Writer’s Guidelines

What you should know about our publications before submitting articles.

Baton Rouge Parents Magazine was founded in 1990 on the principle that parenting is an exciting, diverse, challenging, and significant process. The magazine was originally named Baton Rouge Kids: The Magazine for Parents. Two years later, with the June 1992 issue, the name was changed to Baton Rouge Parents Magazine to more accurately reflect our mission statement.

We are proud to have become a trusted resource utilized by parents and businesses throughout the Baton Rouge community. We set out each month to inform, instruct, amuse, and entertain our readers and their families. Our stories center around parenting and family matters. The stories in our magazine range from important issues of parents with infants to those getting ready to send their children off to college. The stories cover all aspects of family life.
Throughout the year, we also incorporate various guides into the publication which help parents make decisions for their families. For example, each January issue includes a private school directory. In every issue, we print useful information, including a monthly calendar of family-oriented events to help make the job of being a parent just a little bit easier.

A second publication, Baton Rouge Baby, was introduced in the fall of 1993. Published twice yearly, Baton Rouge Baby was created as a pregnancy and resource guide for new parents. It targets a highly specific market with news and information. The name has since been changed to Pink & Blue.

Baton Rouge Parents Magazine and Pink + Blue reach more than 50,000 readers. In addition to our ever-growing subscriber base, we also have distribution arrangements through more than 350 locations in Baton Rouge and the surrounding areas including Baker, Denham Springs, Prairieville, Zachary, and Gonzales.

Who Our Writers Are:
Our writers come in all ages, types, and backgrounds. Some make their living as writers; others are professionals who apply their expertise in a particular area to their subject matter. We welcome the input of parents who are living the stories we write. While journalism experience is important, knowing a subject very well and being able to write clearly about it is also beneficial in writing for Baton Rouge Parents Magazine and Pink & Blue.

What to Write About:
We are very open-minded. The basic criteria is this: We want something of interest to parents who are living in the Baton Rouge community. The subject may not always focus on issues relating to their children necessarily, but it must be something that parents are thinking about in their daily lives.

New writers should send us a written query about their article ideas. In your query, tell us who you are and what kind of article you would like to write. We’ll let you know if the idea is right for one of our publications. If your article is already written, submit it to editorial@brparents.com. We’ll respond as soon as possible. However, please be aware that we cannot return every submission due to the volume of articles we receive.

We don’t like fluff pieces. We don’t run articles on people, places, or businesses just because they are there. There should be an idea and facts behind each story. We try to help our readers enjoy and get the most out of their parenting experience while also informing them through our writing.

How to Submit:
Articles can be submitted to editorial@brparents.com in either a Word Document or PDF. When including artwork, all pictures should be a minimum of 300 dpi or at least 1mb for printing purposes.

The Basics of Feature Writing:
A magazine article is different from a newspaper story. Newspaper stories start with the most important facts, are written in short paragraphs with a lot of transitions, and usually can be cut from the bottom up. A magazine article is usually divided into sections. The introductory section, or the lede of a story, is very important. It captures the reader’s interest and sets the tone for the article. Scene setters or anecdotes are often used to draw the reader into the subject matter. The introductory section should end with a sentence or two that serves as the roadmap to let the reader know what the article is about without trying to summarize it–you want to make the reader curious.

Each succeeding section complements the subject and helps build toward evaluations or conclusions that might come in the closing section. Some basic qualities to a great magazine article include: thorough research and reporting, appropriate writing style, and quotes from local parents and/or experts. What separates the very good articles from the adequate articles is the writer’s ability to bring the material together and give it meaning. In many great magazine articles, the writer’s passion for the subject shines through.

Conducting Interviews:

1. Before the interview, learn about who you are interviewing. Research is the backbone of
   your interview. It’s important to have a working knowledge, or at least an idea, of what
   you’re going to be talking about and with who you’re going to be talking to.
2. Brainstorm questions you will like to ask in your interview to use as a framework to guide
   the interview. Also, follow up questions are always helpful. Write more questions than
   you plan to ask. Even if you know the answer to the question, ask it anyway. It’s better to
   have their answers on the record than to assume their responses.
3. Interviews can be conducted via phone or in person. Don’t be afraid to politely approach
   someone in public to set up an interview.
4. Before the interview begins, introduce yourself. Give your name, the purpose of your
   story, and a general time frame for how long the interview may take. Also, be sure to ask
   them for the correct spelling of their name and their title to properly quote them.
5. If you want to record an interview, permission must be granted by the interviewee before
   doing so.
6. If you are meeting someone for an interview, look professional, be polite and respectful,
   and be prepared.
7. After the interview, thank them for their time. Also, if they ask, let them know that they do
   not get prior approval of the article. No one can see the article until it has been
   printed.
   Dos of Feature Writing:
   ● Vary sentence lengths, sentence patterns, and word choices.
   ● Begin your feature with a very good lead.
   ● Include quotations, anecdotes, examples, case histories–devices that keep the audience
   involved.
   ● Back up every assertion with evidence.
   ● Try to write a good draft of your feature before the due date, so that you will be able to
   forget about it for a day or two. Then, re-read it, and eliminate rough spots in a final
   rewrite.
   Don’ts of Feature Writing
   ● Do not give your own opinion.
   ● Do not write in the first person (“I”) unless you are an expert in the field. If you are, you
   must establish that in the article.
   ● Do not write in second person (“you”) unless your feature is a how-to-do-it.
   ● Do not slant your story toward any one conclusion, give balanced coverage.