Submissions

Swing the Fly welcomes contributions both from professional and amatuer writers and photographers alike. We welcome the submission of all quality content for review and are happy to work with you and provide constructive feedback to achieve a finished product. While we cannot guarantee the publishing of all submitted content, we promise to review every piece with our utmost attention and get back to you in a timely manner. Thank you for your interest in contributing!

We publish in two locations:

The Swing the Fly: Anthology coffee table book is published annually. Deadline for consideration in the 2021 anthology  is May 1, 2021. Final selections will take place after the deadline. All content received prior will be considered at that time. 

STF Online Journal — we publish both member-only and and free-to-read articles in the online journal. 

Swing the Fly covers a wide variety of topics from perspectives on our sport, to people and places and history to  flies, techniques and more. We are looking for unique angles on our sport, not typically just a story about your fishing trip unless it is relatable to a majority of readers.

We do not publish “hot spotting” articles or photos of poorly handled fish. 

Do not feel constrained by the categories of content below, these are just general suggestions. We welcome creativity! 

Feature Article -Approximately 1200-2500 words and  least 6+ images of the highest quality. Cover a technique, story, place, Spey history, profile a person … we even publish some fiction! 

Shorts  – 100 to 1200 words and 0-10 high quality images. (We will consider about anything here.)

Poems   -Anything goes!

Photo Essay -15+ images of outstanding quality with an introduction of 150-300 words and a short caption for each image that is selected for publishing.. Some examples are a specific place/river, season, or unique angle on our sport.

Fly Tutorial Step-by-step fly tutorials are an STF favorite. Tie a fly and document each step with a clear, crisp photo and and write out an accompanying instruction to go with each step. Make sure your instructions are simple and clear. Each photo should be numbered to match the instruction step. An intro about the fly is also helpful.

Conservation Corner -A perspective piece or a call to action. We want to be involved in your conservation work.

Photos

Should be of the highest resolution possible (3+ mbs) if being considered for the Anthology book..

Most modern smart phone photos can be used if your phone is set to the highest resolution setting possible. 

Photos can be sent by Google Drive, WeTransfer or Dropbox.

Fish Photos -We only publish photos of fish that have been properly handled and are close to/preferably in the water.

Material Rights

Swing the Fly retains the right to publish any accepted materials in the magazine, website, social media and elsewhere at our discretion. 

If accepted for publishing, you should not submit the same work elsewhere for a grace period of 2-years. 

If the work you are submitting to Swing the Fly has been published elsewhere (like a blog) prior, please declare so at time of submission.

​Compensation is available for both the Anthology and the online journal.. We also welcome any submissions that are given pro-bono and greatly appreciate the support. All published submissions qualify for a 1-year membership and copy of the Anthology. Compensation must be agreed upon at time of acceptance of your submission. Please state any special requests as time of submission. 

Instructions for Inquiries/Submissions:

Have an idea but aren’t sure if it fits for Swing the Fly? Email us and inquire first!

If you have already prepared something that you wish to submit:

1) All text (including bio, photo captions, etc)  should be sent in a Word Document attached to the email. 

2) Photos can be sent via WeTransfer, Dropbox, Google Drive, etc. Or attached to an email if you are just sending a few.

3. Please include a 75-word or less bio and a bio photo.

Any requested exceptions to the above rules should be clearly agreed upon via email at time of submission.

Send your submission ideas, finished manuscripts or any questions at all related to submitting content to Swing The Fly Digital Editor Daniel Ritz at DanielR@swingthefly.com.

Thank you for your interest!