Ad Astra: Market Spotlight
For this week’s market spotlight, we look at the Ad Astra, the quarterly magazine of the National Space Society.
Ad Astra is the official publication of the National Space Society. This quarterly magazine goes out to all its members, libraries, schools, and businesses.
The editors say, “Ad Astra is open to unsolicited submissions, but prefers queries from writers, photographers, and artists interested in assignments for future issues of the magazine.”
Payment is 25¢/word.
What They’re Looking For
Ad Astra publishes articles focused on space exploration. Specifically, they’re looking for:
- Features. Length: 1,200-4,000 words with two to eight full-size color images.
- Book reviews and profiles. Length: 600-750 words.
- Sidebars. Length: 100-600 words.
The editors say, “Ad Astra (‘to the stars’) is the award-winning magazine of the National Space Society, featuring the latest news in space exploration and stunning full-color photography.”
How to Submit
The editors prefer writers query first via email at adastra@nss.org. That said, they will accept unsolicted manuscripts too.
The editors say, “Queries should include areas of expertise and interest, recent publication credits, and samples of work.”

Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Editor of Writer's Digest, which includes managing the content on WritersDigest.com and programming virtual conferences. He's the author of 40 Plot Twist Prompts for Writers: Writing Ideas for Bending Stories in New Directions, The Complete Guide of Poetic Forms: 100+ Poetic Form Definitions and Examples for Poets, Poem-a-Day: 365 Poetry Writing Prompts for a Year of Poeming, and more. Also, he's the editor of Writer's Market, Poet's Market, and Guide to Literary Agents. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.