6-8

Finding the Bacon

Sable Jak, Editor

June: Flowers are blooming, birds are singing, mothers are crying and brides are blushing. The wedding season is upon us and what better time to put together a bouquet of magazines about brides and weddings. However, lest the guys feel left out, I've listed some magazines for them, too.

Brides

Condé Nast Bride's
Condé Nast
4 Times Square
6th Floor
New York, NY 10036 USA
Ph: 212-286-2518
Fx: 212-286-8331
http://www.brides.com
http://www.concierge.com/travel/b_places/01_romantic/bridesreaders.htm
E-Queries: Not found. Query by mail with clips. Send #10 envelope for writer's guidelines. Query with published clips.
Contact: Nancy Mattia, Features Editor
Email: letter@brides.com
Pays: $.50 to $1.00/word for Nonfiction and Columns/Departments. Pays on acceptance.
Rights: All rights. 25% kill fee. Byline given. Simultaneous submissions accepted. Queries can expect a response in two months.
Description: Bimonthly bridal magazine for the bride and groom, their family and friends.
Circulation: 400,000. Readers: Adults.
Needs: Articles should not be limited to just the wedding. This magazine also looks for information to help first-time newlyweds adjust to married life. Topics can range from lifestyle changes to wedding planning, to people who are marrying for the second time. Note: Most wedding-planning articles tend to be written by experts, or are interviews of experts. Articles should be well-researched and very informational.
Note: You can sign up for a newsletter.

Modern Bride
Primedia
249 W. 17th St.
New York, NY 10011 USA
Ph: 212-462-3472
Fx: 212-367-8342
http://www.modernbride.com
E-Queries: Not found. Snail mail queries with published clips.
Contact: Christina Cush, Executive Editor for hard-copy magazine and Christine Ford for online edition.
Email: Not listed
Writer's guidelines online: Not found.
Pays: $600 - $1,200; length 500-2000 words. Pays on acceptance. Accepts reprints. 25% kill fee. Publication is roughly six months after acceptance. Response to queries: six weeks.
Rights: First periodical rights. Byline given.
Description: Monthly magazine meant to function as a bride's planning guide for the wedding, through the honeymoon and on to her new home, be it a house or an apartment.
Circulation: 406,000. Readers: Brides of all ages.
Needs: Articles on planning weddings, honeymoons, home furnishings (from furniture to linens), beauty care, travel, etiquette and financial information.
Note: The online edition carries information not found in the print edition.

And now, as promised, a few listings for the guys:

Smoke Magazine: Life's Burning Desires
Lockwood Publications
130 W. 42nd St.
New York, NY 10036 USA
Ph: 212-391-2060
Fx: 212-827-0945
http://www.smokemag.com
E-Queries: Yes. Snail mail: send #10 SASE for guidelines. Six weeks response time for queries.
Contact: Alyson Boxman, Editor-in-Chief
Email: Editor@smokemag.com
Writer's guidelines online: Not found.
Pays: Nonfiction articles 1,500-3,000 words, $500 to $1,500. Negotiates payment for Photos. Columns & Departments are all 1,500 words, $500-$1,500. Fillers pays $200-$500 for 200 to 500 words. Online magazine contains articles not found in the print magazine. Pays two months after publication. Publication is roughly three months after acceptance.
Rights: First rights. Byline given. 25% kill fee. Simultaneous submissions accepted. Send seasonal material six months in advance.
Description: Quarterly magazine highlighting cigars and men's lifestyles.
Circulation: 175,000. Readers: Affluent men, late twenties to forty, active and educated.
Needs: Essays, historical, interviews and profiles, sports, cigars, true crime, travel and personal experiences.
Editor's note: Although not a subscriber, my husband picks up a copy of this now and then. Personally, I find it pretty darn interesting!

