
[Please carefully read this
entire
section before submitting work.]
Our
writers are all, with a few exceptions, women living
in North Carolina.* We
welcome writing from corporate execs, university faculty, housewives
and mommies.
We
are not impressed with celebrity, awards, degrees or pedigrees. Well
yes, congratulations and all that, but we also recognize that wisdom
and profound insight, humor and wit can reside within any of us,
no matter the letters following our name or our position in society.
WHAT
WE ARE LOOKING FOR
1.
WNC WOMAN celebrates the wisdom, insight, experience, and
know-how of women. We want to read about women doing stuff:
building thingswhether it is barns, businesses, or better mousetraps;
fixing things, whether it is her plumbing, her car, or her life. We
want to know what you have done that you never thought you could do.
We want to read about you turning around a bad situation. We want to
read about things that work: successful alliances formed, dreams manifested,
obstacles overcome. We want to read about women who say "Oh yeah?
Says who?" to the lies they have been told, the myths about what
is and is not possible. We also want some really juicy fiction, poetry
that moves us, (we only accept free verse) and essays that get us thinking.
We would love to have at least one belly laugh per issuea dozen if possible.
2.
We have a very particular intent with WNC WOMAN and are growing more
and more selective with each issue as we continue to refine
what we are all about. We have many submissions from which we choose
the most appropriate pieces. We encourage you to study the magazine
to get a better idea what we are looking for.
3.
Writers must be women living in Western North Carolina. Only
very rarely do we make exceptions. (In our June Y Chromosome
issue, we invited those with a Y Chromosome to join our ranks!) And
we only write ABOUT women living in Western North Carolina.
4.
Length of articles: We like depth so we'll accept pieces up
to about 2500 words (and photos, too); we are interested in short pieces
from time to time (say, 500 words) but generally like from 1000 words
up.
WE
ARE NOT LOOKING FOR:
1.
We are NOT interested in what is out there in abundance. We
are not looking, for example, for articles on health, yoga, natural
foods, etc. as New Life Journal locally and many many
national publications handle that beautifully already. We are
not interested in articles on fashion, beauty, home decor...these
too are well covered in other publications (unless they are
experiential pieces that offer inspiration and humor.)
We are not open to profiling anyone who has been profiled recently
in local media.
2.
We are not interested in "newsworthy" information: we
are not a newspaper. We want our content to be as timely
a year or six years from now as it is the day it comes out. We
do not accept press releases: if you want to get word
out about your event, consider a display ad in WNC WOMAN (ads
make this publication possible.)
3.
We are not interested in self-promotional articles about your product
or service: this is the role of paid advertising. Paid advertising
is what makes this publication possible.
4.
We are not excited about publishing work that has been published elsewhere,
but if it is very unusual and has not been published in WNC, we will
consider it.
PREPARING
YOUR WORK
1. We are looking for excellence in the written word. Please
DO NOT simplify your writing for an eighth-grade reader! We encourage
a positive tone and active voice. Think about what might go in a sidebar.
If there are good websites related to your article, do send us their
URL. We
expect you to have carefully edited and proofed your
work, and to have run a spell check. If
you do not take your work seriously, we won't either.
2.
Include your bio which will be printed at the end of your article.
Two or three sentences should be sufficient. Please
include in your bio whatever contact information you'd like for our
readers and put it at the end of your
article.
Please include the town where you live.
THIS IS IMPORTANT TO OUR WORKFLOW. IF YOU
DO NOT PUT YOUR BIO RIGHT AT THE END OF YOUR ARTICLE YOUR BIO WILL
NOT APPEAR IN PRINT.
SUBMITTING
YOUR WORK
1.
Please send your article via
email to submissions@wncwoman.com as
an attached Word document or directly in the
email.
2.
We judge each submission on its own merit and will not
be swayed by your resumé, list of credits, awards, etc. so no
need to include them. We are as happy to print work from someone who
has never been published before than from someone who has a slew of
awards!
3.
At this time we are not able to pay our writers. We want the
rights to print your work and have it online, but otherwise, because
we are not paying, we do not assume ownership—it is yours to do
with as you will after it is published in WNC WOMAN. If it is later
published elsewhere, we simply ask that at the end you say "First
published in WNC WOMAN" and the date.
4.
Even if we express interest in your work and say we intend to
publish it, we never know until the very last minute if it
will fit in print in a particular month... it may not fit until
several months later;we will let you know once the final version
goes to the printer.
PLEASE
NEVER EVER MAIL US SOMETHING YOU WANT BACK.
5.
In the body of the email, please include the sentence "I
HAVE READ AND UNDERSTOOD WRITER'S GUIDELINES" and
please put the word SUBMISSION as the first word in the subject
line.
6.
The deadline is the first of the month TWO
MONTHS in advance. For
example, we need to receive an article for the January issue
November 1st. We pay possibly take work closer to the publication
date, so email to ask if you are working on something but won't
have it by the two-month deadline... but the
FINAL deadline is the first of the month
prior to publication.
7.
Please submit your own work, unless
you do not have a computer and you submit it through a friend. Otherwise,
we do not accept third party submissions (as through an agent or
publicist.)
*
We are now accepting writing from women outside of Western North Carolina.