Submissions Guide

Reclaiming autistic representation & celebrating autistic culture

About Autisticulture Magazine

As the editor, what am I looking for?

As the compensation for selected submissions is currently only a free magazine, Autisticulture is happy to be guided by what you want to say.
Autisticulture has characters in popular culture as its foundation for content, but Autisticulture is as broad as any magazine and has sections - including food, books, gaming, fashion, music. Ultimately it's what you think is important.
Content can be written or visual, or a mix of both (some artists illustrated a piece to accompany a shorter essay) - whatever you prefer.

Some notes:

You do not have to be formally diagnosed to submit anything. Self-diagnosis is welcome.
Feel free to make more than one submission or pitch, and send multiple artworks if you wish.
Autisticulture does accept pitches. However, a pitch can’t be as brief as “I want to write about Matilda”. A pitch needs to give a brief insight into your angle and points you want to cover (a few lines), and linking or attaching at least one piece of previous work to give an idea of your writing style. Otherwise, it is hard to get an idea of what the piece would be like.
If selected for the magazine, you will be asked to provide a short bio to accompany your work, and may be asked to make some edits. When the magazine is printed, you will be sent a copy (you may be asked to contribute to postage depending on the location or offered it digitally).
Please remember I am just one person, am chronically ill and energy-limited, and now back in education. So I ask you to please have patience, but also feel free to nudge me if it’s urgent - you can also contact me at busybeingdisabled@icloud.com and on my BusyBeingDisabled Instagram.
If you have a product for autistic people, I am also interested in relevant ads if we align.
Feel free to submit your work 'anonymously'. You may choose a pseudonym or simply 'anonymous' if it is selected.

Autisticulture particularly welcomes and is interested in:

Pieces discussing characters that are autistic headcanons or explicitly labelled as autistic, and using this as a springboard to connect these to and discuss your own experiences.
Interviews with autistic individuals, e.g. authors, actors, artists, musicians - either to be conducted by you or with you! This also relates to content/media not yet released, e.g. a soon-to-be author.
Discussions of special interests / areas of expertise - this can include photos or illustrations of a collection.
Personal essays and auto-fiction (relating to autism and autistic culture in some way).
Recipes - e.g. your favourite recipes you’ve made for sensory-friendly meals, or recreating famous meals in films/literature. You cannot, however, just submit recipes you’ve found off the internet or in books - but reviewing someone else’s cookbook is possible (with an autistic culture angle).
Reviews, e.g. of books, films, albums relating to Autisticulture in some way. It is preferential but not essential that these are recently released.
Artwork by autistic artists. Note: if this is fan art of a cartoon, it *has* to have your *own* style and *cannot* directly copy the original work (especially not traced). Autisticulture also welcomes original art, of any type (barring anything explicit or graphic due to a broad audience). I would be interested in an artistic feature (the artwork doesn't have to specifically relate to autism), so get in touch if that sounds relevant for you.
Anything "Agony Aunt" style or giving tips on dating, relationships, or anything else of interest. (Note: doesn't need to be called "Agony Aunt").

Autisticulture does NOT currently accept:

Submissions that are just a bullet point list of autistic traits of a character,

i.e. without

(a) any structure (think of key points / important traits),

(b) any specific examples of behaviour/scenes,

(d) any connections to why this character is important to representation.

Note: If you only have some short things to say though, your submission might be better suited at present on Autisticulture’s Instagram account.

Fiction or short stories - though personal essays and auto-fiction is welcome.
Pieces about Harry Potter characters. I know this is confusing as after the results of a community poll, it was previously decided that Autisticulture would welcome submissions about Harry Potter characters. However, particularly with developments in the transphobia exhibited by the author of the books, the trans members of the Autisticulture come first. I appreciate some people might be frustrated by this, but this is the current stance.
Pieces attempting to headcanon as autistic real-life figures, especially those currently living. Instead, an interview with someone autistic would be more suitable.
Any hate speech, explicit or graphic artwork, or discussions pitting autistic people against each other (e.g. against self-diagnosis).

Tips for structuring submissions:

As some contributors haven't written for magazines before, here are some tips for writing and structuring your pieces.

It’s fine if you want to write as a list or steam of consciousness initially to get your thoughts down on the page, but it's easier for those reading to follow if you go back to edit and structure this afterwards. Unstructured writing is less likely to be accepted into the magazine.
For a structure, if you're writing about an autistic character or headcanon, you could open with a brief introduction to the character (who they are) and/or the show of your choice, and briefly go into why/how you discovered or were drawn to the character. Then, decide on a few key points about the character/topic and how this relates to autism/autistic culture, and, in turn, connecting it to your own experience.
Make sure each piece of information contributes something. Think about why it's important to see something represented, or how you relate.
The writing doesn't need to be formal, but

Length:

As a guide, standalone written pieces should be around 1000-2000 words. (No need to push to reach the upper word limit, only if there's lots to be said.)

Writing accompanying say an artwork would be more suited to around 500 words, and no more than 1000.

