Notice to contributors
Write for Tawny Leaf
We publish contributed articles when they teach readers something about tea they could not easily learn elsewhere. Knowing your subject counts for more than a writing career.
What we would like to read
- Tea from a particular origin, with detail on the region, the season or the leaf.
- How a style is made: oolong rolling, smoking Lapsang Souchong, pressing dark tea.
- Growing Camellia sinensis in Britain, including what went wrong.
- British tea history: the tea trade, smuggling, tea rooms, rationing, porters and dockside work.
- Teaware: Staffordshire pots, caddies, strainers, how clay and glaze affect a pot.
- Regional customs in Britain and Ireland, and those brought here from elsewhere, such as chai and Moroccan mint tea.
- Fair pay, sustainability and labelling on tea estates, with sources we can check.
- Careful home experiments with a clear method.
What we will decline
- Thinly disguised adverts, brand round-ups and "best tea" lists.
- Health claims without solid support, including slimming, detox or cure claims.
- Anything about gambling, adult content, pharmaceuticals, cannabis or crypto, even if tea is mentioned.
- Generic overviews of "the benefits of tea" and machine-written or spun text.
- Pieces whose real purpose is a link to an unrelated site.
The practical details
| Length | 800 to 1,500 words. Use the length the subject needs. |
|---|---|
| Language | British English, written plainly. |
| Original work | Your own, unpublished anywhere else, online or in print. We check. |
| Sources | Link to the source of every figure or factual claim. Do not invent quotes, studies or customers. |
| Disclosure | Tell us about any commercial interest: employer, client, stock you sell, or payment you received. It will be stated on the article. |
| Links | Links must help the reader. We may edit or remove them. |
| Images | Send photographs only if you own them or have a licence for commercial use, and tell us the credit. |
| Editing | We edit for accuracy, length and style, and we will show you substantial changes before publishing. |
How to pitch
Email [email protected] with "Pitch" in the subject line. Include a proposed title, three or four sentences on what the reader will learn, why you are the right person to write it, any commercial interest, and a link to something you have written if you have one. Please do not send a finished article with your first message. We read every pitch but cannot promise to answer all of them.