Freelance writing, Wavelength Magazine, topic: paddlesports/ kayaking, pays $100-$200 per article

Deadline: 8 November 2010

WaveLength Magazine promotes safe, ecologically sensitive paddling, guides readers to useful products and services, and explores marine issues. Now in our 19th year, we distribute WaveLength around North America free-of-charge through select paddling, outdoor and marine stores, tour operators, paddling clubs, recreation centers, outdoor events and shows, book stores, libraries, and around the world electronically via the internet.
How to get published

QUERY FIRST: Please email your proposal, outlining your idea. A draft submission at the time of the proposal as well as a selection of low-resolution photographs will considerably help us consider your proposal. We may accept an article but hold it for a future publication. We don’t return manuscripts so be sure to keep a copy. And please do not send us an article that you are also submitting elsewhere.

2. TOPIC: We invite submissions from everyone involved paddlesports, including those in the kayak industry. Topics for consideration include:

Adventure destinations: This is a foundation of a kayaking magazine, with at least one destination covered in each issue. Your chances of being published are enhanced considerably if you are writing about a destination we have not covered recently, and if your writing style is not "I went here, I did this..." A tip-off that you are venturing into this style of writing is use of phrases such as "The next day..." Favored destinations articles will feature a relatively unvisited area and colorful writing including anecdotes plus ecological insights plus natural and human history. Photography should also be exceptional. We pay $250-300 for a top package of photos and writing. A map of the area visited plus marked features of locations mentioned in the article would be helpful. The map need not be of publishable quality. A good format used in one instance included writing the features on a street map, photographing the street map and sending us the image electronically. We'll build the final version on this end.

Day Trips: This new feature is meant as a high-utility article with a fixed format. The format should be an introductory paragraph on the overview and attractions of the area, a paragraph each on suggested day trip itineraries for beginner, intermediate and advanced kayakers, and a wrap-up paragraph on Tips and Hazards. The package should include some top-knotch photography and a map of the area visited plus marked features of locations mentioned in the article would be helpful. The map need not be of publishable quality. A good format used in one instance included writing the features on a street map, photographing the street map and sending us the image electronically. We'll build the final version on this end. We pay $100 for the package of writing and photographs.

Conservation: This category should cover an issue of marine or nearshore features either at risk or in need of conservation. Examples can include a pristine area about to be logged, a campaign to save a forest, new measures to protect a marine species or any number of other issues that may occur. Excellent photography will be an added benefit.

Wildlife and ecology: This category covers a broad range of possible topics related to coastal and marine life. Writing should be lively and inciteful, offering rare glimpses of behavior or features not normally known. Anecdotes are helpful. Try not to sound like an encyclopedia.

Skills: Authors for this category should have a proven background in technical aspects of kayaking. Please query first, as we do have a regular column covering this topic.

Options: This is a new category that covers paddlesports beyond sea kayaking. It can cover forms of recreation such as outrigger kayaking, biyaking (a mix of cycling and kayaking), whitewater kayaking, you name it.

Great Parks: This is a destination-style feature with a focus on a park. Rather than a first-person account of a trip it should encompass the beauty and majesty of the park plus all its amenities and attractions.

Marine Trails: This can be a destination-style piece but with a focus on an official or unofficial trail.

Safety: Authors for this category should have a proven background in technical aspects of kayaking. Please query first, as we do have a regular column covering this topic.

Reflections: This is a category that celebrates the spirit of paddling through great writing. It can be about an anecdote, an insight or an experience. Creativity and great prose are the key.

Other topics: We will consider themes such as family paddling, navigation, health and fitness or others by suggestion. Query us!
What you are agreeing to by making a submission

PAYMENT: Authors receive $100 to $200 for their article, depending on published length. Payments for photos is $25 to $50 per photo, depending on size used, and $200 for cover shots (verticals). Payment is after publication (usually the end of the publication month). For those with a business or organizational interest to promote, in lieu of payment we will include your contact information with your piece.

Send to: kayak@wavelengthmagazine.com
#6-10 Commercial St,, Nanaimo, BC, Canada, V9R 5G2

More information here.