Criteria for written submissions to NZ Author magazine

Article should be either 600 or 1200 words or thereabouts (one or two pages in The Author respectively), depending on how much space you require to do justice to your chosen theme.

Please read a few issues of The Author prior to making a submission, and it is always helpful if you are able to pitch your idea to the editor in advance.

As you will see from reading the magazine, it predominantly features pieces of practical benefit to other writers. We’re particularly interested in areas that haven’t been covered before (or at least not recently) in The Author and it’s helpful if you can show that you’re able to write from experience of your suggested field.

We’re much less interested in reviews, memoirs, purely humorous pieces or articles that don’t contain lessons learned or practical advice for other writers.

Submissions should be sent as emailed attachements (Microsoft Word, RTF file, plain text or in the body of an email). If you are using MS Word, please check that you are using New Zealand spelling and do not use any double-spaces. Paragraphs should use single paragraph breaks, like this document, not ‘soft’ returns.

We like our writers to make suggestions for their headline; standfirst; crossheads; pull quotes/breakout boxes; sidebars, and other ‘entry points’ into their articles.

Finally, it’s hugely helpful if you are able provide an illustration, an author photograph, book jacket jpeg—or, at least, suggestions for one of these. All supplied images need to be print-quality, high-resolution (300dpi); preferably in .jpeg or .tiff format.