The Writer is dedicated to helping professional and aspiring writers with a straightforward presentation of information, instruction and motivation. In the pages of our 123-year-old magazine, writers come together to share their experiences, expertise, struggles, successes and suggestions. The magazine's efforts have been recognized in recent years with gold and silver medals for Editorial Excellence in Folio magazine's national competition.
We do not accept fiction or poetry.
Send queries to queries@writermag.com. Submissions may be sent as .doc files or by copying and pasting text into the body of an e-mail message. Please DO NOT send .docx files. Hard copies are also acceptable.
Feature articles generally run 600 to 3,500 words. These include our "Step by Step" how-to articles and our regular in-depth author interviews. A separate memo is available by e-mail on our "Step by Step" articles, which are built around a series of interactive steps. These articles are done only by experienced writers. Most of our "Step by Steps" address a specific aspect of fiction writing, but we also consider general nonfiction and creative-nonfiction topics.
We encourage a roundup approach for articles on market or publishing trends, such as the changing youth market, the growing interest in inspirational writing, the best of the small presses, how to get your manuscript past the first reading, what small-press editors want, and how to find an agent.
We will consider personal essays about writing as both general features and Off the Cuff columns, but these essays should not be of the "navel-gazing" variety that is excessively focused on self and one's life story. An essay should provide some take-away advice and benefits to a writing audience just as our other features do.
Basics
All queries should be submitted in writing. Do not call. We prefer electronic queries, to queries@writermag.com.
Hard-copy queries can be mailed to The Writer at 21027 Crossroads Circle, P.O. Box 1612, Waukesha, WI 53187. Include a SASE for a response and return of materials.
We do our best to respond to queries within 6-8 weeks, and most are dealt with much sooner. Queries that make it into our "Maybe" basket can sometimes take longer.
We acknowledge assignments with an e-mailed confirmation message. We give an article an "acceptance read" around the due date; if the article is in acceptable shape, we mail a contract within the next few weeks. We send payment after we receive a signed copy of the contract.
Generally, we buy first rights. Payment varies. In general, our rates for articles range from $100 for book reviews to $100 to $300 for columns and $300 to $500 for features, depending on length, complexity and the research required. Items for the Take Note section pay $25 to $75. We are also looking for writing-related cartoons ($50); these should be sent to associate editor Sarah Lange at slange@writermag.com.
More information about the other departments here.
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