The Maple has two distinct sections: news and opinion. Here are the pitching guidelines for each section. Please don’t send the same pitch to both sections. If one of our editors thinks it’s best suited for the other section, they will forward it onto the other editor. We welcome unsolicited pitches and submissions.
Pitching a news piece:
The Maple welcomes pitches for long-form news stories and explainer pieces that shed new light on the top political issues of the day.
We are interested in original stories that dig deep beneath power-serving narratives and enrich public understanding of key political issues. Our reporting is fiercely critical and relentlessly factual. We cover stories that other publications do not.
The Maple pays $275 CAD for news stories that are typically 1,500 words in length. When work is assigned and rejected without request for revision, we pay 50 per cent of the agreed upon fee.
What we’re looking for: A good pitch will include a 100-200 word summary of:
- What your story will cover and its relevance to a timely political issue.
- Which of our main coverage areas that your topic fits under.
- Some examples of sources you expect to use.
- Why you are the right person to cover the story.
- An estimation of how long it will take to finish, and any support you might need.
- Please also include information about your journalistic experience, and links to up to three examples of your previous work. If you are a journalism student or are new to the profession, please briefly describe what sparked your interest in the story you wish to cover.
Send pitches to Submissions [at] readthemaple.com.
Pitching opinion pieces:
The Maple offers left-wing analysis on politics, economics and culture, largely from writers based in Canada.
We look for articles that either add timely and unique contributions to ongoing conversations, or that are in-depth, substantive pieces our readers can learn from for years to come. Some articles can do both. A good pitch will clearly outline the argument, the points used to support the argument, a potential structure for the article and a brief description of why you’re the right person to write it.
Most published pieces are under 2000 words. We pay a flat rate of $130 CAD for shorter opinion pieces (700 to 1200 words) and $325 CAD for more in-depth analysis articles (1500 to 2000 words).
Payment is sent within five business days of the writer sending their invoice, which can be done as soon as the editor informs them that the article is finished. We pay by e-transfer or PayPal in order to make the process as simple and quick for writers as possible. When work is assigned and rejected without request for revision, we pay 50 per cent of the agreed upon fee.
Email pitches to Opinion [at] readthemaple.com. If your piece is time sensitive, include “Time Sensitive” in the subject line of your email, but please only do so when this is genuinely the case.
We read all submissions, but can’t guarantee that we will respond to each one. Feel free to follow up after five business days if your pitch has yet to receive a response. If you don’t receive a response within a few days after that, please assume we’ve passed on your pitch, but do feel free to pitch us again in the future.