Guidelines for Writing for Natural Home magazine
Queries
Please direct all queries to editor @ naturalhomemagazine.com. Please provide a brief pitch of your article—what department you think it would fit in and what topic you are interested in approaching. Please allow time for an editor to respond to your query, and please note that the editorial calendar for the year is planned six months in advance.
Contracts and Payments
Upon assignment of an article, you will receive a Natural Home magazine freelance contract containing information on the agreed-upon deadline, length, material to be covered, and fee. Natural Home Magazine buys non-exclusive first North American and reprint rights. Payment (whether on publication or acceptance) should be discussed ahead of time with the assigning editor.
Tone of Articles
We strive to create a readable, user-friendly magazine that will be entertaining and informative for readers interested in living a healthy, environmentally conscious lifestyle. The best way to understand Natural Home's content and tone is to read the magazine, especially previous examples of articles similar to the one you’re working on. Various sections of the magazine have different requirements. The Good To Know section is filled with short, bite-sized information. Features are much longer and frequently require vendor resources—information on where you can buy certain products. (See our Style Guide for information on how to cite Resource Information.)
There are, however, a few rules of thumb:
* Use second person “you” rather than anonymous third person “one.”
* In general, avoid passive voice.
* Avoid cliches.
* Make your writing as colorful and sensually evocative as possible.
* Stay on topic and be succinct.
* Avoid rambling structure by sticking to a general outline.
* Use compelling quotes that flow smoothly. If the source’s grammar or phrasing needs a little polish, you should correct it—yet maintain the integrity of what she or he is trying to say.
General Audience
Our readers are educated, eco-savvy homeowners whose values and purchasing patterns mirror the Cultural Creatives, a growing market of an estimated 50 million individuals who care deeply about healthy living, natural products, and a sustainable economy.
Revisions/Rewrites
We reserve the right to return an assigned manuscript that is deemed unacceptable for a rewrite at no additional cost to Natural Home. This may include doing additional research, rewriting for clarity, or smoothing out problematic sections. If upon those changes, the manuscript is still deemed unacceptable, a “non-use fee”—25 percent of the initial fee—will be paid, and the article will not be used.
We also reserve the right to make any and all edits deemed necessary to make your article fit the style, tone and content of the magazine as a whole.
Resources, References, and Sources
• The information in your article—whether long or short—needs to be attributed. In homeowner profiles, this is as simple as quoting the homeowner and architect. However, if you’re writing about pesticides and health, water purity, or about the environmental impact of certain actions, you need to cite expert sources. These may include leading researchers, government agencies (EPA), environmental groups (Pesticide Action Network), or other valid groups that distribute reliable information.
• For most articles, be sure to submit a Resources sidebar with contact information (company, phone, and website) that helps the reader find products related to the article. For instance, an article about cork floors should include three or four manufacturers and contact info.
• We expect you to turn in an article that is accurate, and we will fact-check it before publication. To expedite that process, you must include a list of sources and contacts for your piece. This information may not be published in the final article, but it must be supplied for fact-checking.
• We expect writers to show journalistic initiative (i.e., to do some digging, sort out various perspectives on a topic), including Web research, as it invariably turns up a wider, more flexible and more timely array of resources.
• Quoting from books, studies, and journals may be necessary for your article. Please note them in your text. The information may be edited out of the final version, but at least this way the source is right at our fingertips. And, when you quote from a printed source, you should make a photocopy of the pertinent page and mail it to the editorial office. If you’re quoting from Web information, please include the URL in parentheses right in the text. We’ll edit it out after we’ve checked the piece.
If you’re quoting from a book: List the author, title, publisher, and year. The Green Kitchen Handbook by Annie Berthold-Bond (Harper Perennial, 1997).
If you’re citing an article: List the full name of the publication (no abbreviations), date published (either Month, Day, and Year, or Volume and Number), and page numbers (New England Journal of Medicine, vol. 45, no. 3; May/June 2002, p. 203-224.) Please note that scientific journals are acceptable sources, but consumer magazines generally aren’t.
• Quoting authors and experts: Please list the person’s professional affiliation, place of business, and academic degrees. Use M.D. or Ph.D. (sandwiched between commas) behind the name. Andrew Weil, M.D., of Arizona State University, wrote the book; not Dr. Andrew Weil.
• Quotes and anecdotes from everyday individuals are often part of homeowner profiles, and these add color and real-life experiences to the articles. We need to know each person’s name (spelled correctly, of course) and city of residence. When referring to them in your text, give the first and last name of homeowners at first mention, then use first name throughout article. For architects and other experts, switch to last name throughout.
• For the fact-checker to verify quotes and information cited in your article, you need to provide contact information for each person interviewed, including a phone number and an email if possible. This is critical, since we may need a new quote, clarification, or even approval if the quoted information is controversial.
Deadlines
Once we’ve settled on a due date for your article, we expect you to turn in the piece by the end of that assigned day. If you anticipate that you’ll be unable to meet a deadline, please contact your assigning editor as early as possible (preferably a week or so in advance) to reschedule. We’ll make every effort to be flexible provided you keep us posted on the progress of your work.
Editorial Contacts
Robyn Griggs Lawrence, editor-in-chief
rlawrence @ naturalhomemagazine.com
Jessica Kellner, managing editor (“Good to Know,” “Nuts & Bolts,” “Can This Home Be Greened?” and fact-checking)
jkellner @ naturalhomemagazine.com
All product submissions and administrative issues (invoices, contracts, copies of magazine) are handled by Kim Wallace, assistant editor. When you send invoices, send them to:
Kim Wallace
Natural Home Magazine
1503 SW 42nd Street
Topeka, KS 66609
kwallace @ naturalhomemagazine.com
Last Thoughts
When in doubt about anything, ask. Please feel free to call or email your assigning editor with questions or for help. We generally adhere to AP writing style. For additional style questions, please contact your assigning editor. Many thanks,
Natural Home editors