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Our mission? To inspire, inform, and compel women to live life to its fullest through outdoor adventure and travel. The best way to break in? Pitch us inspiration and information in the form of juicy, newsy, timely tidbits that you’re able to write about with evidence, authority, and style. Between our chock-a-block front of the book departments and our 2- or 3-story feature well (sometimes more!) we’re always looking for ideas that fit these criteria.
WONDER
Our only international travel piece provides a 150-word philosophical glimpse (that includes the reasons why to try and the benefits of) an activity—such as taking long hikes, stargazing, scuba diving, or wildlife watching—then features a roundup of four destinations where readers can enjoy this activity. Each destination should be written up in fewer than 60 words and include the name and web address or physical location of a local resource. The destinations should be geographically diverse and appeal to a readers with a variety of skill levels.
The Big Picture: 1,000 words
Adventure is often accompanied by debate, and disputes especially arise in the gray area of travel and outdoor endeavors. What sort of impact does eco-tourism have on a place’s people and economy? How far should we take animal rights? And who gets a say in trail use? The answers aren’t always black and white. This column discusses the pros, cons, and emotional dilemmas of an adventure-related argument. It’s often accompanied by a web column called “The Other Side” that counters the printed argument.
Psychobabble: 1,000 words +200-word sidebar
An opportunity to combine the mental and physical elements of adventure and sporting—and explain the mysteries of the feminine mind. This department highlights a physiological angle to shed light on the how, why, or why not behind our desire to hit the trail. Whether it’s our chemical aversion to risk-taking, the grief-recovery process of a bum knee, or the psychology of a sore loser, this department seeks to combine personal experience with scientific research and authoritative sources that can help us make the best of our brains.
It’s Personal: 1,200 words
Stories from the field often involve private elements even more dynamic than the walls you climb, the caves you explore, and the seas you swim. Whether bothersome boyfriends or menstrual mishaps add excitement, whether you struggle with your child-rearing philosophy, or whether some unexplainable motivation got you to the summit of a brutal peak, we want an intimate look at the experience through your honest, witty, and rousing narrative.
ASPIRE
Try This: 400 words + 300-word sidebar
Ever been intimidated to try something new? Admit it. We all have. This service-based department is meant to demystify an adventure activity—landing a 180 on the snow, kite surfing, slacklining, etc. In partnership with an expert, this illustrated department introduces our readers to a new activity and gives specific advice about form, technique and the tools they’ll need to include it in their adventure resume. The sidebar offers a list of dos and don’ts.
Dream Job: Q & A style, 500 words
Know of a woman who can hardly call her job work? Interview her and find out why her envy-inspiring career is so satisfying, so interesting, and so surprising. Discover the struggles she faces at work, the hobbies that clear her mind off the job, and the things that challenge her at work. Don’t forget to include her job title and where she works.
Roar: 600-1,200 words + 250-word sidebar
Who’s the most amazing woman you know? Dr. Jessie Stone is a whitewater kayaking doctor fighting malaria along the Nile’s world-class rapids, and Anne Mahlum is harnessing the endorphin rush of a good run to help the homeless in Philadelphia. These are just two recent examples of women combining their love of sport and adventure with a Roar-worthy sense of compassion and drive. We’re always on the lookout for others. The sidebar should provide ways to help in 1 hour, 1 day, 1 week, and 1 year.
Backcountry Gourmet: (2 recipes + 2 relevant 100-word sidebars)
Fueling our hikes, bikes, and paddles, the food we eat at camp can also be an adventure. While we’re not foodies, we love the stuff. This department explains how to create backcountry meals with two recipes that include a common key ingredient. Expect to include a sidebar with two tips for preparing the food or carrying it into the backcountry plus a product that may be useful. We also appreciate additional web content, such as a video demonstration.
Whole Health: 1,000 words +200-word sidebar
The tiny-tidbit coverage of health issues in other women’s mags makes us sick. In this department, we’re looking for in-depth reporting on an issue affecting the lives of active women. We want expert advice, doctors’ analysis, scientific study info, and the personal story of at least one woman to form a comprehensive look at how this health-related topic—for example: sleep, anemia, knee strength, medication side-effects, or food allergies—can affect your adventures in the outdoors.
Features: 1,800-4,000 words
We print a wide variety of feature stories from 1,000-word personal essays to hard-hitting, 3,000-word investigations of environmental or women’s health issues. We avoid topics covered in our pages within the last several years, but we’re open to innovative angles on familiar stories, and a voice that invites, inspires or informs our readers. We get lots of pitches for feature-length profiles and personal essays, so we’re more likely to be interested in and need harder-hitting stories. Though we appreciate service information in sidebars and accompanying web material, we’ve found that our readers crave an emotional and personal connection with adventure. That’s what we try to deliver.
In addition to sending thoughtful pitches, you can also catch our attention with a few other details:
- Know our magazine. Though we’re a work in progress, you can check out examples of our style and voice through our digital issues online.
- Follow up. Like everyone else, we’re super busy and our urgency about pitches is directly proportional to the timing of our in-house assignment meetings. If you haven’t heard back in 2-3 weeks, e-mail your pitch again.
- Include ideas for sidebars, web extras and multimedia in conjunction with your story. Our budget doesn’t (yet) include payment for web-specific content, but a multi-platform pitch will catch our attention.
- Make it timely. We plan 3-6 months ahead for most stories, even longer for seasonal features. Don’t pitch old news unless there’s a new angle and suggest a time peg (or two). Is Congress making a decision? Is there a big race or event? Why is your story right for any given month or season?
- Tell us who you are. Include a short bio telling us about your experience and why you’re the right person to write this story. Don’t forget to include it when you follow-up, too.
- Suggest an alternative angle. It shows us you’ve researched the story and are capable of being flexible with how we might use it.
Send all queries/pitches to edit@staff.womensadventuremagazine.com. You can see a sample of our newly redesigned magazine here.
