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LIVING WRITER’S GUIDELINES

We want our stories and articles to be very practical and upbeat. Since we go to every home, we do not assume a Christian audience. While we publish from a Christian perspective, we don’t preach or sermonize. Writers need to take this into account. Instead we offer some helpful reading material for the family. Personal experience stories are welcome, but are not the only approach.

Our audience? Children, teenagers, singles, married couples, right on through to senior citizens. We cover the wide variety of subjects that people face in the home and workplace. (See theme list below.)

Features should be kept as fast moving as possible. Aim for about 1,000-1,200 words. We can use shorter features from 250-550 words (no fillers). We use reprints as well as new material. Since we only publish four times a year, it may be 3-4 months until the editors gets back to you.
For a normal length feature we pay around $50; longer pieces receive $60, while shorter reprints earn from $35-45. If you have photos that we can use we will pay an additional $10-$15 per photo used. We use color or black and white. Payment for articles and photos comes about three months after publication, with a complimentary copy of the publication.

We get a lot of submissions from professional writers and can only use about ten percent of what we receive. To get a better idea of Living’s approach, you can read articles at Read Online from the archive, or request a sample copy by mailing a self-addressed and stamped 9 × 12 envelope with four first class stamps attached to Media For Living, 1251 Virginia Ave, Harrisonburg, VA 22802.

Send manuscripts or queries to mediaforliving.com or directly to the editor at melodiemd@msn.com with the TITLE of the manuscript in the subject line along with “Submission for Living” plus title. Please also include your e-mail address, mailing address, and phone number on the manuscript.

TOPIC AREAS FOR LIVING ARTICLES

• Parents of children 5 and under
• Parents of children 5 and up
• Parents of grown children
• Married couples/marriage
• Older adults/retirement
• Job/career issues
• Personal growth issues
• Health/fitness
• Family life (general)
• A feel-good piece or light, just for fun piece
• Singles, single parents
• Social issues
• Environment/nature
• Financial/economic concerns of family
• Educational
• Community relations-getting along better
• Seasonal related: keep in mind that since we publish quarterly, generally the ONLY seasonal material we can use is related to Easter/spring, Mother’s/Father’s Day, Back to school, Christmas & New Year.

©2009, Valley Living