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Writing Deadlines (contact editor@southwindsmagazine.com):
For Calendar Items (race or events):
1st of the month
preceding publication always works (contact if later, as a few days later
usually works).
For a more exact schedule (with later deadline
dates each month),
click here to download and/or view as a PDF
Articles: Contact editor for all articles with good advance notice
Southwinds Writers' Technical Guidelines:
All writers please be succinct and rewrite and rewrite.
"I would have written a shorter letter, but I didn't have the time." - Mark Twain
Some of the following guidelines for grammar and syntax make it easier for us to edit and use your material:
- Subject matter - Should be about Sailing and/or sailboats, or closely related. Especially about Sailing in the South, the Bahamas, or the Caribbean, or maybe about a Southerner Sailing somewhere in the world. This can be racing, cruising, daySailing, windsurfing, trailer Sailing, etc. These subjects are the main interest but we will look at other stuff if it is interesting. We have a story going now that is about watching the sunset's green flash from a sailboat. We prefer writing that is fairly objective and are not interested in articles that are too subjective. No poetry please. Sailing Jokes we like also.
- Topics - Articles can be about Sailing experiences, places people have been, learning experiences, mishaps, fun, funny, places to go, anchorages, marinas, stopovers, passages,
boat reviews, chartering, experiences in owning a boat in charter, unusual Sailing events, origins of Sailing miscellany in the world, or ..... you name it. Check with us. We like all sorts of stuff.
- Boat Reviews - Review your boat or
another - We have printed many boat reviews by owners
and these have been very popular. All boat reviews are paid
for (contact
editor for details). Some people also review boats of
friends or boats they know well. Some have reviewed theirs
and then also reviewed a friend's boat. Go to our
Boat Reviews
page to get an idea of what a boat review is like, but you
must
contact the editor for complete details before
submitting a review.
- Plus - We also like the practical hands-on stories about maintenance, rebuilding boats or repairs, fixes, remodels etc. and about anything to do with this part of boating.
- Length - Keep your articles short. If last page stories, they should be 7-800 words and maybe up to around a 1000. Other articles can be in 1500-2000 word range, plus or minus. Longer articles can be twice as long or more for two
or more parts only. If longer than these contact the editor.
- Format - We want everything sent in electronic format, preferably e-mail, but discs mailed in are acceptable. PC format or readable by a PC. Single-spaced text. No bullets or numbering unless they are typed in and not put in as format. You can give us instructions for suggested bulleting but please do not put them in as part of the format, but as text. Text can be pasted in the e-mail if needed. We do not want any photos overlayed into the text, just attached photos, with descriptions for captions and/or credits typed in notes about the story. All boat names should be in italics. No quotes or capitals for words. Do not put any words in all caps, including titles.
- Suggestions - We believe that some of the best writers can't tell a story but their grammar is great and some of the best storytellers can't write and most of us are in between there somewhere, so we will look at a lot if it doesn't fit into our guidelines. We'd like to see the who, what, when, where, why and how in the report writing.
- Payment - Some of our regular writers and professional writers get paid and many articles are sent in by many writers who are not seeking payment. We always pay for good articles if requested. Please indicate on your initial inquiry if you are seeking payment. All payments are made by the end of the month of publication. All articles printed will also be possibly printed on our Web site and publishing of the article on our web site is not reimbursed separately or additionally beyond the payment for the published article. SOUTHWINDS only reserves rights to the articles for one time publishing and possible publishing at a later time on the web site. Boatowner boat reviews are always paid for.
And Some Specifics:
- - Only one space between the period at the end of a sentence and the beginning of the next sentence - this makes it easy for some things for our software.
- - Single space the text, leave no space between paragraphs, and indent the first line of the paragraph.
- - No single quotes (') around any words-use double quotes (") unless it is a quote within a quote.
- - All boat names to be in italics and capital first letter, lower case rest of letters (unless it really is unique to the name). No quotes around them and no all caps.
- - We can format to the above if you have a problem with this stuff. These guidelines just make it easier for us.