Columbus Parent Magazine Writers’ Guidelines

• Our editorial calendar is planned well in advance. A submission does not guarantee that your work will be read immediately and planned into our editorial calendar. We will contact you if we are interested.
• Please have your submission in by deadline. If an extension is needed, please call or email to let us know.
• Please do not use composites. A composite is when you group several sources together and “name them” as one source.
• Always use local and/or professional sources.
• Stories must adhere to ethical journalistic practices and standards.
• Contact us to discuss if your story focus changes its direction.
• Please include headline suggestions, photos with cut lines and credits, and web exclusive material (if we discussed the web exclusive previously).
• Suggest sidebar and pull quote materials to run alongside the story. Our audience is chronically worried about time; summaries or extra information make busy parents happy.
• Occasionally, we may ask for a story outline if we need more background information.
• Let your personality shine through in your writing.
• If you think something is interesting, there’s a good chance that our readers will, too.
• Please adhere to the story word count you were given, or contact us to discuss a change.
• Our stories are paid by the word and vary from writer to writer.
• If you’re unsure of a spelling, try Webster’s or Oxford—either is acceptable. You can also look to the AP Stylebook.