Fiction Scribe

Backpacker Magazine

Good BACKPACKER articles contain the following attributes:

* Foot-based travel: BACKPACKER primarily covers hiking. When warranted, we cover canoeing, kayaking, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, and other human-powered modes of travel.
* Wilderness or backcountry: The true backpacking experience means getting away from the trailhead and into the wilds. Whether a dayhike or a weeklong trip, out-of-the-way, unusual destinations are what we’re looking for.
* North American destinations: We only occasionally cover foreign locales. Our defined market is North American destinations.
* Advice for improving the backcountry experience: Our readers want to know how to, when to, where to, and with what. Every BACKPACKER article incorporates one or more of these things. We write not merely to inspire our readers to do something, but to help them identify and research new places to go, techniques and skills to use, or the gear to take.
* While a portion of BACKPACKER is written by staff and regular contributors, we encourage freelance authors to submit query emails for features and departments. Approximately 50 percent of our features and more than half of our departments are written by freelancers. Please note that it’s rare for a writer new to BACKPACKER to break into the magazine with a feature assignment. Direct your efforts toward establishing a working relationship with us via department assignments first.

Back to College

Feature articles must address issues that are of importance to the older student: obtaining financial aid, distance education, finding the right program (comparing costs and quality of curriculum), graduate school, or attaining academic excellence (study skills and success strategies). Career management and articles on successful transition are appreciated. We are especially looking for stories on the re-entry student experience. Articles may be anecdotal, or include examples and resources where readers can obtain more information. Web resources cited are desirable for an online publication. Make sure your article idea has not already been addressed on the Web site.

Bird Times

Submissions for consideration may cover all aspects of dogs, cats and birds including breed/species profiles, breeder-kennel profiles, medical-technical articles, training, humorist, stories of pet dogs, cats and birds that go to work with their owners, heroic tales, etc.

The compensation structure is 10 cents a word on the final edited published word count, payable upon publication of the article. Short articles are defined as 500 to 1,000 words, and features are defined as 1,200 to 2,000 words.

Blood Rose

We’re looking for character-driven, well-plotted stories that show the dark side of human thought and belief, but that also entertain and catch us up in the plot. We prefer a supernatural element, but we have a weakness for good stories. Do it well, and we’ll likely take it.

We need primarily horror and dark fantasy, but will take some science fiction, as long as it too, is dark. We particularly like ‘hard’ sf and ‘cyberpunk,’ particularly when it speaks to the human condition. We don’t take too much mainstream, as that is not our target audience.

The story must center on the characters; otherwise, please find another market. And please, no ‘High Fantasy.’ Unless, of course, it’s really damn good. Sex and extreme violence are OK if they are integral to the story. Blood and sex for their own sake don’t tell much of a story, so we don’t publish it.

Blue Suit Mom

The primary goal of BlueSuitMom.com is to help executive working mothers find work and family balance. We are looking for information from experts in a variety of fields relating to working mothers.

Recent BlueSuitMom features

* Negotiating salary or signing bonuses
* Dealing with working mother guilt
* How to find work and family balance
* How to keep in contact with your children while traveling

Boy’s Quest

We are looking for lively writing, most of it from a 10-year-old boy¹s point of view, with the boy or boys directly involved in an activity that is both wholesome and unusual. We need nonfiction with photos and fiction stories around 500 words, as well as puzzles, poems, cooking, carpentry projects, jokes, and riddles.

Nonfiction pieces that are accompanied by clear photos with high resolution are far more likely to be accepted than those that need illustrations.

The ideal length of a BOYS’ QUEST piece, for nonfiction or fiction, is 500 words.

We will entertain simultaneous submissions as long as that fact is noted on the manuscript. Submissions should be double-spaced.

ByLine Magazine

We purchase first North American rights only; no reprints. Submissions must follow standard manuscript format. List your full name, address and telephone number in the upper left corner of the first page and an accurate word count (line count for poetry) in the upper right corner. Send a #10-sized SASE or larger. Payment is upon publication. ByLine pays on a variable scale depending on length/complexity of article/feature and also includes a one-year subscription.

Disclaimer: I in no way take responsibility for the validity of any submission opportunities. It’s up to you to use your judgment when submitting your work anywhere.