Houseboat Magazine
Address:360 B Street
Idaho Falls, ID 83402
USA
Contact: Steve Smede, Editor
Email Address:
Website: Steve@houseboatmagazine.com
Phone: (208)524-7000. F(208)522-5241
Fax:
Description of Publication:
25% freelance. Houseboat is a family-oriented lifestyle magazine for anyone who cares about houseboating. Our publication covers both vintage-era and contemporary custom and model-production boats. We also focus on the places where houseboating is popular and on the people who exemplify the houseboating lifestyle. Welcomes new writers. Circ. 25K. Monthly. Pays on publication with some exceptions. Publishes ms 3-6 months after acceptance of unsolicited queries. Buys 1st N.A. rights. Rarely accepts reprints. Responds 3-6 weeks. Sample for request of guidelines by email. Subscription $24.99. Guidelines by email. Phone queries discouraged.
Current Needs: Summer Safety Series: Looking for some ideas pertaining to a specific houseboating region. Unique travel pieces with lots of local color. 'How I Spent My Weekend on Lake Cumberland' goes in the slush pile, whereas '10 ways to explore Alaska by Houseboat' may have potential. Personality and club/community pieces also have potential. Ability to include professional-quality transparencies with ms package a definite plus. Submit email queries only, please. Rarely publishes unsolicited mss.
welcomes new writers
Pay: Pays flat fee of $100-$150 for columns of 750-800 words; $150-$300 for features of 1000-1800 words.
Hints: Don't bother pitching a story that has already been done and if you're offering some great digital photos from your new digital camera? Give me a break. If you pack a Nikon D1, a Hassy with a digital back, etc. we can work with you. These are $5,000-$20,000 systems. If we decide at the last moment to enlarge a sharp transparency, we can. If all we have is a 100k jpeg, we're up the creek. Leave digital to the pros. When in doubt, send slides. Turnoffs: 1) Talking my ear off with an unsolicited phone query. I use that time to talk with readers, not listen to sales pitches. 2) Failure to provide top-notch photos, in general. A couple that writes for us regularly now approached us with a short query, followed by a ms and photo package. We love them. We pay them the best we can. A vague story idea and lackluster photos (or no artwork at all) will land you in the dreaded slush pile.
Photos/Art: 35mm or medium format transparencies preferred, color prints discouraged. Digital files must be hi-res (300 dpi). Tip: If it's a jpeg on a 3.5 floppy, it's almost always junk. Don't give us digital unless you are certain about resolution and image quality." Pays up to $400 for covers, but we do this less than once per year; we rarely buy photos without ms packages and do not pay extra for photos as part of a package.
