Nervy Girl Magazine
Address:P.O. Box 16601
Portland, OR 97292
USA
Contact: Shanna Germain, Managing Editor
Email Address:
Website: http://www.nervygirlzine.com/
Phone: (503)(256-3789). F(503)256-3789
Fax:
Description of Publication:
80%-90% freelance. Nervy Girl is a publication geared toward women, but not in the traditional sense of the word. We don't offer ten steps to thinner thighs or the top three ways to make a guy fall for you, and we'll never, ever tell you which shade of lipstick to wear. Instead, we offer articles, columns and creative pieces that women (and men!) can sink their teeth into. Our goal at Nervy Girl is to provide thought-provoking, intelligent articles that encourage women to think critically, take action and make bold decisions about their lives. Absolutely welcomes new writers - it's one of our goals to help women develop job skills and learn to be strong freelance writers and self-editors. Circ. 18K. Monthly. Pays on publication. Publishes ms 1 month after acceptance. Buys exclusive print rights for 2 months after publication. After that, the non-exclusive right to archive the work on the Nervy Girl website. Writers are encouraged to resell their work wherever and whenever they can - it's a tough career. Occasionally accepts reprints, but only if they've been published in a small magazine, or are just so wonderful we can't say no. Responds usually within a week after the query deadline for each issue. Sample online, also has a list of retail stores that carry issues. Subscription $20 for a limited time. Guidelines online at http://www.nervygirlzine.com/nervy/pb_queries.html or by email at submit (at) nervygirlzine.com.
Current Needs: Our biggest need is for writers who can take a strong, unusual feature idea and turn it into a well-researched, interesting article. It requires a combination of things: the ability to scout out a fresh idea, an understanding of how to do interviews and research, and the writing skills to present it in a way that is captivating. Pays depending on the complexity and length of each piece. As we get our feet under is this year, that amount will continue to increase. Submit queries for features and news. For essays, columns, poems and fiction, we prefer to see the entire draft. We prefer email submissions, but also accept snail mail. It helps if you include a short bio, and any other writing interests you may have (this way, if the query or idea isn't quite right for us, but we like your style, we can offer you something else).
welcomes new writers
Pay: Currently we pay $25-$100 for news and features, and $5-$50 for A&E and creative works.
Hints: Writers often suggest ideas that just show they haven't read us - we're not interested in columns on 'how to please a man' or poems about 'my first true love' (unless, of course, it's laugh out loud funny or includes the word pomegranate!). If you're a woman, and you have something on your mind that you've NEVER seen addressed in any other magazine, then you're probably on the right track. If you're not supposed to talk about it in public, but you and your friends are whispering about it over coffee, then you've probably got a Nervy Girl idea. Our slant is pro-women, pro-diversity, pro-environment, pro-critical thinking and pro-independent media (and information). If your query has three or more of those elements, you're in good shape! Some of our favorite pieces from freelancers so far have been: an in-depth article about girls who were using online anorexia sites to 'support' their quest for thinness; a hysterical essay about turning to tongue-depressor thievery to kill time while waiting in the doctor's office; an article on the 'twenty-something blahs'; a column on biker babes and a sexy poem about making Shrimp Creole. Every issue is themed, and we also get too many writers who take our themes too literally. The themes are really just supposed to be jump-off points, ways to get your mind turning and to get your to stretch the meaning of things. For example, we have a Nerdy Girl issue coming up -- all about technology and techies and inventors. Half of the queries we get will be 'I'd like to write about the woman who discovered...' and the other half will be 'my personal story about how I became a techie.' While those are important, we're much more likely to turn to the rare query that offers us something we've never even thought of or heard about -- for example, did you know that L'Oreal offers large monetary awards for women in the sciences? Why would a makeup company do that? What are they gaining? Another example might be an A&E profile of the Indie Band Nerdy Girl. Or, offer to write a piece on the world of female gamers -- or female computer hackers! Do some research -- find out what's already been printed on a topic, but more importantly find out what HASN'T been printed -- those are the ideas that we want.
Photos/Art: We prefer are submissions via email - 200 dpi jpegs work best. If you send us something via snail mail, please don't send your only copy! Pays $5-$50 per piece, depending on how it's used, etc.
