The American Directory of

Writer's Guidelines,

6th Edition

More than 1,600 Magazine Editors and Book Publishers Explain What They Are Looking for From Freelancers

 and Michele Doland
$29.95 ($45.00 Canada) • Trade Paper • 816 pages

 8.5" x 11" • Indexed by topics • ISBN 1-884956-58-0 (Replaces 5th Edition, ISBN 1-884956-51-3)

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Sample Excerpt

Excerpt From

What Are Writer's Guidelines?

For years, editors at magazines have prepared writer’s guidelines to advise and direct freelance writers who wish to write for their magazines. Today, editors at many book publishers also prepare writer’s guidelines for writers with book-length projects in mind.

Yet, while supporting writers is important to editors (who are most often writers themselves), they don’t provide writer’s guidelines for purely altruistic reasons. They do it with the hope that the pool of material submitted to them will increase both in quality and in adherence to the needs of the press.
In theory, the editor’s ability to pick and choose from this enriched reservoir will enhance the publisher’s success—and the editor’s job security.

Whether this works as anticipated is a still a topic of discussion among editors—most material that arrives on an editor’s desk still does not fit the editor’s needs. What is certain is that savvy writers save time and limit the number of rejection slips they receive by perusing a publisher’s guidelines before querying or submitting material.
The best writer’s guidelines convey a plethora of information. The basics, such as whether material should be fiction or nonfiction, which subject matters or topics are to be dealt with, and the approximate word count required, are almost universally spelled out. Yet, many guidelines go well beyond the basics, instructing the writer in such matters as tone, voice, use of first person or third person point of view, use of humor, and the appropriateness of political, sexual, or violent content.

Guidelines often provide information about photographs and other illustrations to be used, deadlines for seasonal material, which rights are acquired, which columns or features are open to freelancers and which are staff written, and which style guide (The Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual and The Chicago Manual of Style are two common examples) the publisher wishes the author to follow. Some guidelines even list the rates the publisher will pay.

Use This Book to:

• Find a publisher
Search The American Directory of Writer’s Guidelines’ “Topic Index” to find a publisher interested in the subject you wish to write about, then turn to that publisher’s guidelines for more information, including the name and address of the editor to whom you should send query letters, manuscripts, book proposals or other submissions. Periodical publisher guidelines are listed alphabetically beginning on page 1. Guidelines for book publishers begin on page 529.

• Polish your submission
When you already know which periodical you would like to target or which book publisher you wish to approach, look up the appropriate guidelines and use the information provided to fine-tune your submission.

• Brainstorm ideas
A primary value of The American Directory of Writer’s Guidelines is its ability to be browsed. Use the guidelines and the “Topic Index” to brainstorm ideas for everything from nonfiction articles to short stories, from brief fillers to full-length books.

• Exploit your expertise
Many regularly published writers use the same material for more than one article or project. If you are an expert in a certain area or have collected an abundance of material on a subject about which you would like to write, use the “Topic Index” to locate a number of publishers interested in your subject and then contact each individually slanting your approach to fit the individual publisher’s wants and needs.

• Look like a pro
Anything less than a businesslike manuscript format will brand you as a beginner. See page xxiii for an example of proper manuscript format.

• Track your submissions
A “Submission Tracking Sheet” appears on page xxiii. Photocopy this form to record the progress of each of your submissions.

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