Writer's Guidelines
Thank you for your interest in TampaBayBaby, an award-winning magazine that offers the best resources, information, and opportunities for Tampa Bay families who expect more out of life.
What We Like…
Our focus is on parents and families with the goal of empowering, inspiring, and informing our readers. We’re a magazine devoted to covering real parenting/child/and family issues. All writers should understand this focus and review consider these “3 Rs” regarding submissions:
- Right for us: Is it about parents, children, parenting issues, or families?
- Relevant: Is it something that a Tampa Bay parent would want to know or would enjoy reading about?
- Real: Does it deal with the realities of parenting without sugar coating or glamorizing parenting?
We welcome submissions of full articles up to 1500 words and queries for articles of any length. Generally, articles fall between 400-1500 words, but we will consider longer articles that we believe fit with the magazine and are of value to our readers. Articles should be well researched, organized, and written. We recommend reading the magazine and familiarizing yourself with our voice, the kinds of articles we publish, and the tempo of the magazine. You may contact us for back copies at editor@tampabaybaby.com or call 727-724-8433. We also post back issues on our Web site www.tampabaybaby.com.
We’re looking for fun or substantive and informative articles that inspire, empower, or involve our readers and their families. We like interactive stories; things parents and children can do together. We also like edgy or controversial issues and won’t shy away from something that sparks a discussion. TampaBayBaby also looks for news pieces, humor, travel pieces (must have a family focus), expert driven articles that relate to parenting and families, and general features that meet the above criteria. Issues usually have a theme.
Short articles with specific information on a topic like a health news byte, etc. are also welcome and will be considered for the front section of the magazine.
Writers Assignments and Queries…
Writers’ assignments come from both direct assignments and queries, and we always look for the ideal writer for the project.
For queries, please include the topic you’d like to write on and your stratgy for dealing with the topic. Please include sources you plan to use. If you are previously published, tell us where and when and include a sample. If you would like to write as an expert, please provide credentials.
Submissions…
Articles should be provided as an MS Word document attachment via e-mail or embedded in the e-mail itself. Upon acceptance, please provide references, copies of sources used, transcripts or actual tapes of interviews, etc. for fact checking purposes.
Previously Published Works and Simultaneous Submissions…
We may consider previously published works. Our reprint policy is as follows:
- TampaBayBaby must have first Tampa Bay area rights.
- Reprint must not be running simultaneously in the state of Florida with TampaBayBaby article (on Web sites or in magazines, etc.)
- Some reprint articles may be purchased with the stipulation that TampaBayBaby has exclusive reprint rights. This will be negotiated up front.
Note…
TampaBayBaby regrets that we cannot always comment on rejections.
Acceptance…
TampaBayBaby purchases one-time rights, with the rights reverting back to the author 60 days from publication. Writers agree to allow their articles will be archived on our Web site. TampaBayBaby may choose to buy an article for sole publication on the Web site.
All acceptances are speculative which means the TampaBayBaby will keep article for 3 issues and try to place. However, there is no guarantee of publication.
Payment…
Writers are paid thirty days after publication provided an accurate invoice has been sent.
Rate of pay varies. You may expect to receive anywhere from $25 - $150 per article depending on a number of factors (i.e., word count, topic, research involved, etc.).
Photography…
Photography accompanying an article is encouraged. Because of our digest size, close-ups work best. Photographs should be 300 dpi, saved as a jpeg, and e-mailed or mailed on a cd (no floppy disks, please).
New Writer Policy:
TampaBayBaby welcomes submissions from new writers.
