Homeschooling Horizons Submission Guidelines 2008-2009

Submit:  Send your submissions to content-editor@homeschoolinghorizons.com

Length: 2 "page" max!  Though we would be happy to break your article up into a two part series, we would prefer to keep article lengths to 900-1500 words.  Two-Part articles would appear in consecutive issues.

Please no slander or libel or plagiarism.  But also no phony praise! Let's have honest and frank opinions, and state your references if quoting, please.

Articles must be entertaining or interesting and readable even while educating or discussing a serious subject. Keep your point in focus. Please send only your final draft ready for proofing.

Fresh stuff please!  Original unpublished articles preferred, though reprinted works are acceptable as long as they have not appeared within 3 months of distribution of another publication.

Please limit self-serving plugs.  Use your "Bio Page" (see below) to plug yourself or an event. If you must plug your event in your article, it should be related to the subject of the article. Please just make a simple statement. A link to your site and/or own bio page will be provided with your article or piece.

Submitting Info? Great!  We want it!  Our Day at Our House column is there to give us a glimpse of your day, while all of our articles are there to encourage families on all topics of interest to homeschoolers.

In reviews--try to keep a balance--avoid overly gushy, over the top superlatives. Be as realistic and objective as you possibly can.  The usefulness of the work for the purpose of educating children or family raising are of high interest and would therefore be preferred.

Remuneration  Please note that "Homeschooling Horizons" does not usually compensate authors for published articles.  The majority of authors who are either in our print magazine or on our website have submitted their articles without fee, but are seeking to bring attention to their product or service.  If you are seeking monetary reimbursement, the average fee paid is $17 CDN, should we agree to reimbursement and if we accept your article* for publication.
*Minimum/maximum article length as described above.

Submission Format -- -In an effort to publish the highest quality publications, we ask that you use the following format for submitting articles.  Failure to follow these guidelines may result in rejection of your submission or the return of your article for reformatting if we choose to use it. 

Your work may be submitted in the following digital formats: Word, Word Perfect, WordPad, or within the body of an e-mail message.  If you are unfamiliar with the mechanics of these programs, please contact our offices for directions.  You may also submit your work by regular mail on a diskette or CD-ROM. 

Please include the following statement in your e-mail message, and include your name where it says "[your name]"

I, [your name], give Homeschooling Horizons Magazine permission to publish this article (or articles) in Homeschooling Horizons Magazine (print) and on the Homeschooling Horizons Magazine website (online).  I offer this article free-of-charge, and understand that I will not get compensation if this article is published, unless other arrangements have been made in writing prior to publication.

 Submission Requirements

• Use 12 pt Time New Roman type for the entire article, including title, subheadings and author bio.
• In the top left corner of the first page only, please type (single spaced) your name, address, phone number, e-mail address, copyright date (if not the current year) and word count of the body of the article (not including author info, title, copyright or bio).
• Include one single line space between author information and article title.  Include alternate titles below it.
• Do not number pages or include headers.
• Do not indent.
• Align your article to the left.  Do not justify it.
• Use two space between sentences in the article (after end punctuation).
• Do not use special formatting in your article.  You  may use italics for word emphasis and for titles of books.
• Do not use automatic footnoting or endnotes in your article.
• At the bottom of the article, in bold, Times New Roman 12 pt type, please include a maximum fifty-word bio and maximum twenty-word byline.  The byline replaces traditional monetary compensation, and is intended to promote the author's product or service.  Please include e-mail address or website address in your byline, and a physical phone number (if desired) so the reader can learn more about the author's product or service.
• Please spell check and proof your article before submitting.  Please use Canadian spelling rules.
  If you are submitting graphics to accompany the article, please attach these to your message/save to diskette, and note the placement within your article in hard brackets [  ].  We will do our best to keep to your wishes.

Style Requirements

     Punctuation
     - Use a comma before the final item in a list or series (Karen, Sally and Margaret)
     - Use italics to emphasize words.  Do not use all caps for emphasis.

     Spelling
     - Use Canadian spelling rules.
     - "Homeschool" and its derivatives (homeschooled, homeschooling, homeschoolers) are to be written as one word.

     Numbers and Symbols
     - Numbers referring to age should be written out (nine years old)
     - Periods of time (years) should be written 2001-04 and not 2001-2004 (except 1999-2001)
     - To indicate percent, use numerals and the word percent (25 percent)

     Quotes and References
     - If the book or source of the quote is listed in a reference list at the end of the article, it is not necessary to provide full publication information in the text.  Only the book title and the author's name should be included following the first quote of the source.
     - References to books, magazines, etc within the text of the article should state title and author together, and should correlate to a reference list at the end of the article  Books in the reference list should include title, author and ISBN number. 
     - No page number is required for any reference or quote.
     - Please verify all websites to make sure they are still active, that they are appropriate, and that they do not link to objectionable material on other sites.  List websites as www. instead of http://www except when necessary to pull up the site.

Copyright issues---Please note the copyright date and the name of the author (you!).  If this is the first “printing” of the work, the current year may be included as the copyright year along with your name.

When sending in your piece, specify whether you would like your work proofed or edited. We define as :

         - proofing-we just point out the problems-you fix them
         - editing-we make the changes-you approve before printing

Editorial Board has final say or nay!

Please know that we are most humbly grateful that you have gone to a lot of work and used your precious time and talent to write your piece and allow us to post it in our magazine!  We appreciate your support.

Thank you!