More and more naturists and non-naturists are approaching N magazine inquiring about submission guidelines for articles. N is delighted at this growing interest among new and experienced writers in opening wider the dialogue on naturist living. N has an over 30-year history of being the voice of a diverse array of naked-minded people. As an internationally recognized leader in naturist publications with professional standards and a diverse readership, N continues to move confidently into the 21st century. It may be time once again, however, to remind N readers—and potential N authors—how easy it is to contribute to this living history of naturism.
The Naturist Society accepts submissions from authors, photographers, and artists for N magazine (Nude & Natural.) N brings together prominent personalities, places, events, and trends inspired by the growth in body acceptance that accompanies a renewal of the practice the world over of social and family naturism. N’s audience consists of the curious and often skeptical “newcomer,” as well as the general readers created by bookstore and newsstand sales, but the core readers are The Naturist Society’s 20,000 subscribing members. Submissions or inquiries may be sent to:
The Naturist Society
Nicky Hoffman, Publisher
627 Bay Shore Drive Ste 100
Oshkosh, WI 54901
Phone (920) 426-5009
Fax (920) 426-5184
e-mail: nickyh@naturistsociety.com
PDF of Art Submission Guidelines
Nude & Natural Photo Release Agreement
Some Topics of Interest to N readers:
- Nude travel and tourism, particularly first-hand reports.
- Beaches, hot springs, and other public venues that are the focus of growing or established traditions of clothing-optional use.
- Naturist group or club sponsored activities, particularly those that are ongoing or feature interaction with the textile community.
- The history, development of, or special activities at nude or nude-friendly resorts, campgrounds, parks, or spas.
- Feature articles on pioneering naturists (past or present).
- Naturism/nudity in the news, society/culture, law, politics, history, art, religion, etc.
- The philosophies of naturism or body acceptance.
- First-hand stories about your experience with naturism; especially first-time experiences.
Many more topics are open for consideration. The editors will be happy to discuss any ideas you have. Articles are selected according to their relevance, timeliness, quality, and space availability in the magazine. We recommend that you confer with an N editor before going ahead with your writing, though this is not required. Approval of a topic does not guarantee publication; we must reserve the right to refuse the final product if it does not meet our needs.
Article Length
Most articles in N run 1,000-2,000 words, though length may vary greatly depending on the topic and scope. Readers tend to favor shorter articles. We advise writers to take whatever space they need to tell their stories thoroughly but concisely. The editors can offer further guidance on length when you propose your topic.
Article Format
All submission are welcome and reviewed for appropriateness for N magazine. Please submit articles by e-mail attachment to e-mail: nickyh@naturistsociety.com. CDs sent by mail are also accepted.
Changes to Articles
Articles may be edited for space or other reasons. If time permits, we can arrange to return the final copy to the author for review, but this is not always possible. If your topic is particularly sensitive and you feel editing would compromise your meaning, you may want to discuss this with the editors upon submission.
Most articles published in N are submitted by amateur writers. Still, the editors assume that if you are proposing an article you are able to communicate thoughtfully and clearly, and have some writing ability even though you may be inexperienced at writing for publication. Good storytelling and accurate fact gathering are far more important in this context than technically perfect writing. Editors can “fix” problems of grammar and style, but can’t do much about limited content. Occasionally we’ll ask for revisions or further development of ideas, but in most cases we prefer to work with submitted material as provided.
Copyright/Exclusivity
We assume that articles submitted to N are being sent to N exclusively. If the same or a very similar article is under review, is about to be published, or already has been published in another publication (naturist or non-naturist, in print or online) you must let us know at the time of submission. Once your article has been accepted for publication in N, we assume first serial rights, so you should not submit it elsewhere until after it appears in N. As author, you retain the copyright on your article text, and can resubmit it where you like. Publications that wish to reprint articles as laid out in N must obtain permission from the original author and/or photographer(s), as well as from N.
Photos/Graphics/Illustrations
Photos, graphics, drawings, or other illustrations are most welcome with any article submission, and may be a condition of acceptance.
Photography should enhance the descriptive elements of the article. A travel report, for example, should be supported with photos showing nude individuals of a variety (when possible) of ages, genders, races, and body types, engaged in some type of beach-related activity. Such images are preferred over scenery shots or artificially-posed figures.
In all cases, whether posed or candid, artistic or journalistic, photos should adhere to non-sexualizing standards of naturist realism and respect. Photos that are sexually explicit or taken surreptitiously will not be accepted. Someone who reads N regularly will best be able to gauge the style and content of photos that are likely to be acceptable for publication.
Photographers should secure written permission, from any subjects who appear in their photos. It may not be a legal requirement in all cases, but it is proper in any case. The subjects should understand that they are being photographed for possible publication in a national magazine. Children never should be photographed without the permission of both the child and the parent(s), and the parent(s) should be present at all times, preferably appearing with the child in photos. Please refer to the “technical tips” section for information about preferred formats for photography.
Style Guides/Source Documentation
The editors of N are more concerned with accuracy of reporting, relevance of the topic, and readability of a piece than with an author’s adherence to strict style guidelines. Authors may use whichever established style manual they choose, if appropriate, as long as usage is maintained consistently throughout the article. (N uses The Associated Press Stylebook.) Most articles will not need endnotes; however, any reference material that was used to provide information for your article should be documented, and direct quotes should be attributed to their original source. If notes are included, please format them as endnotes rather than footnotes. Follow the style manual of your choice, but be consistent. That said, in the editing process, N may need to adjust punctuation or references for magazine style consistency.
