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Writer's Guidelines for Home Education Magazine
Mailing Address:
Home Education Magazine
Post Office Box 1083
Tonasket, Washington 98855-1083
Home Education Magazine is an award-winning publication for homeschooling families, or for anyone who enjoys living and learning.-* If you're not familiar with homeschooling, please study our publication before submitting. If you are familiar with homeschooling, you might want to study it anyway, as our primary focus is unschooling, and we take an active political stance for empowering families.
The current issue will be sent via first class for $6.50 postpaid. For information about subscribing visit: http://www.homeedmag.com/wlcm_HEM.html
We offer selected articles and columns from each issue at our website: http://www.homeedmag.com/HEM/issue_index.html
We offer a free forum for online communication between writers, columnists and people who are interested in writing for this magazine:
The HEM-Writers List, a free email list which you can join by going to: http://groups.yahoo.com/community/HEM-Writers or by sending a blank email message to HEM-Writers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
DEADLINES, EDITORIAL CALENDAR
Please feel free to submit an article on any topic at any time, and we'll schedule it appropriately. Please note that articles are usually selected four to six months ahead of our current issue. We do not publish or conform to an editorial calendar, preferring to select the best articles submitted at any given time. Replies to queries and submissions can take up to two months, but you will receive an email response letting you know your submission has been received.
SUBMISSIONS GUIDELINES AND SUGGESTIONS
Submissions via email are the preferred format; please send to our Articles Editor at-* Articles@homeedmag.com. Please format the subject line of your submission as follows:
Author's last name, first name or initial/article title
i.e.: Hegener, Helen/How to Write for HEM
or:* Hegener, H./How to Write for HEM
Include the article in the text of your email and attach the article as a Word file saved in 12-point Arial, along with your name, postal mailing address (where we can send payment and a copy of the magazine if your article is accepted), phone number, and a short 40-60 word bio (written in third person). If you prefer, we can run only your name and city/state. We will also accept pen names.
We do accept typed or handwritten articles, which you can mail to Articles, Home Education Magazine, Post Office Box 1083, Tonasket, WA-* 98855-1083. When submitting articles via postal mail, please remember to include a self-addressed, stamped envelope with sufficient postage for the return of your work. If you don't need your article returned, a stamped reply postcard or an email address will be fine. If you don't include an SASE, your submission will not be returned to you. Please include a 40-60 word biographical credit (in third person) with your submission. If you prefer, we can run only your name and city/state. We will also accept pen names.
General article length is 900 to 1,700 words, but we do occasionally accept longer articles. We prefer completed articles to query letters. Unless your query is clearly not about homeschooling, you will be asked to submit the completed article. Samples of previously published material are not necessary.
Any topic of interest to homeschoolers will be considered. Please be aware that we have the most widely diverse readership in the homeschooling community, and our content reflects that diversity. We do not run articles that preach to homeschoolers from an "expert" perspective nor are we looking for articles that bash the public school system. We prefer articles that outline a problem your family has faced and solved (solving is necessary), stories about successful learning adventures, information that will help other homeschoolers (college application, cooperative classes), project-oriented articles with specific suggestions for readers to follow, musings on life as a homeschooler, new developments in the homeschool community, articles from a particular perspective (single-parent, dad, grandparent) or any other topic that encourages or gives fresh, new ideas.
We welcome articles from inexperienced writers, especially mothers with homeschooling experience. Regardless of what you were taught in high school English classes, writing is nothing particularly mysterious. It's only another form of communication. If you can clearly explain your ideas to a friend, you can write a good article for our magazine. Our voice is from homeschoolers to homeschoolers, so you don't need to be an education expert or an English major to write for us.
Your article must hook the reader from the beginning. If we've read the same thing a thousand times on the Internet, we don't want to read it in a magazine. Your writing must be clear, interesting and concise. Decide on a topic and stay with that topic. We get lots of "here's how homeschooling looks in my family" articles. We love the topic, but we can only take the best of those and even some good articles are returned to their authors just because we receive too many on that topic. Find a way to say it that will make our readers want to savor every word.
If your article is not accepted, don't take it personally. We have many reasons why we can't take every article. Try submitting to us again with another article.
We do not run press releases disguised as articles. For advertising information, contact Barb Lundgren.
PHOTOS
We always need sharp, clear photos for inside editorial use. Regular color or B/W print sizes work fine for inside use (images are printed at 200 dpi, 100 lpi). Covers (133 lpi, 300 dpi) require a very sharp, clear image. Color enlargements are best (8" x 10" minimum), but please send an image for review first. We prefer photos showing children and families doing everyday things, not necessarily posed educational-type shots. We advise studying our magazine before attempting photo submissions.
Please include information about the photo, including names of anyone in the pictures, and the name of the photographer for credit. Please make sure photos are clearly marked with your name so if they become separated we can still tell whose they are. Also include a SASE with sufficient postage for the return of your photos. This should be a separate SASE from the SASE or postcard you send for return of your article or editorial response.
Electronic submissions of photos are accepted. Please arrange to send low resolution (72 dpi) for review. If your low resolution image is accepted, you can send the full-sized version at the resolutions noted above for inside and cover photos. For more information write to Mark Hegener .
RIGHTS
Home Education Magazine buys First North American Serial Rights (print and electronic) to all articles, columns, artwork and photos, along with credit to HEM for reprints (i.e., "Originally published in Home Education Magazine, month/year"). We upload selected articles and columns from each issue to our website: http://www.homeedmag.com . Rights purchased include our right to reproduce your work, in whole or in part, in CD-ROM format as well as in any other formats of Home Education Magazine in which your work appears, or in an anthology or collection of articles, columns, artwork and photos which have appeared in Home Education Magazine. All rights not stated here, or not directly related to Home Education Magazine, including Second Serial, or magazine reprint rights, remain yours.
PAYMENT
We pay $50.00-$100.00 each for feature articles. We occasionally pay more for articles we've requested or for articles which require special expenses or considerations. For photos for inside use, we pay $12.50 each. For cover color photos, we pay $100.00 each. Contributors always receive at least one free copy of the issue in which their work appears. Up to three additional copies are available free on request. Contact Stacy at Info@homeedmag.com for extra copies.
ADDRESSES
Please address all query letters and articles, as well as photos that accompany them, to the Articles Editor at Articles.
Please send photos and artwork that do not accompany an article to HEM Managing Editor, Post Office Box 1083, Tonasket, WA 98855; email Editor.
For subscription problems or other questions please email Stacy Gleason at orders.
Due to our workload, we prefer email to phone calls whenever possible, but if you need to speak with someone in the HEM office our number is 509-486-1351.
updated June 26, 2008
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