Freelance writing, Pregnancy & Birth Magazine, pays $700-$1,500 per article (Canada)

Today's Parent Pregnancy & Birth is a consumer publication for expectant parents. It is published three times a year (April, August and December) and is distributed across Canada by members of the medical profession and childbirth educators.



The editorial focus is on pregnancy, birth, postpartum care, and parenting the newborn. We believe in empowering our readers to make informed choices. It is our goal to provide readers with current research and to discuss new trends in a responsible and balanced way.



We believe that childbirth is an important milestone in family life, and that the experience of birth has lasting effects on the lives of women, babies, fathers and families. We deal with both "baby care" and "parent care," recognizing that the transition to parenthood is a major life change. Because of the many benefits to both mother and baby, we are advocates for breastfeeding while respecting the choice to bottle–feed.



While the tone of the magazine is positive, we do also address the "dark side" of birth: postpartum depression, miscarriage, etc. We try to help parents understand these events, and to provide them with practical resources to help them cope.



Today's Parent Pregnancy & Birth publishes personal experience stories only in the Birth Story column, rarely publishes humour and never publishes fiction or poetry.



Queries



Please do not telephone, e–mail or fax queries. Send a detailed query letter rather than completed manuscripts and, if it's your first contact with us, enclose samples of previously published work.



Send your query to:



The Editor, Today's Parent Pregnancy & Birth,

One Mount Pleasant Road, 8th Floor,

Toronto, Ontario M4Y 2Y5



Responses will be mailed within six weeks providing a stamped self–addressed envelope is enclosed. Today's Parent Group accepts no responsibility for unsolicited material.



Editorial Lineup



About 80 percent of the editorial is written by regular contributors. Editorial lineups are established one year in advance.



About 40 percent of each magazine is permanent editorial, a three–part section called "Birthing Basics" (outline attached) which covers basic topics in pregnancy, birthing and the early postpartum. Each section is reprinted annually. Writers are asked to avoid duplicating topics in "Birthing Basics" when querying.



NEWS AND VIEWS offers short news items, pre– and postnatal care tips, book reviews, etc. This department is written by a regular contributor.



Several features complete each magazine. They are designed to complement the core editorial with more specialized topics, in–depth treatments, current issues, etc. Each issue must have a mix of prenatal, birthing, and postpartum topics, as well as a balance between difficult/medical subjects and lighter articles.



Articles usually run from 1000 to 2500 words. If you are commissioned to write an article you will be given a word count. When querying the publication, indicate the length you consider appropriate for the subject.



Style



We are looking for good magazine writing. Stay away from essay format and didactic prose. Use quotations. First–person narratives are not encouraged (unless you have been assigned a personal reflection piece) but interpretive reporting is fine.



We use The Oxford Canadian Dictionary. We use the British spelling for "paediatric," "labour," and "Caesarean." However, we are now using "fetus" instead of "foetus." "Breastfeeding" is one word. Numbers one to ten are written and numerals used for 11 and up. We use The Canadian Style: A Guide to Writing and Editing for reference.



We would like Pregnancy & Birth to be read by mothers and fathers. An article on breastfeeding would usually be directed at the mother but, for example, sexuality during pregnancy should talk to both parents. Please watch out for sexist language. We don't want to see a MS full of he/she or she/he. Good non–sexist writing requires careful sentence construction. When discussing particular babies, try to roughly balance girls and boys.



Sidebars and resource boxes are encouraged. A list of resources for parents should include access information: if you are recommending books give the title, author, publisher, and date of publication. Please check to make sure books are currently in print. If appropriate, give mail–order information including price and shipping/tax. For organizations give a contact name and address, telephone number and e–mail address if there is one. Please indicate if they are willing to take calls from the public. If not we won't print the phone number. Sidebars can provide supplementary information or practical tips. Make the information useful.



Research



Please ensure that you research the subject thoroughly and, where applicable, give attribution. All information must be current and accurate. Research sources and statistics should be Canadian. When quoting accuracy is essential. If the quotation is from an interview, double–check with the source before submitting your MS.



Pregnancy & Birth is a national magazine so avoid giving a local bias. When selecting parents to interview, please keep in mind that "the Canadian family" has many configurations and many cultural backgrounds; we would like this fact to be reflected in the pages of Pregnancy & Birth.



We do not employ a copy checker, so make sure names, addresses, etc. are correct. Include a list of your sources, with telephone numbers, with your MS.



Article Presentation



We can accept material on disk in most word processing formats. We work in Word for MacIntosh. We use a single space format, with one line between paragraphs, and paragraphs are not indented.



Deadlines



If you are commissioned to write an article for Pregnancy & Birth you will be given an editorial deadline date. This is the date when the editors should receive the MS. Today's Parent Group reserves the right to cancel the assignment or reduce the fee if it arrives after the deadline.



Fees



The fee will be established when you are commissioned to write the article. Articles range from $700 to $1,500 based on both length and the amount of research involved. Fees will be paid 30 days after the MS is accepted. We do not pay kill fees for editorially unacceptable material, nor do we pay extra fees for rewrites. Writers new to Pregnancy & Birth may be asked to write their first article "on spec," especially if they have limited experience writing for consumer magazines.



We will reimburse long distance telephone expenses associated with researching an article to a usual limit of $50. Other expenses should be approved in advance by your handling editor.



Contract Letter



Your handling editor will contact you by phone to discuss your first assignment. Please make notes during this telephone conversation – you will be given guidance on the editorial direction and approach. A confirmation contract letter will be sent to you. If you have any concerns regarding the terms and conditions outlined in the contract, contact your editor immediately.



Contact Information:



For inquiries: The Editor, Today's Parent Pregnancy & Birth, One Mount Pleasant Road, 8th Floor, Toronto, Ontario M4Y 2Y5



Website: http://www.todaysparent.com/