Writers Guidelines
We would like to here from you!
Have an article idea?
Been to a rodeo pageant and took some photos?
Planning on attending a Rodeo Pageant?
Been a past judge, director or contestant, and have some helpful information that future contestants might benefit from?
Editorial Mission Statement –
RodeoPageants.com is the leading internet source for relevant,
thought-provoking news and information on Pageants, Queens, Judges,
Directors, Associations, Techniques, Personal Growth, and Education.
Our audience is made up of women (of all
ages) and men, family-oriented individuals from all walks of life but
particularly those young women yearning to get an edge up on the
competition.
We educate our readers, present ideas
and possible solutions that can enlighten and empower them.
We are timely, accurate, credible,
in-depth, progressive and always strive to make our readers think.
WHAT KIND OF ARTICLES ARE WE
LOOKING FOR?
You do not have to be a professional
or experienced writer to join RodeoPageants contributing writers’ team.
Really there is not much to it, and if you do decide to write for us,
Welcome!
RodeoPageants.com magazine is dedicated to publicizing and
promoting the benefits and duties of Rodeo Queens and Rodeo Queen
Pageants. We use a "can-do," upbeat, positive approach and all
articles submitted should reflect this attitude.
200 up to 2500 words of timely or topical nature material is needed based around the following broad categories:
SUBJECT AREAS
Each month, our front-page stories and special feature stories focus on a particular topic as our calendar shows:
- November 2001 – Upcoming National Pageants … Miss Rodeo America and Miss Rodeo USA
- December 2001 – Miss Rodeo America Pageant
- January 2002 – Miss Rodeo USA Pageant
- February 2002 -- For the Love of…. (my country, my horse, my family, my freedom….)
- March 2002 – Spring has sprung and so have …(new fashions, new opportunities, how to get new sponsors, new habits…)
- April 2002 – How to … (apply makeup, select a saddle, approach a sponsor, be of service to my community…)
In addition, we have the following sections of the magazine:
- Fashion/Cosmetics/Health – clothes and accessories for the western lifestyle, cosmetics, health and hygiene
- Horse Corral – Caring for your horse, Riding ‘unfamiliar horses’, training and more
- Pageants – How they work, what contestants gain, the future of them, suggestions welcome
- Personalities – Current queens, short bio’s and goals for their reign, in the news stuff
- Rodeo Appearances – Photos and feature stories from the girls wearing the crowns!
- Letters to the Editor – Let us know what your thoughts are
The stories you submit can be written as:
- "how-to" articles (how to apply makeup, care for leather products, rein a horse, dance with a drunken cowboy, etc)
- articles about current and past pageants and queens who are experiencing success through their strength and caring, sense of history and community, and their talents
- articles about family and their ‘investment’ (emotional, financial and physical) in the process of Rodeo Queen Pageantry
- current news / press releases about new queens, new rules, new techniques, items of interest and education
- suggest a topic to us…
Each article must go through the edit process before being published. That means that it goes through our editor-in-chief before being published. Some tips before beginning is to ask who, what, when, where, and why? And then ask, "What does it mean to me, to the industry, to the nation, etc.?"
In your writing;
- Speak to the reader as an intelligent
friend. The best style is clear, honest, and direct.
- Avoid fancy words
- Don't overstate
- Use the active rather than the passive
voice
- Never use a long word where a short one
will do.
- If it is possible to cut a word out,
always cut it out.
- Be as specific, concrete, and definite
as is possible.
- Please spell-check your work before
sending it.
- Conduct fact checking and be responsible
for accuracy.
- If a book is referred to in the article,
you must include the author's name, the book's publisher, and year of
publication. If statistics are quoted, please let us know where or how
you got them.
Writers retain copyright to the material
they contribute, but must grant permission to RodeoPageants.com to use
that material on RodeoPageants.com site. Submission of your article
constitutes permission granted for publishing to RodeoPageants.com.
DEADLINES AND OTHER SPECIFICS
The webzine is published the last week of each month for our monthly columns. We need your completed stories by the second week of the month at the latest.
Submit your story via email either in the body of the email message, or as a MS Word or other Word Processing Software format to the .
Photos, Line Art, Graphs, Charts, and Cartoons
Please send color or black and white prints of photos and include
information about each photo for use in captions. All
photos sent to us will be returned if you include a SASE for photo return.
Cartoons, line art, graphs, and charts are also welcome as long as they
relate to an article or are in good taste as far as cartoons are
concerned. If you took the photo and submit it to us we will accept
your submission as giving us the right to publish the photo. If
someone else took the photo and you want to submit it – you must have
them sign a statement saying they will allow their photo to be published
on RodeoPageants.com also, please include their name so that we can give
them credit. You can submit these via email also – if you scan
your photo please keep the file size under 1 Megabyte (preferably under
0.5 megabytes). Send these to the
also. Or send them via the post office to:
RodeoPageants.com
PO Box 1248
Bellflower, CA 90707
Include your name, email address, address,
and both day time and evening telephone numbers in the material you send
(however you send it) so that if we have a question we can get hold of
you.
We look forward to hearing from you,
reading what you have to say, and presenting that to the Rodeo Pageant
public.
Robert Laurence
Publisher & Editor
Fax: 562-634-4605
Michael Johnston
Publisher & Editor