The following is compiled from various email messages sent to free-lancers and others who want to write for Parents & Kids. It's a little repetitive. Consider these random thoughts. If you have further questions, feel free to contact the editor, Gretchen Cook.


Editorial Calendar
In addition to the topics below, we also accept seasonal submissions. So we are always interested in a Valentine's story for our January/February issue. Notice our double issues (listed below) and submit seasonal things well in advance.

January / February
Camps, New Year Health & Fitness

March
Camps, Summer Fun, More camps

April
Baby & Maternity

May
School selection, school issues

June/July
Birthday Parties

August/September
Back to School, After School Activities and Issues

October
Women's Health, Outdoors, Fall Fun

November
Education

December
Pediatricians, Holiday Fun


Style
Our tone is conversational. Write as if you were telling a neighbor all about the topic of the article. "English Lit" language is a little stuffy for us. If you use "laceration" when you mean "cut," you're over-doing it!

Is it ever appropriate to use rhetorical questions? No! Never. Especially as a mechanism to move your article to the next topic. If your article is a series of questions and answers, please send me a draft early on, so we can discuss other ways of approaching the topic.

Avoid "personal essays." Our columnists write from a first person view-point--our feature articles should almost always be third person. Thus, do not write about your own experience, but interview other people who can tell the story. If there's a mix, call me and let's discuss it. I can almost always find ways to get other people quoted as well as the authorial voice.

ALSO: Decide on your point of view before the article. It's not good to write in 3rd person and then suddenly I inserted an author's first-person point of view. Very disconcerting for the reader.

Don't describe the writing process, such as, "After interviewing several moms for this story, the answer became clear, child-proofing a home is critical." Simply start the story.

Articles must be very tight--never to exceed 1000 words, but 700 is even better.

To increase your chances of acceptance, think in terms of your topic and our readers--what are the local implications for parents sending their children to day care, school, summer camp? What local programs/assistance can make life better? What does the average area parent need to know on this topic?


Submitting an Article
Always put your by-line just beneath the title of every article you write. But you think, "Of course Gretchen knows my name. And besides, it's on the email I attached the file to." I assign many articles, sometimes on related topics, such as "money" or "women's health." Also, your attached file is immediately removed from your email message. Thus, five days/five hours later, when I open your file, I have no idea who wrote it without going back to my very full email folder.

For those of you simply "too modest" to put your name on the articles, please ask yourself, "Why am I ashamed to put my name on this?" If it's that bad, maybe P&K doesn't want it either!

At the end of your article, please put a one-line bio. "Bella Cook is a Jackson, MS, miniature rat terrier who enjoys eating." If you are a parent, please say so. This is required. Again, if you are inhibited for some reason from doing this, we'll need to explore that reason before we can run the article.


Other Things to Know
I maintain a very firm line between articles (editorial) and ad sales. Thus "advertorials" are not accepted as articles, but may appear as "special advertising sections" when paid for by the advertiser. I mention this because many free distribution magazines have a habit of running articles about their advertisers--which I believe undermines the objectivity of the magazine. (Actually there are a number of national publications that do this as well....but I digress!)

I favor stories with a local slant (quote local experts, local kids, local parents). Have I mentioned this before?

I do not pay for stories written by "local experts." Thus, when a college professor or doctor writes a story about a subject they specialize in, I do not compensate, in that the publication of the article itself is the compensation.

Parents & Kids pays upon publication plus 30 days. If an article cannot be used, we will not pay for it. If you are uncertain about the story as it develops, please send drafts so we can work out problems before the editorial deadline.


Editorial Checklist for Parents & Kids
Please do not send in your article until you have verified the following:

• Did I include a proposed headline or title? (Subheads are good, too.)
• Did I put my name directly below that?
• Did I include a one-line bio at the end of the article?
• Did I keep my article to less than 1000 words? (700 is better, unless instructed otherwise.)
• Did I write in third person, rather than first person? (If your article can only be written in first person, please call me and discuss it before submitting it.)
• Did I interview at least three people? Local experts, parents, kids?
• Did I include at least one recommendation for the "More Information" section? A book, a business, a website, etc. Readers should know where to find out more.
• Does each paragraph logically lead to the next paragraph?
Are there transitions, sub-heads, etc. to guide the reader if these are necessary?

Other hints:

• Single space.
• Do not indent, instead do a double hard return to indicate new paragraph.
Side-bars are always welcome and good way to save space with tight writing.