found magazine

by Decider Staff April 27, 2009

Since it debuted around the millennium as a zine collecting found notes, letters, lists, photos, and everything in between, Found magazine has become a mini publishing empire, transforming the things we overlook into something hilarious and surprisingly moving. Found creator Davy Rothbart and his brother, Peter, are on another one of their epic tours—this time to promote a new book, Requiem For A Paper Bag—and Decider, The Onion, and Found are offering you the chance to contribute.

Found magazineBest find ever?In advance of the tour's two upcoming stops in New York—May 6 at Bell House and May 8 at I.C.E. Auditorium—we're asking readers to submit their best finds for the chance to win tickets to one of the events, have your winning item read there, and receive a free copy of Requiem For A Paper Bag. The new book deviates from its predecessors, which imitated the magazine, by asking a gaggle of celebrities (Seth Rogen, Sarah Vowell, Robert Evans, Dave Eggers, and Chuck D among them), musicians, and regular people tell stories behind their favorite finds.

Here's how it works: Find something cool (see guidelines below), then scan it or take a picture and send a detailed e-mail describing it to nypromo@theonion.com. Otherwise, mail can be sent to The Onion attn: Found Contest, 536 Broadway 10th floor, New York, NY 10012. Submissions must be received by May 4! Decider's judges will then pick a winner, who will join the festivities at one of the Found events in New York—and possibly have their find included in an issue of Found down the road.

Suggestions for a good find:

Found magazineSomeone's a health nut.1. Make it a real find. As Found says on its website: The best finds tend to be mysteries. We get lots of submissions saying "I found this in my daughter's room" or "I found this in my grandma's attic..." Without getting into a semantic discussion about what constitutes a "find," we tend to share ones that come from sources unknown. Mysterious contexts. Not something your sister wrote when she was drunk at your party, but something that appeared stuck to your bike tire. Those stories tend to be infinitely more interesting.

2. Steer away from the rantings of crazy/homeless people, or something where the humor comes form all the horrible misspellings.

3. You'll increase your chances of winning if the find is good to read aloud, like we'll be doing at these events. Test it on your co-workers and friends.

4. Keep your eyes peeled to the ground for notes, grocery lists, letters, screenplays—everything has potential.

Good luck, and get finding!