Found Michigan seeks to be a living archive of compelling Michigan stories. We’re talking entertaining, enterprising, off-the-beaten-path, repeat-over-the-dinner-table stories; stories that may be quirky or clever, told with a little humor or irreverence; stories that get us to thinking about some aspect of Michigan life in a way we might not have considered before.
Story Ideas
If you’re a reader with a story tip or suggestion, please drop us a line at hello [at] foundmichigan.org.
Freelancers
If you’re a writer or photographer with an idea and/or the desire to produce a magazine-style feature, essay, or photo story for this site, we’d love to hear from you. Please take a moment to read some of the pieces we have on our site, then send us an email with your pitch; we’ll reply with our specific freelance guidelines and fees (and we may ask you to follow up with some samples of your work).
Before you pitch, here’s a little clarification on what we’re looking for:
- Magazine-style features based on subjects that are intrinsically tied to Michigan culture, history, identity, industry, legend or lore
- Q&As with quirky, funny or exemplary Michiganders
- Essays that explore a particular aspect of Michigan culture or identity
- Photo essays—either photojournalistic or curated historic photos—that depict Michigan life/culture/history/etc, past or present, in compelling images
- Fresh and original creative fiction with a Michigan connection
- Video and/or audio pieces (if you know what you’re doing.)
A few recurring themes we plan on having, if you’d like to pitch for one of these ‘departments’:
- “Recipe Redux” — recreating a recipe from a vintage Michigan cookbook or other recipe source, with some historical context in the writing
- “Postcard from an Ex-Pat” — essays exploring some aspect of Michigan identity through the lens of living away from home
- “When I Was [blank] Years Old” — essays that share a memory tied to Michigan childhood; each essay starts with the “When I was [x] years old” prompt
Here’s some clarification on what we’re not looking for at this time:
- Traditional travel writing/narratives (example: “48 Hours in Traverse City”)
- Traditional profiles of Michigan businesses or business owners (example: an article on the new coffee shop or microbrewery in a particular town)
- “Trend” pieces that already have been well covered in mainstream media outlets (example: young people starting organic farms, is Detroit having a renaissance?, etc.)
- Overly sentimental or flowery writing (we much prefer funny/smart/sassy over sappy)
That said, if you’ve got a creative angle or juicy detail that turns any of the above on its head to make it fresh and non-traditional, we’d love to hear it.
For word counts and rates, as well as further information, please drop us a line.
hello [at] foundmichigan.org