For visual art, 1-3 pieces is the guide but feel free to submit up to 5. Please ensure the images are at least 300 DPI, and are JPEG, PNG or TIFF (not PDF).

with Submissions for Issue 2 plan to open up mid-2025,

If you want to stay up-to-date about this send me an email and follow @autisticulture on Instagram.

Submissions' GuidE

As editor, what am I looking for?

As the compensation for selected submissions is currently only able to be a free magazine, Autisticulture is happy to be guided by what you want to say - be this in written or visual format. Autisticulture has characters in popular culture as its foundation for content, but Autisticulture is as broad as any magazine and has sections - including food, books, gaming, fashion, music.

Notes:

You do not have to be formally diagnosed to submit anything. Self-diagnosis is welcome.
Feel free to make more than one submission or pitch, and send multiple artworks if you wish.
If selected for the magazine, you will be asked to provide a short bio to accompany your work, and may be asked to make some minor edits.
Please remember I am just one person, am chronically ill and energy-limited, and now back in education. So I ask you to please have patience, but also feel free to nudge me if it’s urgent - you can also contact me at busybeingdisabled@icloud.com and on IG (BusyBeingDisabled).
If you have a product for autistic people, I am also interested in ads if we align.
If you don't want your name published, it's fine to be anonymous, use a pseudonym or initials.
Feel free to get help from non-autistic people or carers with your submissions.
While original work is preferred, Autisticulture does accept work published previously on personal blogs and social media (but not other magazines or media sites due to copyright).
Autisticulture cannot include images from comics or film stills in the magazine (copyright).

Autisticulture in particular welcomes:

Pieces discussing characters that are autistic headcanons or explicitly labelled as autistic, and using this as a springboard to connect these to and discuss your own experiences.
Interviews with autistic individuals, e.g. authors, actors, artists, musicians - either to be conducted by you or with you! This also relates to content/media not yet released.
Reviews of books, films, albums etc relating to autisticulture in some way - these are preferable if newly released, but this is not essential.
Discussions of special interests / areas of expertise - this can include images of a collection.
Recipes - e.g. your favourite recipes you’ve made for sensory-friendly meals, or recreating famous meals in films/literature. You cannot, however, just submit recipes you’ve found off the internet - but reviewing someone else’s cookbook is possible (with an autistic angle).
Artwork (in any media) by autistic artists. Note: if this is fan art of a cartoon, it has to have your own style and cannot directly copy the original work (especially not traced). This also doesn't have to be of an autistic character or headcanon, and can be of any subject.
Personal essays and auto-fiction (but not general fiction at the moment).
Advice pieces (e.g. "agony aunt" style) on relationships, dating, etc.
General opinion/comment pieces (but not pitting autistic people against each other)
Pieces from non-speaking autistic people (please let me know if any support is required)

Autisticulture does not currently accept:

Submissions that are just a bullet point list of autistic traits of a character,

i.e. without:

(a) any structure (think of key points / important traits),

(b) any specific examples of behaviour/scenes,

(d) any connections to why this character is important to representation.

Note: A short submission might be better suited at present on Autisticulture’s Instagram.

Fiction or short stories - though personal essays and auto-fiction is welcome.
Pieces about Harry Potter characters. I know this is confusing as after the results of a community poll, it was previously decided that Autisticulture would welcome submissions about Harry Potter characters. However, particularly with developments in the transphobia exhibited by the author of the books, the trans members of the Autisticulture come first. I appreciate some people might be frustrated by this, but this is the current stance.
Pieces attempting to headcanon as autistic real-life figures, especially those currently living.
Anything relating to hate speech, defamatory accusations, or pieces questioning the validity of some autistic people (e.g. self diagnosed).

Tips on structuring submissions:

It’s fine if you want to write as a steam of consciousness initially to get your thoughts down on the page, but its easier for those reading to follow if you go back to edit and structure this afterwards. Unstructured pieces are less likely to be accepted, but some guidance with structuring may be provided where needed so don't let this put you off submitting!
For a structure, you could open with a brief introduction to the character (who they are) and/or the show of your choice, and briefly go into why/how you discovered or were drawn to the character. Then, decide on a few key points about the character/topic and how this relates to autism/autistic culture, and, in turn, connecting it to your own experience.
Consider the relevance of the information you are sharing. For example, why it's important that something is represented, or how you related to it, or something you enjoyed.

Guidance for length:

Standalone written pieces can be between 1000 and 2000 words, though written pieces accompanying other artwork may be shorter e.g. 500 words, or if it's a review.
For visual pieces, 1-3 pieces is sufficient, but feel free to submit up to 5 to select from.

Submissions for Issue 2 will open: mid-2025 (approx late June)

Email busybeingdisabled@icloud.com if you want to submit before then, but recognise we might not be able to accept pieces before submissions have opened. You can follow @autisticulture on Instagram for updates. There is no theme yet for Issue 2, but pieces relating to gender are particularly welcome.

If you have any specific questions, get in touch.

Email hello@autisticulture.co.uk and/or busybeingdisabled@icloud.com