"I want the world. I want the whole world. I want to lock it all up in my pocket. It's my bar of chocolate. Give it to me now."
–Veruca Salt, Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)

 

“That’s hot."
–Paris Hilton

 

Cake Zine’s next issue, Spoiled Rotten, will explore extravagance, excess, and decay. Tell us what you think is stale, overripe, and curdled—in the fridge, on the menu, or in our culture. Or extend your gaze from the trash to the compost pile to share how new life can come from rot or how culinary ingenuity can be borne from ingredients past their prime. We're looking for both what's lost and what’s gained when things go bad.

Here, spoilage can be literal or metaphorical: food recalls, trends that you find stale, moral decay masked as indulgence. Share a parent’s noble attempts to avoid raising a tyrant at the dinner table, or an unabashedly unreformed picky eater’s takedown of their least favorite ingredients. Provide a new perspective on food culture by analyzing the spoiled diets of the ancient elite, the junk food favorites of the 1%, or how reality TV stars use food to signal relatability and elitism. Dig into spectacles of excess like eating contests, celeb-favorite extra-spicy chicken challenges, and dessert-only diets. Take inspiration from the rot that breathes new life into compost heaps and cheese caves or explore the potential blossoming on the fringes of expiration dates.

Unexpected hot takes are prioritized over mainstream ones, and criticism is preferred when punching up. Per usual, we're open to non-food takes on the theme if they're smart and interesting enough, but your chances are higher if there's a food tie-in.

We are also looking for inventive sweet or savory recipes that make the most of stale bread, cake, overripe produce, and other ingredients some would consider past their prime. 

 

Essential details

Written pitches and visual contributor submissions for Spoiled Rotten are due by 9 a.m. EST on March 25th.

We have a rigorous editorial process with multiple rounds of revision over several weeks.

We are a small print publication with very limited space and a very high pitch volume—unfortunately, we are no longer able to respond to every pitch we receive. Confirmed or accepted pitches will be contacted by mid April. We prioritize adherence to and subversion of theme—ie, an unexpected but clearly connected take on “Spoiled Rotten.”  

Spoiled Rotten will be released in Fall 2026. 

 

Types of writing

You are welcome to pitch us on any of the themes explicitly outlined in this pitch call’s introduction or your own interpretation of the theme.

Formats include:

• Historical deep dives that pair solid research/reporting with a critical eye

• Personal essays, especially ones rooted in an unexpected POV or expertise 

• Cultural criticism (literature, film, art, and pop culture) 

• Unexpected interviews 

• Short lists, taxonomies, etc 

• Profiles

 

Types of visuals

If you would like to be commissioned to create art to accompany an accepted written pitch, please get in touch. Existing work is very rarely accepted, we prefer to commission new work. While we welcome all visual mediums that we can print, we have a particular preference for illustration and painting. 

Rates

We pay creators. We’re a small, self-funded publication with flat rates based on length. All commissioned contributors will receive a copy of Spoiled Rotten. 

Shorter pieces (350 words or less), poems, and recipes: $125-$175
Mid-length (500 to 1K words): $200
Longform (2K words - plus or minus): $300
Visual art: $200 

 

Instructions & What to Include 

Send pitch emails to pitches@cakezine.com with “WRITING PITCH — Last Name” or “VISUALS PITCH — Last Name” in the subject line.

Written and visual pitches for Spoiled Rotten are due by 9 a.m. EST on March 25th.

For all types of content: please tell us about yourself and provide a few links to relevant work that demonstrates your style, voice, and tone, whether in a major publication or personal blog. We are committed to publishing burgeoning voices and care more about your talent and ideas than your resume. We also prioritize work by and centering BIPOC, women, and queer people. Please include the entire pitch in the body of your email. If you are pitching multiple pieces please include them in the same email. 

For Non-Fiction

Include a sample headline (to demonstrate the angle) and estimated word count. Provide a few sentences about your story idea. It’s not enough to share a topic—what is your take on the topic? How does it advance, complicate, or expand what we know or how we think about the subject of your piece? Feel like you have the silhouette of a piece, but don’t feel like you’ve fully nailed the crux of it yet? Feel free to include some reference links to articles/media/content that capture the approach you’re hoping to take and an explanation of how you’ll make it your own. For reported pieces, provide a few sample sources. 

For Visual Contributors

Please link to a website, Instagram, or portfolio with work samples. If you don't have work online to share, attach 4-8 images to your email. Either as individual image files (no bigger than 3 MB each) or a single pdf (no bigger than 15 MB).