Writers Guidelines

North of 50 Lifestyle Newsmagazine welcomes well-written, unsolicited articles and queries. Unfortunately, we are able to respond to only those submissions that interest us.

Before sending your article or query, please familiarize yourself with the type of stories North of 50 publishes. You can view back issues here.

As of April 2010, we have rebranded the Okanagan edition of the magazine. We went from a newspaper style tabloid to a full color eco friendly saddlestitched magazine in our Okanagan Shuswap edition. The Thompson Nicola South Cariboo edition is still in the tabloid format, but will change to the new format sometime in the future.

Both editions of North of 50 carry socially relevant and responsible, original regional content.

If you feel your submission would suit our editorial interests, please consider the following:

• Know the magazine. Look through past issues. Get a sense of our general tone.
Familiarize yourself with the topics we generally cover.
• Our readers are thirty plus and socially aware. We like "issues" articles that inform, educate and instigate discussion. We like history and lifestyle pieces, regional personality and arts stories.
• Since we are a regional magazine, we prefer to publish articles that have a Thompson / South Cariboo/ Nicola / Okanagan / Shuswap / Similkameen slant.
• We have a small editorial staff, so we cannot spend an enormous amount of time editing submissions. Please send us final drafts of your work.
• We will publish stories that already have appeared in other publications as long as the author currently holds the rights to the story.
• Writers retain the rights to their stories; however we ask that you do not publish the story in our catchment area for at least 60 days after it has appeared in North of 50.
• Please send all stories as Word files or in the body of an email to editor@northof50.com with the word "submission" in the subject line. Include your name, contact information and a brief bio. If you are sending a query, please submit samples of your work (published or unpublished). We will contact you if we are interested in your article; no follow-up calls, please.

Cover Stories / Social issues or personality profiles

We’re looking for stories about social issues in our region. We also like personality profiles of people who have made a contribution to their communities, excelled in their work or have been recognized for a special endeavour. They can be artists, business people, volunteers, sports figures, inventors, your neighbour, or your boss – anyone who is committed to service.

When you talk to your subject, the story will no doubt take on a life of its own. However, there is some information we like to include in every cover story.

1. Subject’s age and family status (how many kids, grandkids)


2. How long have they lived in the Thompson / Okanagan area? Where did they move from?


3. Past accomplishments /endeavours


4. Volunteer Activities, past and present


5. Future plans

Departments and Word Count

North of 50 has regular monthly features, but we are very open to short pieces (300 to 600 words) on any topic of interest to our target market, keeping in mind, that we are looking for regional content.

Social Issues. 800 - 1500 words

History or Heritage Piece – 400 to 800 words

Personality Profiles - 700 to 1000 words

Payment

We consider all submissions on a speculative basis. That is, even if we have expressed an interest in, or a go-ahead on, a proposed article, we cannot guarantee its publication.

For features, payment ranges from: by-line only up to 15 cents per word, depending on quality and content, unless other arrangements have been negotiated with the editor. We pay $7.00 per photo supplied by the writer, if used in the article. North of 50 retains the right to publish stories in both editions of the magazine in the same month.

While we are happy to consider submissions for op-eds, business profiles, health, golf or financial columns, we do not pay for these pieces, unless arrangements have been negotiated with the editor. For the most part, these columns are written by professionals in their field who receive a two or three sentence by-line in exchange for use of the material.

Contact editor@northof50.com