Home : Submissions : Bird Watcher's Digest: Submission Guidelines
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Home : Submissions : Bird Watcher's Digest: Submission Guidelines
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Bird Watcher's Digest Guidelines for WritersBird Watcher's Digest (BWD) is a bimonthly magazine devoted to providing entertaining, informative, and engaging content to its readers and subscribers. We were founded in 1978 in the living room of the Thompson family of Marietta, Ohio, and we are still the only independently owned and operated wild-bird magazine in North America. It is also the only bird-watching magazine created by bird watchers, for bird watchers. Each issue of BWD comprises a wide array of material aimed at bird watchers and birders at all levels of interest and ability. Regular columns and features include: Download a printer-friendly version of our guidelines here >> After The SparkWritten by Kenn Kaufman, one of North America's leading birding authorities.
Watching Bird BehaviorDr. David Bird (yes, that's his real name) is an ornithologist and our resident expert on bird behavior. His column appears in each issue. The Bird Watcher's Question BoxWe get hundreds of reader questions each year. Many of these are sent along to Kevin J. Cook, who has been answering questions in BWD's "Question Box" since 1992.
My Way [freelance queries/submissions accepted]Readers share their ideas with others in this short (fewer than 1,000 words) how-to forum. Authors whose material is published in "My Way" receive a year's free subscription to BWD.
The Well-Equipped Birder [freelance queries/submissions accepted]TWEB includes ideas, tips, and innovations for today's active bird watcher. This short (750 word) column is usually written by BWD's own Bill Thompson, III, but freelance submissions are welcomed.
Far Afield [freelance queries/submissions accepted]Travel articles focusing on great birding destinations, unusual traveling experiences, and related topics. About 75 percent of our "Far Afield" articles focus on North American destinations.
The Bird Gardener [freelance queries/submissions accepted]Articles about gardening for birds and wildlife in your own backyard. We have gardening correspondents from eight North American ecoregions, one of whom writes a feature (about 1,500 to 2,000 words) for each issue. We focus on native, noninvasive plants and gardening advice that will help give birds the four basic things they need to survive: food, shelter, water, and a place to nest.
The Backyard [freelance queries/submissions accepted]Our Backyard section comprises two to four short articles (from 500 to 1,500 words each) on backyard-related topics from feeding and housing to humorous backyard experiences and helpful ideas.
Species Profiles [freelance queries/submissions accepted]Each issue of BWD includes up to two species profiles covering the basic natural history of a given bird species. Length: between 2,000 and 3,500 words.
Freelance SubmissionsWe appreciate query letters in advance, but we do not make a decision without reviewing the entire manuscript. If you send your submissions via regular mail (or UPS, FedEx, etc). Please include a SASE (self-addressed, stamped envelope) with enough postage for the return of all materials. We gladly accept email queries and manuscript submissions, but are not able to respond immediately to most inquiries via email. When submitting by email, please make the subject line read "Submission - (your topic)." Attach your submission to your email in either MS Word (.doc) or RichText Format (.rtf). Please do not copy and paste your submission into the body of the email. Whether submitting by regular mail or by email, please include your full contact information on every page.
Response Time from Our EditorsDue to the volume of submissions we receive, we ask that you allow 10 to 12 weeks for a response. Your submission will receive careful consideration regardless of the method by which it was sent. We get more than 250 unsolicited editorial submissions in a busy month. Of these, we accept between 6 and 12 manuscripts. But don't be discouraged by these numbers! We never know when an article we've received will be just right for BWD's pages, so we never discourage submissions. We love to discover new writers, new topics, and wonderful new material among our monthly submissions. Material We're Always Interested in ReceivingBWD is always looking for well-written accounts covering backyard birds, including feeding, housing, bird gardening, how-to projects, and interesting bird behavior and experiences. We also publish up to six general feature articles per issue covering a wide array of topics of interest to today's bird watcher. Articles that touch on a unique/unusual topic, humorous articles, and authoritative advice-type articles often find a place among our pages. Material Unlikely to be Accepted
Helpful HintsObtain a sample copy of BWD from us or at your local newsstand, bird store, or bookstore, and familiarize yourself with the type of material we regularly publish. If you're a current BWD subscriber, you'll already know the topics we've covered in recent issues. We rarely repeat coverage of a topic within a period of two to three years. Sincerely, Bill Thompson, III |
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