Esquire
250 W. 55th St.
New York, NY 10019 USA
Ph: 212-649-4020
Fx: Not listed
http://www.esquire.com/
E-Queries: No. Submit queries by snail mail. Note: Unsolicited work is rarely accepted.
Contact: Editor-in-chief: David Granger. Senior Editor: A.J. Jacobs.
Email: Not available at present.
Pays: $1.00/word for nonfiction averaging 1,500 words. Pays on acceptance.
Rights: First worldwide periodical publication rights (90 days from cover date). 20% kill fee. No information on bylines found.
Description: Monthly magazine. From the website: "Esquire is special because it's a magazine for men. Not a fashion magazine for men, not a health magazine for men, not a money magazine for men. It is not any of these things; it is all of them. It is, and has been for nearly seventy years, a magazine about the interests, the curiosity, the passions, of men."
Circulation: Not available. Readers: Men between 30-45, college educated, interested in the world and sophisticated.
Needs: Nonfiction articles: Columns average 1,500 words and features 5,000. Short pieces of 200-400 words. Topics concern trends in America's culture. Photos are usually commissioned. Fiction should be high quality and is usually submitted through agents. Please note that most articles are contracted from contributing Editors. However, you should query with very a solid idea that is backed by experts and your own expertise.
Insider's Note: I've emailed back and forth with one of the Editors at Esquire regarding their guidelines, etc. and I must say, they've got some very nice people there!

Editor's Choice
When I first saw this magazine and read their guidelines, I knew this was something my father would have loved. He was an active, robust man and an avid reader (everything from National Geographic to Fishing to Shakespeare) who never missed the opportunity to put a book or magazine into his children's hands. I'm sure he would have liked Heartland USA.

Heartland USA©
UST Publishing
1 Sound Shore Dr.
Greenwich, CT 06830-7251 USA
Ph: 203-622-3456
Fx: 203-863-5393
Website: None listed
E-Queries: Yes. Hard-copy queries and submissions must be sharp, legible and include a SASE. A free sample of the magazine is available on request.
Contact: Brad Pearson, Editor
Email: husaedit@ustnet.com
Pays: $250 to $950 for feature articles with a target length of 1,200. Feature-length pieces must lend themselves to strong photographic support. Department length articles (generally 550-1,200 words) pay from $140 to $950. Pays on final acceptance (i.e. "when we're certain the piece will appear in an upcoming issue). 20% kill fee on assigned work.
Rights: First or second NASR and copyright in their publication.
Description/Circulation/Readers: Per Brad Pearson, Editor: "… a general-interest, bi-monthly magazine with a BPA-guaranteed circulation of over 900,000 and a readership exceeding 2.7 million. Targeted primarily at active, outdoors-oriented blue-collar working men, the publication regularly includes an eclectic mix of short, easy-to-read articles on hunting and fishing, spectator sports (motorsports, football, basketball and baseball), how-to, country music, human interest, and wildlife. Please keep in mind that our average reader is a high-school graduate who sees himself as hard-working, traditional, rugged, confident, uncompromising and daring. We have consciously chosen not to "write down" to our readers, but rather to pursue an Editorial voice that reflects a relaxed, jocular, street-smart familiarity, with just a hint of attitude. The liberal use of anecdote or compelling quotations -- anything to breathe some life into a piece -- is looked upon favorably."
Insider's note: Of all the magazines I contact for information, Heartland USA was one of the quickest to respond to my queries. I think you'll like working with these folks.

Well, readers and writers, that's the listing for now. Our next listing will highlight travel magazines and newsletters, just in time for you to add a notebook for research on your summer vacation.

Happy writing!
Sable

Sable Jak is a freelance writer with a special love for radio drama and screenwriting. She writes for Absolute Write www.absolutewrite.com and Script Magazine's ezine www.scriptmag.com, is a charter member of The Screenplayers www.screenplayers.net/screenplayersnet.html and has a mystery radio series, "A Phil Byrnes Mystery," on www.virtuallyamerican.com. She's also an avid crafter. Sable lives in Seattle with her actor-husband and their kitties. In the language of her ancestors her name "Sable" means "sword." She feels it's an appropriate name for a writer and her mighty pen.