Call for Submissions

CALL FOR EDITORIAL SUBMISSIONS: Transformation stories
Do you have a story of transformation? Has there been a time when you changed your life and, as a result, changed your body, your health, yourself? Tell us about it. What inspired you? What kept you going? What did people around you say before, during, and after your transformation? What has it meant to you?

We want to print the best stories from our readers. Please follow the General Submission Guidelines for your submission.

Send to editors@austinfitmagazine and put “My Story of Transformation” in the Subject line. Please include contact name, email, and phone number. Deadline is November 16. Submissions not conforming to the guidelines will be deleted.

CALL FOR EDITORIAL SUBMISSIONS: GENERAL
The upcoming issues of Austin Fit Magazine have the following focus areas. Please submit stories, per the Writer’s Guidelines, or ideas at least two months in advance of the issue date per the 2013 editorial calendar below:

January: “Best of” and Stories of Transformation
February: Passion
March: Animals

WRITERS’ GUIDELINES
Stories must appeal to an Austin-based audience of fitness experts, casual readers, and “fitness tourists.” The Editor prefers solidly researched reporting that focuses on topics of interest to athletes of all levels, reveals new or previously unreported topics—even the occasional off-beat topic—or uses a novel approach to familiar topics. Any issue of the magazine would be a helpful guide to prospective contributors. We do not use unsolicited essays, fiction, poetry, or cartoons.

SUBMITTING THE STORY IDEA OR MANUSCRIPT: All materials should be mailed to Melanie P. Moore, Editor-in-Chief, Austin Fit Magazine, 1905 N. Lamar Blve., Suite 105, Austin, TX 78705.

A query letter should precede submission of the manuscript. The letter should provide a sample of the style of the proposed article, indicate a perspective, and list material to be covered. A brief outline showing the direction and approach of the proposed article should accompany the letter. A self-addressed, stamped envelope should be included with all queries and manuscripts if you would like your manuscript returned. Otherwise, it will be recycled.

Email submissions are accepted, but must conform to the same “Preparation of Copy” guidelines, below, in the form of an attachment to the email message. The text of the email message can serve as the query letter and should conform to the standard tone and structure of any other query letter.

NOTE: Email does not constitute a format allowing greater familiarity or more casual presentation than hard copy submissions. Please proofread your work carefully. Any submissions or query letters containing grammatical and spelling errors, “texting” usage conventions, or other nonstandard constructions which are not part of the topic or are not quotes from a source, will be rejected.

SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS: We will read submissions that have been simultaneously submitted to other publications, but the author must notify other publications and withdraw those submissions upon our acceptance. Similarly, the author must contact us immediately upon acceptance elsewhere to withdraw the submission.

ACCEPTANCE: All material should be considered submitted on speculation until formally accepted. A formal answer will be sent to you within six to eight weeks. If your manuscript is accepted, an editor will be assigned to you. By accepting an article, we make no commitment to a publishing date.

PREPARATION OF COPY: All manuscripts must be typed in 12-point Times New Roman font and double-spaced on an 8.5 x 11 sheet. The author should retain a copy of the manuscript. Each page of the manuscript should be numbered and have the authors name at the top. On the cover page of the manuscript the author should include his or her name, mailing address, email address, and a telephone number where editors may call during the working day. The final page should include a list of sources quoted in the piece, with contact information. Include an SASE large enough to contain the manuscript.

EDITING: The editor’s job is to make the magazine as readable and reliable as possible. We consult with the author about editorial changes whenever possible. The author has the option to withdraw a story if agreement on points of editing cannot be reached. Your editor will continue to work with you until the manuscript reaches its finished form. You will be contacted by a copy editor and a fact checker assigned to your story. When you are notified that your story will run, you should submit any notes, tapes, and documents to the fact checker.