Types of stories

Style

Manuscripts/material requirements

Acceptance

Payment

Copyright

If you have questions that have not been answered here, please do not hesitate to contact the editors:
PO Box 514, Hazelbrook, NSW 2779.
Tel: (02) 4759 2844

Australian Woodworker email: aww@skillspublish.com.au

House & HOME email:
h+h@skillspublish.com.au

© Skills Publishing Pty Ltd 2003

Writing for
The Australian Woodworker
and House & HOME magazines*

The Australian Woodworker is aimed at both recreational and professional woodworkers. House & HOME magazine is aimed at the home-owner, renovator and building contractor. We will therefore consider articles on any subject likely to appeal to this audience. Even if you have never written a magazine article before, we are interested in hearing from you, provided you can write from your own experience. 'Hands-on' articles are especially welcome for example, articles which describe a project you have completed or a piece of equipment you have made or used. What you write about doesn't have to be startlingly new or incredibly difficult, but you should keep in mind the reader's skills and resources. You should not assume that they have sophisticated tools or advanced skills in any particular aspect of woodworking or in any other craft or trade. Therefore, it is better to explain too much, rather than too little. The editors can fine tune the story to achieve the balance desired. If you are not sure whether your idea for an article will be readily accepted, please don't hesitate to call or write to us. You should certainly do this if your article concerns a large construction project, since we can then assure you of sufficient time to develop your manuscript without the risk of our accepting a contribution from another author on the same or a similar subject.

Style
Please, no pretty prose, no flowery phrases, just write as though you were describing the subject to someone in the room with you, and remember that articles should provide readers with information, not advice. If you can write a 'finished' article with an interesting introduction, an informative body and a well-rounded ending, that's great. But if you can't, send the article to us just the same. If we think our readers will like it, we'll spend the time necessary to prepare it for publication, contacting you if necessary for any further information we may require.The payment you receive will be less (reflecting the amount of work we have to do) but you'll still have the pleasure of seeing your name in print and, hopefully, by carefully going through the changes we make, you will be better able to write a 'finished' article next time. Finally, no matter how good your article is, we may need to change it to suit the style of our magazines, the space available and the legal requirements of publishing, so all articles are accepted only on the basis that we have the right to edit them as we believe necessary.

Manuscripts
We prefer manuscripts to submitted on paper, as well as provided on a computer disc. We will accept hand written manuscripts for short articles, provided they are legible. We accept copy in the following formats only: Word for Windows, WordPerfect for Windows, or standard ASCII format on an IBM PC/compatible disc. Please do not compress the file and please have only that file on the disk. No matter how you send your manuscript, please make sure it is clearly marked with your name, address, day and evening telephone numbers, and a fax or email address for rapid correspondance if possible. Don't forget to number the pages.

Size
Most of our articles range from 800 to 1400 words. Where they need more space, we prefer to divide them into parts of no more than 1500 words each so if you submit a long article and have a preference as to where it should be divided, please point this out in the appropriate place in the article or in an accompanying note.

Photos & Drawings
Photos can be supplied in either digital or print format.
If digital photos are supplied they should be of a resolution of 300dpi at the size of a standard 150 x 100mm print. When in JPEG format they should end up being approx. 800kB or larger in size. Photos with a size of 500 kB or smaller are usually too low res to use.
Prints should be in colour, duplicates not originals, and either prints or slides/transparencies. Transparencies may be any of the standard sizes (35mm, 6cm x 6cm, 6cm x 7cm, 4" x 5"). Prints should be postcard size or larger.
Photos should tend towards contrasty rather than flat and above all, the subject must be in focus. Since illustrative material passes through many hands during the production of a magazine, we cannot guarantee its safety. Therefore, please do not send negatives unless we ask for them and make sure you send duplicates of any 'precious' transparencies or prints. If you want your photos returned after publication, please include a note to this effect.
We need finished drawings or sketches in black ink, fully and accurately dimensioned, and - even better - to scale, supplied on A4 paper. Do not supply any drawings over A3 in size. All sketches and photos should be clearly marked with your name (or at least, your initials). If you have used Figure, Drawing or Photo numbers in your manuscript, these should also be the reference numbers on the photos and/or drawings. If not, please supply a separate list.

Acceptance
We usually acknowledge acceptance within four weeks of receipt of a manuscript. If you receive a notice of acceptance from us, it implies that you accept our General Terms and Conditions, in particular the condition that articles may be edited to suit our requirements for space, content and grammar (see Style above). If you object to your article being edited in any way, shape or form, it is unlikely that we will accept it for publication. For further information, contact the editor on (02) 4759 2844. Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee the use any article within a prescribed time. Some are used almost immediately, most are published within four or five issues, but others may wait longer. After receiving our written acceptance, the article should not be offered for sale to another publisher (in Australia or overseas) until we have published it. You are, of course, at liberty to withdraw the article by contacting us in writing provided, of course, that it has not already been prepared for inclusion in the next issue.

Payment
The amount paid for a contribution to The Australian Woodworker or House & HOME magazines depends on its size and the work necessary to make it ready for publication. The sum is usually based on a rate of between $150 and $200 per thousand words, though higher rates may be negotiated with established writers, particularly where the article is of special interest to us. Each vertical column of type in the magazine contains approx. 300 words.Additional amounts are paid for photographs (minimum $12 each photo published) and sketches (no minimum payment depends on size and complexity). Contributor payments are normally made during the second month of publication of the issue in which the article appears. In other words, once the issue in which your article appears in is on sale, expect to wait about 8-10 weeks for payment.

Copyright - What payment means
Unless specifically negotiated otherwise in writing, the payment you receive for your article allows us to publish it up to three times in any format including electronic media. This does not stop you from offering the original article as you prepared it to another publisher, nor does it stop you from preparing a similar article for another publication.

Further Information
If you have questions that have not been answered here, please do not hesitate to contact the editor:
PO Box 514, Hazelbrook, NSW 2779.
Tel: (02) 4759 2844

Australian Woodworker email:
aww@skillspublish.com.au

House & HOME email:
h+h@skillspublish.com.au