnotes and bibliographies are not required, but we do ask authors to include sources for fact-checking.

We encourage submissions from historically underrepresented groups and early-career writers and scholars.

Magazine pitches and submissions should be sent to Managing Editor Alexandra Kennon Shahin at [email protected].

Encyclopedia queries should be sent to [email protected].

Review copies of books may be mailed to Managing Editor, LEH, 938 Lafayette Street, Suite 300, New Orleans, LA 70113. Self-published books will not be considered for review.