Writing Submission Guidelines

Traverse, Northern Michigan’s Magazine, Northern Home & Cottage, MyNorth.com

A Sense of Place

When shaping an article for us, consider first that it must be strongly rooted in our region. The lack of this foundation element is one of the biggest reasons for our rejecting material. If you send us a piece about peaches, even if it does an admirable job of relaying the history of peaches, their medicinal qualities, their nutritional magnificence and so on, we are likely to reject it if it doesn’t include local Northern Michigan farms as a reference point. Our coverage area ranges north from Cadillac, Michigan and includes the Upper Peninsula.

Entry Points

We want features to have entry points. As we use it, the term includes sidebars and extended captions designed to bring in a reader not enticed by the main subject. Using peaches again as an example, if we wanted 2,500 words, perhaps 1,800 words would be devoted to the main body, 300 words would cover U-Pick farms; 250 words would cover the technicalities of peach processing and 150 words would be devoted to a recipe.

Our Region

Traditionally we cover the Northwest Michigan counties of Antrim, Benzie, Charlevoix, Crawford, Emmet, Grand Traverse, Leelanau, Manistee, Otsego, Cheboygan and Mackinac. We now regularly venture beyond our traditional turf, however, and run pieces based in the northeastern Lower Peninsula and the Upper Peninsula.

Topics

General categories of interest include:

  • nature and the environment
  • regional culture
  • personalities
  • the arts (visual, performing, literary)
  • crafts
  • food & dining
  • homes and cottages
  • history
  • outdoor activities (e.g., fishing, golf, skiing, boating, biking, hiking, birding, gardening)

We seldom use material dealing with such issues as education, social services, criminal justice and local politics.

We Do Publish Essays, but Not Fiction

We encourage writers to submit essays about the region, but they must go beyond a listing of all the reasons you love Northern Michigan. If you’d like to submit an essay, read some of our past pieces (most run in the department “Up in Michigan”). We receive many that have a historical or nostalgic theme, which we’d like to round out with some contemporary topics. You may read some essays online here.

We Value Research

This is key. We need articles built with information and interviews. Many of the pieces we reject use writing style to fill in for information voids. That’s not to say we don’t appreciate style, but style and voice are strongest when used as vehicles for sound research.

Active Voice

Please use it.

Seasonal Material

It’s best when writers contact us a year in advance for seasonal material since this gives us the time we need to photograph the subject. This is particularly important for subjects that should run in the early months of a season and require outdoor photography. We put the June issue together in April when our forests are denuded and gray and ice floes dot the lakes; December is done in October when there’s (generally) no snow. Long lead times are less important for seasonal pieces that don’t rely on outdoor photography. These we can accept within 90 days of likely publication, but be forewarned: Our issues are planned out 13 months ahead. If we agree to a seasonal piece to run the following year, we will pay you on acceptance.

Rights

One-time right to publish in our magazines and right to publish on our website, MyNorth.com. The online article may be shared in our e-newsletters and on social media.

Length + Payment: Discuss with the editorial team. 

We run stories of all lengths that go directly online, and we pay about $50–$100. Print pieces, similarly, range from $50 for shorts up to $700 for longer format print features—those, after their print debut, go online as well. We factor in travel time, research time, blog format versus narrative structure, number of sources and complexity of the topic when we commission or accept pieces. Feature articles generally work best for us at 1,500 to 3,000 words. Departments are limited to 700 words. Online articles, like previously mentioned, vary.

E-mail Submissions Preferred

Please email your story ideas, or drafts, along with any photos you may have to our editorial team.

editorial@traversemagazine.com

Mail Submissions

You may send a hard copy to:

Emily Tyra
Prism Publications / MyNorth Media
125 Park St. #155, Traverse City, MI, 49684

Phone: 231-941-8174

Updated 04/1/2019
Rates and/or terms may have changed since this information was updated.