WOMEN’S HEALTH
WRITER GUIDELINES
It’s not easy to break into Women’s Health. Study a back issue or two, then consider the following: Most unsolicited queries fail because they don’t solve a problem relevant to the Women’s Health reader with immediate, actionable advice.
THE WOMEN’S HEALTH READER
Our circulation is 400,000. Our average reader is 25-39 years old (median age 31.2). They are well-educated with a household income of 75K. Three quarters of them are married or live with a partner. More than half have kids. They go to the gym 2.6 times a week. Her priorities are to feel healthy, beat stress, deepen her relationships and look her best.WHAT WE COVER
Women’s Health is an authoritative source of information on all aspects of women’s physical and emotional health. We rely on writers to seek out the right experts, and to either tell a story from a first-person point of view or using relevant and compelling anecdotes. All quotes and health information contained in the magazine are thoroughly and carefully fact-checked.
Acceptable sources include:
• original interviews with qualified experts (individuals considered leaders in their fields,
affiliated with top universities or institutions, actively doing research, etc.)
• original research published in peer-reviewed journals
• fact sheets, position papers, and information from Web sites sponsored by major
medical associations (medlineplus.com, pubmed.com, and eurekaalert.com),
institutions, and/or government health agencies
TONE
Every story should be:
Informative: No fluff. We deliver the facts, debunk the myths, divulge the hidden truths.
Instructive: No guessing. We tell you exactly how to solve problems, get results, and be
your best.
Immediate: No waiting. We get you started right here, right now.
Insightful: No illusions. We know what your life is really like.
Inspiring: No limits. We believe you can be and can have anything and everything you want.
LENGTH, PAYMENT, RIGHTS
Our editors like to see a well-written 200-400-word pitch for any section of the magazine.
Front-of-the-book pieces run at about 200-300 words. Departments and features run
anywhere between 800 to 3,000 words. Six to eight page stories run at about 3,000 words.
FROM WH: We usually buy all rights, but this is negotiated on an individual basis. We will
consider buying second rights, if your published piece has not appeared in another national
magazine, in another health magazine, or in another magazine written primarily for women.
When we pay: For departments and features, following acceptance, upon completion of the
fact-checking process.
PITCHES
Before you send your pitch, ask yourself these questions:
1. Why do we care about this topic?
How can we take an idea and turn it into a targeted story? Is there a fresh, new
counter-intuitive perspective readers need to hear? Can we solve problems with
surprising, new information?
2. How many people does it affect? What ages? Gender? Does the story relentlessly
serve the reader?
3. What recent studies (no more than one year old) back up your story idea?
4. What's the take home message for readers? What immediate, direct, and actionable
tips does our reader walk away with? Will this help the reader gain greater control
over one area of her life? Is the answer realistic? Would you and your friends really
do this?
FOOTNOTES
Footnote your article.
You must provide a source for every fact.
Insert your footnotes directly into the copy of the article that you’re going to e-mail in
for editing. Please DON’T submit a separate annotated manuscript. Use [square brackets]
to set the footnotes off from the rest of the text.
Please use this suggested footnote format:
• For experts and other contacts: Use the first letter of the expert’s last name.
Exception: If two experts have the same initial, use the first & last initial or full last
name.
Example: [W] or [BW] or [Walsh] = information from Brian Walsh, MD.
• For written sources: Assign a number to the source, and use that number. Example:
[1]
If the source has several pages, please indicate the page(s) used. Example: [1, p 85]
CLIPS
We don’t assign anything without seeing published clips from a major publication. Emails,
PDF or photocopies are a good idea, as we may not return clips. Send your best. One or two
will do. They don’t all have to be about health or medicine. We want to see how well you
report, write and interpret stories.
HOW TO QUERY Women’s Health
Structure an article proposal this way:
* Start with the lead you expect to put on the piece.
* Write a summary of where you’ll go from there.
* Give specifics on whom you plan to interview, what types of real-life anecdotes you’ll
include, and what research sources you plan to go to and what conclusion the story might
reach. Queries shouldn’t run longer than one page, single-spaced. We’ll get back to you in
two-four weeks. (Be sure to enclose a SASE.)
MANUSCRIPTS
If you send a manuscript, it must be typed double- or triple-spaced, with margins of at least 1
inch. Send a copy of your original, just in case. We report on manuscripts in four to eight
weeks
BACK ISSUES
Call our customer service department at (800) 324-1731 to order back issues.
Please send article submissions by regular mail to me at the address below.
No phone calls please!
Visit Women's Health online at
http://www.womenshealthmag.com
For information on other Rodale publications, please visit our Web site at
http://www.rodale.com/.
To purchase Rodale books online, visit
http://www.rodalestore.com/.
Best of health to you and yours!
The Editors at Women’s Health
Sorry for the jumbled look.