Writer's Guide

Parent:Wise Austin is an award-winning parenting journal that seeks to inform parents with quality articles depicting some aspect of the parenting journey. We publish articles that are thoughtful and intelligent — not boring or pedantic. Simply put, articles must well researched (we require a list of sources), tightly written, and directed at an audience of parents who want to be educated.

Our focus is Central Texas and, as such, we prefer local writers. Having said that, we will happily publish articles by non-local writers if the topic is important and the writing beautiful.

All articles should be submitted in their entirety — no queries!—via email to Editor@ParentWiseAustin.com. You should receive a response within 60-days (if not, please email us again to ensure that we received your submission).

Please do NOT send us your article via snail mail (snail-mailed submissions will not be read or returned).

Here are the departments for which we accept articles:

Cover Story:

This article is an in–depth piece exploring an item of import to the Central Texas parenting community. Cover stories generally run 2,000 to 2,500 words and contain multiple interviews, facts, statistics and other information to support the premise of the article. Cover stories are assigned months in advance, usually to experienced journalists or other writers with extensive experience in the field being explored. We do NOT accept queries for cover articles from unpublished writers, or from those not already known to us here at the magazine.

Essay:

The essay explores a serious parenting-related topic. Although occasionally funny, the purpose of the essay is not to be humorous, but rather to impart some knowledge you've gained from the parenting experience. NOTE: The May (Mothers' Day) and June (Fathers' Day) issues of the magazine are all-essay. If you would like to submit a mothering- or fathering-specific essay for consideration in one of these issues, please submit your essay from January 1 through March 31. Length: 650-1,000 words.

My Life as a Parent:

This humor article appears monthly. There's no real format for this one—the only criterion is that is MUST make us laugh out loud. If it has to do with parenting and it embarrassed/humiliated/surprised you (or simply made you laugh) send it to us. Before you do, though, PLEASE read past My Life as a Parent articles in the Archive section of our website to get a feel for the kind of story we publish. Remember: the key to getting published is "laugh-out-loud funny"! Length: 550-650 words.

Poetry:

Yes, we occasionally run poetry from local writers — notably in the May (Mothers' Day) and June (Fathers' Day) issues. Poetry should be specific to the Mothers' Day or Fathers' Day issue — in other words, it should discuss motherhood or fatherhood respectively. Maximum number of lines: 24.

Remember: You MUST submit your article via email! Please send your queries and submissions to: Editor@ParentWiseAustin.com

Thank you for wanting to write for Parent:Wise Austin. We look forward to hearing from you!