SamiaMagazine
January 2027

The running order, as planned

Issue 01.

Nine slots across four sections, published online in January 2027. This is the plan, not the finished issue: the headings below are working briefs, not headlines, and the writers are being commissioned now.

Pitch for Issue 01 ↗See the running order ↓
01 01 JANUARY 2027
0
slots in the running order
0
sections: Geopolitics, Culture, History, Science
0
words at most for an essay; never under 1,500; Notes 600 to 900
0
days, at most, to answer every pitch

The running order

Nine slots,
in this order.

Each slot says what kind of piece it is, how long, and whether it is open to pitches. A writer's name appears here only when their piece is published.

  1. The editors' letter

    Why a slow magazine, what the four sections are for, and the rules the Magazine keeps: read by an editor, every claim linked, corrections in public, written by people.

    The editors
    Written in houseAbout 800 words

  2. Lead essay · Geopolitics

    One structure explained from the inside: a treaty, a river, a port, a grid, a currency, a border. What it does, who built it, who depends on it, and what it would take to change. The sample essay on the Indus, written by the editors, shows the form this slot takes.

    GeopoliticsEssay
    Pitches open3,000 to 4,000 words

  3. Culture essay

    One thing, read closely: a building, a dish, a film, a word, a song form, a trade. The maker's craft, explained by someone who has practised it or sat with those who have.

    CultureEssay
    Pitches open2,000 to 3,500 words

  4. History essay

    A question the present is asking, answered from the record. Primary sources read by the writer, plain chronology, and ordinary lives alongside the rulers.

    HistoryEssay
    Pitches open2,500 to 4,000 words

  5. Science explainer

    A mechanism taken apart slowly until it is clear, with the evidence and its limits. Numbers with their units and their sources; diagrams we draw from the writer's description.

    ScienceExplainer
    Pitches open2,000 to 3,500 words

  6. Reported piece · any section

    Somewhere the writer has been, with people the writer has spoken to, on the record. Any of the four sections; the best pitches usually sit between two of them.

    Any sectionReported
    Pitches open2,500 to 4,000 words

  7. Notes · three short pieces

    Three short pieces of 600 to 900 words, ideally from three different sections: one idea each, fully sourced, with a drawn figure where one helps.

    ShortThree pieces
    Pitches open600 to 900 words each

  8. The reading list

    What the editors and the writers read while making the issue, with one honest line on each: why it is worth the time, or what it gets wrong.

    The editors
    Written in houseAbout 600 words

  9. Corrections and letters

    Empty at launch, and published anyway, so the page exists on the day it is needed. Every correction to an Issue 01 piece is logged on the piece and listed here with the date.

    The editors
    Written in houseAs long as it needs to be
Pitches opensend three paragraphs to [email protected] or use the formWritten in houseby the editors, to the same standard

What is true about this plan

A plan,
not a promise.

Issue 01 is published online in January 2027. The running order above is how the editors intend to fill it. Slots marked Pitches open have not been filled; the headings are briefs that tell a writer what the slot is for, not titles of pieces that exist.

The sample essay on the Indus was written by the editors to show what a finished Magazine page carries: a drawn poster, the reading column, the check log, the sources and the corrections line. It is not a commissioned piece and it is not part of the running order.

If a slot is still open when the issue goes to press, it runs short rather than filled with something that does not meet the standard. We would rather publish seven good pieces than nine.

How to pitch ↗About the Magazine ↗

From pitch to page

Five steps.
No surprises.

  1. PitchThree paragraphs: the idea, why now, why you. A person replies within ten days.
  2. CommissionThe length and the fee are agreed in writing before you start.
  3. EditAn editor helps with structure and clarity, never the argument.
  4. CheckEvery claim linked to a source and read by a second person. The log is published with the piece.
  5. PublishYou approve the final page. Paid on publication.

Issue 01 · January 2027

One email
when it opens.

One email when Issue 01 opens, then a note when a new piece is published. Nothing else.