THE ELEGANT TEXAN welcomes and encourages work from freelancers, but we do not accept phone queries. We request that any interested writers e-mail ideas, along with a resume, to our Editor-in-Chief, Glyn J Meek at GlynMeek@TheElegantTexan.com. Our Writer's Guidelines are described below:
Article Topics
THE ELEGANT TEXAN is designed to provide stories and articles about the State of Texas, and the ideas, places and things that evoke the concept of Elegance.
We are interested in any stories that focus on one or both of these topics, and our tastes are broad and deep within these boundaries. We do not aim to be a politically controversial magazine, nor do we intend to just list eating establishments, cinemas and hostelries in our target cities. We want our readers to be educated, entertained, amazed and intrigued by what they find between our covers. We want them to know more about Texas and to extend their knowledge of the more sophisticated aspects of elegant living.
If you are someone who wants to exercise their love of writing, and would like us to propose a topic for an upcoming edition, please contact us with your interest and we will be pleased to make suggestions as to appropriate subjects, length of article and potential illustrations and/or images.
Audience
Each edition is distributed to upper echelon readers within the state of Texas. While the distribution of the magazine is currently limited to 25,000 copies, our research shows that because of the nature of the magazine, with its high quality paper, its artistic style, and the target marketplace, each edition is read by an estimated 500,000 people. Those people are typically over the age of 30, and in the top 5% of households as measured by economic income. They are well-educated, well-traveled and sophisticated individuals, with a professional and social status at the highest of levels.
Submission
Writers should be aware of the following with regards to the submission of articles:
- We would like articles to be between 1,000 and 2,000 words, but longer or shorter articles may be submitted.
- We will accept suggested images to accompany the article as email attachments - 300 dpi, graphical image files (.jpg preferred).
- THE ELEGANT TEXAN reserves the right to edit any submissions and publication of an article is at the sole discretion of the editors.
- The first time we publish an article, we may require you to submit a photograph and a bio for inclusion in the magazine.
- Writers should keep a list of sources in case it's necessary to fact check, but not submit them with each story (The exception is when a minor is the quoted source, and in that case we would need a name and number for the source's parent or guardian to confirm that source can be used). We recommend that you do NOT show your finished article to your sources, as any changes we make may cause unnecessary problems for you at a later date.
- Please include your phone number, email address or other contact information so we can reach you if required.
- We prefer that all articles and associated imagery be submitted via email as an attachment (Microsoft Word or text only) to GlynMeek@TheElegantTexan.com. If you are unable to do this, we WILL accept articles on CD or DVD, which should be mailed to "Editor-in-Chief, The Elegant Texan, 4625 Frankford Road, 136-586, Dallas, Texas 75287".
Fact-checking Materials
At THE ELEGANT TEXAN we do not have a research department, so contributors are responsible for their own fact-checking. As a consequence, we would like to remind contributors to keep all research materials at least until publication in the event a fact or quote needs to be documented.
Editing
Writers will see at least one edited version of their stories, and editors will involve the writer as necessary if large cuts or changes are required. Later changes in magazine layout and format may necessitate other changes which may or may not be made visible to the writer before it goes to print.
Deadlines
If you are going to be late in meeting a deadline, please advise the assigning editor at your earliest convenience to notify and agree on a new deadline.
Payment
The assigning editor is solely responsible for negotiating any and all fees with the writer. The writer must submit an original invoice along with the story which (for authors who are US Citizens) includes the writer's Social Security Number. Unless otherwise negotiated, we pay upon publication.
Author's Copies
When the magazine is printed, all published authors will receive at least two complimentary copies of the magazine.
