Editorial Guidelines

Editorial Guidelines
The Dubliner is a monthly city magazine. We publish stories on everything from architecture to sex. Many of the magazine’s readers are men and women in their 20s and 30s, although we have subscribers who are aged between 18 and 74. The Dubliner is about life in Ireland’s capital; our stories always have relevance to a local audience but can also be appreciated by those outside Dublin.

Pitching stories: the golden rules
We only accept submissions by email. Send a synopsis (max 200 words) of the story you'd like to write to Nicola Reddy (editor@thedubliner.ie) or Neil Brennan (neil@thedubliner.ie). We try to respond to all emails within a week but coming up to press time it may take a little longer.

• Please don't send through completed articles. Send a short pitch, and if we're interested we'll come back to you with a word count, deadline and other advice.
• Read The Dubliner carefully before getting in touch. We're often approached with stories that are thoroughly unsuitable – a quick read through the current issue will show you the kind of thing we're looking for.
• If an article is to go into the February issue, we'll commission it in December or early-January, so plan ahead for anything that's time-sensitive.
• Never approach with half-baked suggestions. The worst words to read in any proposal are: “This is just a vague idea.” Don’t submit your pitch until you know exactly where you want to go with it.
• Do include ideas for panels or sub-sections within an article.
• Do include thoughts on photography to go with your piece.
• After that, it's just a matter of coming up with something witty, brilliant, newsworthy and original that fits in with our style. Easy!

The structure of the magazine - where your story might land:
Features: articles in the centre of the magazine, from two to ten pages. These include interviews, 'service' features, investigative pieces, photo essays etc. They will always be about Dublin life, and will usually have some sort of news hook.

Regulars: the front section of the magazine. Series like 'Little Shops,' 'Dubliner's Dublin' and 'Top Ten.' Also columns and our quirky news section, Baggotonia.

Capital Life: Events, restaurants, bars, cinema, comedy, books, theatre, music, art, wine. Our editors write most of the content, but send us your ideas for once-off features. Or bar and restaurant reviews – we pay €30 a pop.

Best of Dublin: Our annual summer guide. 150-word entries divided into categories: Food & Drink; Fashion & Beauty; House & Home; Kids & Teens; Sport & Wellness; Entertainment & Fun. Plus features on eg. record shopping in Dublin, free events, seaside activities, markets, tours, date destinations, gay Dublin, summer films and music, wine, books, fashion. Please contact us with suggestions by March 2010.

Don't bother suggesting:

• A series about "Dublin characters"
• An investigation into the city's sex industry
• Anything about cults
• A story about how Ireland's young people are losing faith in the Church
• A monthly column featuring your thoughts on the world
• What the city looks like from a newcomer's prospective, or a Dubliner returning home from abroad. (Yes, we know Dublin has changed)
• Fiction or poetry
• Your college course work
• Travel writing
• A 2000-word interview with an up-and-coming band
• A 2000-word analysis of Glen Hansard's lyrics
• 'Coping with the recession in crafty ways'
• Dublin: the new Berlin?

Do come to us with:

• Stories that you are uniquely qualified to write because you are somehow involved with whatever era/operation/person you are writing about
• Stories that capture the essence of Dublin, or a community within the city
• Information about businesses / events / community groups / issues you're sure we won't know about
• 'Service' features – eg ten emerging Dublin writers whose work you need to read now; where to find classic Dublin dishes in the city; a walking tour of Modernist Dublin
• Topical, newsworthy features – eg an interview with the person behind a new initiative; an investigation into one branch of the arts in Dublin before a major festival

Once commissioned:
Payment
The Dubliner pays contributors 15 cents per word published. Payment is by bank transfer, usually within a month of publication.

Deadlines and word counts:
These should be decided in advance – ask if we forget. Then don't mess with them. If you're organised and on target, we'll commission you to do a story again. If you're late or give us a present of an extra 500 words, we won't.

Branch out:
Talk to people. The right people, and lots of them. Your own thoughts on the state of theatre in Dublin will only get you so far – quote actors, directors, experts, audience members and the man on the street.

Spelling, grammar and style:
At The Dubliner we like writing that is opinionated yet balanced, witty yet friendly, and most importantly, very Dublin. Lazy errors in spelling, particularly when naming people or places, are not appreciated. Read over all copy carefully before you submit it, and double check your facts. Never use old or second-hand information – if you do, you won't be writing for us again. Chances are your copy will be edited for style and/or length; if there are any major changes, you will be contacted.

Two words: NO WAFFLE

Two more words: NO CLICHÉ

Show, don't tell: The most important rule in journalism. Give quotes, data and examples, not just your opinion.
 

General advice:
The Atlanta Tribune has a super guide for journalists posted on its website here. An edited version follows:

In evaluating an article, an editor will read it carefully to see what’s in it and what’s not. After reading it, editors ask themselves the following seven questions about the piece. Does the piece have:

1.   A clear angle? The piece must be about something – not all about something, but something about something. If it’s a profile, for example, it should not be a biography; it should be about some part or aspect of the subject’s life. Other material may be included, but the piece should focus on something specific. The piece should convey a main message, a central idea or major theme. It should not be merely a fact sheet or encyclopaedia entry. It ought to make one big, overriding point – but not more than one. More than one angle is no angle.
   
   
2. Furthermore, if it’s an assigned piece, the angle should be the same one described to the author when the piece was assigned.
   
   
3.  An effective lead? A lead is supposed to (a) stop the perusing reader, (b) introduce the subject and (c) draw the reader into the piece. What’s more, the lead should not merely introduce the subject, but should introduce it within the context of the angle. For example, if the piece is about the governor’s wife being her husband’s most enthusiastic campaigner, the lead should show her in connection with a campaign, not in the kitchen or selecting new draperies.
   
   
4.  A clear justifier? The justifier – or peg – is a sentence or paragraph, maybe more than one paragraph, that (a) tells the reader what’s going on in the lead if it isn’t obvious, (b) tries to establish newsworthiness, or relevance, in order to give the reader a reason to read the piece and (c) hints at what is to come and what the reader will find out by reading the piece. The justifier is the link between the lead and the body of the piece.
   
   
5.  Anecdotes and other narrative? The piece, whatever its subject or angle, must be readable – interesting and easy to read – and the most effective way to make it readable is to use anecdotes and/or other narrative. The piece should have anecdotes that illustrate, that support generalisations that show the subject to the reader. Narrative is the kind of writing that shows action, unlike exposition, which merely explains or tells. The piece ought to show, not just tell.
   
   
6. Lively quotes, descriptive detail and other specifics? A piece needs, as William Emerson used to say, voices. It should let the reader hear someone other than the author.
   
   
7. The piece should also let the reader see – and hear and smell and feel – for himself. Insofar as possible, the piece ought always to be showing the reader something, making pictures form in the reader’s mind, because pictures, particularly action pictures, are much more interesting and much more likely to hold the reader’s interest than abstractions.
   
   
8. The piece should avoid vagueness and generalities by giving the reader specifics – names, dates, places, times, identifications, numbers, all the appropriate and needed details.
   
   
9.  A logical organisation? The material shouldn’t be simply dumped onto the pages of the manuscript and left for the reader to sort out. It should be arranged and presented to the reader in a logical, make-sense, what-does-the-reader-need-to-know-next sequence.
   
   
10.  An appropriate conclusion? The piece should not simply peter out or end abruptly. It should have a conclusion that lets the reader feel satisfied by the piece in the same way a diner, having eaten the dessert, feels satisfied by a meal.

Graydon Carter and Tina Brown: 'How to edit a magazine.' More excellent advice on structuring an article.