Magazine contributor submission guidelines

Thank you for being so interested Wyoming's in submitting content to Wyoming Wildlife, Wyoming’s monthly natural resource magazine that reaches about 30,000 subscribers. We've compiled these helpful tips before you call or email about submitting stories and photos for publication. Following these guidelines increases our team's likelihood of reviewing and responding to your submissions promptly.

Articles

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Marking 88 years of publication in 2024, Wyoming Wildlife prints as many as 40 feature-length articles a year but receives hundreds of proposals. As a prospective writer, you'll have a better chance of getting published if you follow these guidelines.

• Know the tone. The best way to know whether an article might fit Wyoming Wildlife is to read the magazine. Check out some back issues or become a subscriber; you’ll get a sense of the types of articles we publish and the narrative tone we prefer. (Subscribe today.)
• Show Wyoming pride. With a name like Wyoming Wildlife, you know we’re looking for Wyoming-specific stories. All of the Mountain states are great, but we’re especially proud to be a Wyoming publication. That means each query should highlight what makes your story unique to Wyoming and why it’s a great fit for Wyoming Wildlife. 
• Know what we want. We welcome fresh perspectives and new angles on topics and recreational or wildlife trends. We publish articles that address: wildlife management, topical news about wildlife and conservation projects or issues, species profiles, general interest, how-to, photo essays, habitat issues, wildlife watching, outdoor recreation that involves hunting, fishing, shooting sports, as well as historical and biographical profiles of people and places that make Wyoming great. We occasionally publish first-person essays but never publish poetry, fiction or tributes to friends or family.
• Query first. Please send queries to wyomingwildlife@wyo.gov and include the word “query” in your subject line. A query is a short description of a few sentences about the article you’d like to write and how it affects our readers or why they should care. Include how the Wyoming Game and Fish Department is involved and the sources you’re planning to interview. If we like your ideas, we’ll follow up with you by email. Due to the volume of queries we receive, responding to each one is not always possible. If you’ve piqued our interest, we will contact you.
• No unsolicited manuscripts. Please do not send unsolicited articles by email or mail without querying us first. We cannot acknowledge or return unsolicited articles.
• Plan ahead. Magazine issues are planned months in advance. If you’d like to write a time-sensitive or seasonal article, please give us plenty of time to review your query. For example, if you send us a query about fall fishing in September, we’re likely already working on the December issue. If we like your query but receive it too late to consider it for the issue for which it’s best suited, it might not run until the following year.
• Please be patient. We are a small team, so even if we like your query we many not respond immediately. We may be on deadline for the next issue, or we may need some time to determine whether there’s a future issue for which your proposed article might be a fit.
• Submitting and editing. If we accept your query and ask you to submit a full article, please submit it electronically (a Word document is preferred). Understand that we will edit your article prior to publication and that articles are subject to review by Game and Fish staff when appropriate. Whenever possible, we will work with you to make sure edits are amenable to you.
• Payment. Pay for articles is negotiated on a case-by-case basis based on several factors. Those include but are not limited to: the writer's expertise on the subject matter, the amount of research or interviewing required, the tight deadline (for articles we assign) and the amount of editing/coaching the editor anticipate a writer will require.

If we choose to accept your query, we’ll discuss compensation with you before you agree to write the full article. All new contributors must file with the State of Wyoming for a vendor number prior to being paid. We will instruct you on how to get your paperwork set up once your story is accepted.

Photography

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We're proud to have "Wyoming” in our title, and we're actively building our roster of photographers who shoot in our great state. We work with wildlife photographers in two ways:

• Stock photography: We often find ourselves in need of photographs of specific species in Wyoming places. In most cases we negotiate reuse rights for existing images.

• On-assignment photography: Sometimes, we’ll send a wildlife photographer on assignment to a specific area to capture images of wildlife or people.

If you're interested in either opportunity, please send a link to your online portfolio and note where you’re based to wyomingwildlife@wyo.gov (include “photographer" in the subject line).

Illustrations

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From time to time, there’s a story that’s hard to tell through photographs. We are actively building our roster of illustrators who are well-acquainted with Wyoming’s history, species and landscapes. You need not be previously published, but our team will review your portfolio for mastery of the artistic medium you work in and evidence of a signature style. If interested, send a link to your online portfolio and a note about the media you work in to wyomingwildlife@wyo.gov (include “illustrator” in the subject line).