Contributors' Guidelines
photography, art and writing submissions
for El Andar magazine and elandar.com
Please do not send submissions without reading these guidelines first.
El
Andar
A Latino magazine
for the new millennium
PO Box 7745
Santa Cruz CA 95061
attn: Editor
or e-mail
editorial director Julie Reynolds:
julie@elandar.com
El Andar publishes the
best writing and visual journalism for and about Latinos in North America.
It encourages iconoclastic thinking and new ways of looking at the world.
El Andar is edited for U.S. Latino readers who want to investigate and
understand politics and cultural trends. It is dedicated to publishing
work that will reinforce our readers’ sense of place and value in
the United States today. Its high quality reminds readers that the publication
respects their intelligence and believes they should have the best in
life.
It is bilingual (English/Spanish), as are most of its readers, and thus
acknowledges the spectrum of cultural loci occupied by immigrant and native
Latinos in the US.
It is a magazine with high visual appeal, printed on satin paper with
clean graphic design. It is clear, highly readable, and a pleasure to
sit down and experience. It has short, fast and humorous sections, startling
photo essays and 10,000 word investigations. It has poetry and short fiction,
and satirical editorial cartoons.
The El Andar Web site, ww.elandar.com,
aims for this same high level of quality, and these guidelines serve for
Web submissions, too.
Contributors include established writers and photographers and new voices.
El Andar merges youthful energy and mature insight into a lively and distinctive
publication.
Editorial Points of Difference
El Andar does not “talk down” to its readers. We assume they
are of college-level education and are savvy, critical and intelligent.
The level of writing in most daily newspapers doesn’t cut it.
We like edgy, unusual nonfiction and personal essays that teach our readers
something they didn’t know or that show them aspects of life they’ve
never experienced. We are not afraid to criticize ourselves. We welcome
points of view from other ethnic groups. El Andar is politically progressive,
but it will investigate and criticize both the Left and the Right. We
encourage writers who think outside “party lines.”
El Andar does not publish sports, celebrity gossip, breaking news
items, how-to articles, consumer, fashion or book and film reviews unless
they possess a unique, critical edge.
We do not accept editorial content that is essentially publicity material.
This includes content that caters to advertisers, businesses or politicians,
or promotes your community group or volume of poetry.
In general, we are not interested
in “inspiring role model” profiles unless they are extremely
well-written and offer an unusual take on the subject. These topics are
adequately represented in other publications.
El Andar publishes some poetry and fiction, but it is not a literary journal.
Please understand that fiction submissions are a long shot — we’re
booked far in advance. You may want to email first us regarding fiction
work.
We are particularly seeking:
• Photography submissions, especially photo essays and photojournalism.
• Investigative reporting on political and government topics.
• In-depth reportage on emerging social and political trends in the
US.
• Well-written short, critical essays on the issues of our times
Other details
El Andar publishes sexually-explicit writing and photography as part of
its regular content, but is careful to avoid sensationalism. Please avoid
profanity unless it is essential to the character of the work.
El Andar follows or exceeds most journalistic standards regarding accuracy,
objective intent and thoroughness of reporting.
We will fact check, so supply contact information. Please, please make
sure you have spelled your subjects’ names and other details correctly!
Now that you understand what we don’t want, remember that
we do want creative, iconoclastic, polished work. We don’t
care if you’re famous or not, we just want your best.
Contract details
We regret that we cannot yet pay a ton of money, but we respect writers’
rights and are very flexible with re-sell rights and other arrangements
to help you get the most for your work (many of our staff are members
of the National Writers Union). We will promote your work to other publishers,
too, if you like. Payment is negotiated on an individual basis, and like
we said, it ain’t a lot. "Between Hispanic Link and Vanity Fair!"
as one contributor puts it -- closer to Hispanic Link.
Unless otherwise arranged, we purchase first or second North American
serial rights and we are happy to consider material that has previously
been published. We generally do not demand exclusive rights to articles,
so you are free to publish the same story elsewhere, although we ask that
you let us know and kindly include a credit line for El Andar. We pay
around 4-6 weeks after publication (that's when the ad money comes in)
unless otherwise arranged.
How to submit work
Unsolicited submissions are welcome. If you want to write a lengthy piece
(over 900 words) exclusively for us, please query first. And please
read the editorial points of difference above, so you understand what
we do not publish. We will not return unsolicited submissions that don’t
include a self-addressed, stamped return envelope. Mailed manuscripts
as well as e-mail submissions are fine.
We prefer e-mail submissions above all. Please attach written work
as plain text or Microsoft Word 4, 5, or 6.0 files, and also paste them
into the body of the email message.
All manuscripts should be typed
and double-spaced, with the author’s name, address and phone number
as well as subject contact info (for fact-checking) at the top of the
first page. Please number all pages. For photography submissions, sending
photocopies initially is best. Also, if you want your work returned, include
a self-addressed and stamped envelope with each submission. We respond
to submissions as quickly as our small staff is able, but it may take
eight to ten weeks, sometimes several months.
Please direct all queries or submissions to
El Andar Publications
PO Box 7745
Santa Cruz CA 95061
attn: Editor
or e-mail editorial director
Julie Reynolds:
julie@elandar.com
Please be patient -- we have a very small staff and we do read all queries.