Author Bio
Supply a short biographical statement along with your article, including full name, address, daytime phone number, e-mail, naturist group/club affiliations, Naturist Society membership number (if applicable), and a brief statement of your qualifications. A photo of yourself is helpful. In virtually all cases the author’s name will appear as a byline with the article. N rarely permits pseudonyms to be used except in extreme cases. Please discuss this with the N staff before submitting an article if this is an issue for you.
Return of Materials
Unpublished photos are usually returned unless there is a strong possibility that they may be used in future publications of The Naturist Society. We prefer to retain a file copy of photos or illustrations that are published. If you must have your photos or other materials returned, indicate this at the time of submission. Label all photos, disks, or other materials with your name, address, phone, and/or e-mail address. Articles and disks generally are not returned, whether used or unused. Never send originals or the only existing copy of your article, photos, or other materials. Send only duplicates.
Payment
Writing for N for the most part is a volunteer activity. The staff will be happy to discuss this further on a case-by-case basis. As a general rule, N does not pay for:
- Unsolicited text submissions.
- Materials submitted with a commercial agenda (product releases, news releases, group or club activities announcements, etc.).
- Full-length features that promote commercial organizations (resorts, parks, etc.).
- Short news items, letters to the editor, cartoons, and other such materials.
Photography published in N is paid:
- Photo: $25 each
- Maximum compensation for any one submission is $200.
Please Note: Submissions do not guarantee compensation. Compensation is made according to a variety of factors and determination of compensation is made solely by TNS.
Technical Tips on Article Submissions
Articles should be submitted as attachments via e-mail. If sending your article in the body of a message rather than as a document attachment, please do not use special formatting such as bold type, italics, curly quotes, em dashes, superscripts, columns, tables, footnotes, etc. These often create “garbage characters” that must be removed manually. Please do not embed your photos in the word file, send them to us separately. Microsoft Word is the preferred format, but we are able to translate documents from most any standard word processing program (either Windows or Mac). Use rich text format (.rtf) or plain text (.txt) format. Most word processing programs allow for this option under the “save” or “save as” command. If you have used bold, italic, or other formatting commands, these may be lost when the file is saved as text only. If such formatting is critical to the article, then also send a PDF or mail/fax a hard copy for reference.
Other related issues to keep in mind when typing your article:
- Add a hard return only when indicating a new paragraph, not at the end of each line. Extra hard returns need to be removed manually by the editor.
- Do not use multiple spaces or multiple tabs to line up text.
- Use a single space after punctuation marks (not two).
- Eliminate headers and footers from your files. Pages should not be numbered as they will be reformatted in our page layout program.
- If notes are used, be sure they are formatted as endnotes and not as footnotes.
- Do not place titles, headers, or other text in all uppercase letters.
- Keep paragraphs short—two to three sentences max, in most cases. Paragraphs that seem short on your computer screen can be very long in a three-column journal format.
- Articles should be single–spaced.
Technical Tips on Photo Submissions
Given the current popularity of digital photography, N is happy to accept high-resolution digital images for publication. Approximately half the images that appear in N are submitted digitally, and that number grows with each issue. However, the technical requirements for digital photos are stricter than for traditional slides or prints. In order for a digital image to maintain its quality in print, it’s important that the images contain enough data (resolution).
If you plan to submit digital images, be sure that your camera is set to capture images at a high resolution—at least 2,550 pixels wide. Shoot at the lowest ISO for light condition (as default 400 ISO or less). The higher the number of pixels in the image, the better the resolution and the better the results tend to be in print. Most megapixel digital cameras currently on the market are well-equipped to capture images suitable for print and should be set to fine. Older models (two or three megapixels, or less) are less suited to photographing for print. Sometimes photos are cropped so keep that in mind when shooting and shoot just a bit larger.
Please send your photos in original or RAW format for any images that will appear in print. JPEG files are acceptable only if they are saved at maximum quality with minimal compression. JPEGs optimized for the Web are not acceptable for print.
The preferred method for submitting digital images is via CD. A small number of images may be sent to us via e-mail, but many photos that are of a size and format suitable for print will be too large for e-mail transfer. TNS currently has a 5 MB limit per received e-mail. If the total size of the image or images you are sending exceeds this, please send a disk, or phone for other options. TNS does not currently have an FTP site.
Color slides (transparencies) and color prints are also accepted. Any image submitted should be identified with the photographer’s name and contact information, and the location and subject of the photo. Captions are suggested and can be submitted as a “Key” rather than written on the back of photos. Please do not write directly on the back of prints. Even when dry, ink can transfer to other photos in a stack, or bleed through to the image side. It is safer to write the information on Post-It notes or labels and apply them to the back of prints.
If scanning prints or slides for submission, be sure that the image is scanned at least 300 dpi.
Obtain permission from the subjects in your photos before submitting them for publication. It‘s common courtesy; in some cases it’s the law; and it will save many headaches later for both the photographer and N. Photographers should retain copies of any written photo releases they obtain from the subjects of their photography.
Drawings and other artwork may also be appropriate—check with the N editor before submitting.
Don‘t forget: Include your name and contact information—including daytime phone and e-mail address—with any text or photo submission!
Deadlines
N is released in Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. Text and photos should be submitted six weeks prior to the start of the season to be considered for the upcoming issue.
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