Audubon magazine writers guidelines
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http://www.audubon.org/)
Audubon Magazine
MISSION STATEMENT
The mission of Audubon magazine is to help its readers appreciate, understand, and preserve the natural world, with a particular focus on birds and wildlife and their habitats.
l Appreciate: Audubon as art and entertainment.
Before all else, Audubon must entice readers to its pages and nurture their love for and appreciation of the natural world. We must do this through provocative writing, stunning photography, artistic illustration, and accessible design. The magazine should reflect our passion for the natural world, its intricate beauty, and the fun and exciting ways we can interact with it.
l Understand: Audubon as the authority.
Next, we must help readers understand how the natural world works, the complex fabric of ecosystems, and the need for biodiversity. We must be the authority on all topics we cover, yet bring the most complicated issues to a level where they can be understood by the greatest number of readers.
l Preserve: Audubon as a call to action.
It’s only after a reader has come to appreciate and understand nature that we can lead him or her to preserve it. The last part of our mission is to show how the actions of individuals-be they on a small scale or a grand one-can have an effect on the fate of a habitat or a species.
COLUMNS & DEPARTMENTS
Field Notes: 50-400 words
This section carries a variety of story lengths. We are looking for anecdotes, informational graphics, charts, recent news, short profiles, and a few product reviews.
Audubon at Home: 1500 words
This service column teaches readers about projects they can do in their own backyard. Included here: gardening to attract birds or wildlife, building the ultimate bird feeder, teaching your children to recognize birds or plants, etc.
Birds: 1000-2000 words
The focus is on both birds and birding—as a sport, a science, and a pastime. The can cover aspects as varied as the discovery of a new species or an exceptional birding event.
True Nature: 1000-2000 words
The goal of this column is to explain a natural phenomenon and how it affects or shapes a habitat. For instance: flash floods, an ice storm, an avalanche, a plague of locusts, or beaver dams.
Profiles: 300-2000 words
These should focus on people who are fascinating in their own right and are working on fascinating projects. Wherever possible, we will look for a news angle. Subjects can include scientists, artists, activists, and adventurers. We will also consider interview Q&As.
Journal: 1000-2000 words
We will continue to look for strong, beautifully written, first-person essays on original or timely topics.
FEATURES: 2000-4000 words
The strength of Audubon’s feature well has always been in presenting stories that deal with a vast array of issues, from topics as broad as the national parks to a close examination of one species. We will also focus on battles for the environment and the people involved in them. The parameters here are intentionally broad: We need to continually surprise and delight our readers.
Writer’s Guidelines
The National Audubon Society publishes Audubon magazine four times a year. The magazine goes to some 500,000 readers who pay upwards of $20 for their subscription. It has been nominated 16 times for ASME National Magazine Awards and has won 5 times, once for General Excellence. The New York Times once called Audubon “the most beautiful magazine in the world.”
Audubon articles deal with the natural and human environment. They cover the remote as well as the familiar. What they all have in common, however, is that they have a story to tell, one that will interest not only Audubon readers but also everyone with a concern for the affairs of humans and nature. We want good, solid journalism. We want stories of people and places, good news and bad: humans and nature in conflict, humans and nature working together, humans attempting to comprehend, protect, and renew the natural world.
We are looking for new voices and fresh ideas. Read the magazine, both features and departments, before sending a query. Among the types of stories we seek: balanced reporting on environmental issues and events—especially those related to birds and wildlife and their habitats here in North America—and analyses of events, policies, and issues from a fresh point of view. We do not publish fiction or poetry.
Reader Profile
Audubon’s readers are educated, affluent, and active. They represent a dual audience (50 percent male, 50 percent female) with an average age of 48 and a household income of $61,480.
Guidelines for submissions
Audubon rarely accepts unsolicited manuscripts. Story suggestions should be submitted in a brief query letter, accompanied by clips and a self-addressed, stamped envelope. (No telephone, e-mail or fax queries please.) Be sure the query not only outlines the subject matter but also indicates the approach you would take. Assigned manuscripts should be submitted electronically. Once an article is accepted, you must be prepared to submit source materials that enable us to verify all facts. Audubon pays competitive rates on acceptance. Kill fees are one-third of the original rate.
ADDRESS:
David Seideman
Editor-in-Chief
Audubon Magazine
700 Broadway
New York, NY 10003