BC Outdoors Sport Fishing - Writer Submission Guidelines

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Writer Submission Guidelines

GUIDELINES

PLEASE NOTE: We strongly encourage queries before submission (written, phone or e-mail).

BE A BC OUTDOORS READER

In the pages of BC Outdoors magazine, fishing enthusiasts share a common interest in the outdoors of Western Canada. The bulk of our writers and photographers not only come from the local angling community, but many of them were long-time readers before coming aboard as a contributor.

TYPES OF STORIES

We buy features and contributions to our departments. Rates vary with the amount of revision required per manuscript, and whether or not the photography is strong enough to justify a color spread. Features run up to 2,000 words and include color photos. Departments run 800 to 1,000 words.

Sometimes we will buy longer pieces and break them into two or three episodes, but usually longer pieces are commissioned because, in our opinion, the idea deserves a longer discussion than we can provide in a single issue. Usually, whatever can be said in 10,000 words can be improved by cutting it to 2,500 words. Often, what’s been written in 2,500 words will work in 1,500, and in the hands of a good writer can be told in 500 or less.

We do not pay by the word because it just encourages longer pieces. Write tight, write short, write with the reader in mind, write to inform, write to entertain. We also buy short (50 to 250-word) news items for our CURRENTS section (current events, government updates, people in the trade news, contests, gatherings and fishing derbies).

QUERIES

We prefer queries rather than finished manuscripts. Your idea may have been used recently, or the idea could benefit from a bit of shaping to suit our requirements before you begin writing. Every magazine has a “slush pile” of unsolicited material that comes in “over the transom,” and Western SPortsman is no exception. Our slush pile exists because some writers do not write query letters. However, you will save considerable time in the long run if you master this skill. Queries submitted with a few sample photographs will get the editor’s attention much, much faster.

SUBMISSION FORMAT

Queries are accepted on paper, by mail or fax. With the finished product, we will consider type-written manuscripts, but our preference is emailed—Word (IBM or Mac), or attached plain text sent to

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(ATTN: Editor, BC Outdoors Magazine).

Please ensure the correct spelling of all names and titles—our editors have been known to waste hours trying to correct poor spelling and sometimes even the best proofing will not catch a misspelled proper name that we cannot confirm without a local phone call or reference to a book in our library. Be accurate, and ensure that you have covered the five basic Ws. Be specific, our readers like to know how far, how long, how many. Be historic, these touches enrich the read.

ILLUSTRATIONS

Our preference is slides for features, prints for all departments (any section where the illustrations appear black-and-white). Send negatives as well and use the best film you can. Fast, grainy film is not acceptable for large illustrations because the magazine is mostly 'landscape, portrait of you and your catch' themed, so we look for as many fishing illustrations as we do situational drawings. Illustrative art is usually commissioned.