Calling All Freelancers!
Whole Life Times, a bimonthly magazine serving the worldwide holistic community, relies almost entirely on freelancers to fill its pages every month. We have only a few regulars, so the field is wide open. We depend on freelancers like you.
What Kinds of Stories Do You Publish?
We are a holistic publication. Webster‘s defines holistic as: “Relating to, or concerned with, wholes or complete systems rather than with the analysis of, treatment of, or dissection into parts.” In other words, we believe every aspect of life affects every other part.
We are open to stories on holistic and integrative health, alternative healing, green living, sustainability and organic food, yoga, spirituality and personal growth, social responsibility, conscious business, the environment—in short, anything that deals with a progressive, healthy lifestyle. Since we favor a holistic approach, often a story will fall into two categories. For example, a story about toxins in the environment would be interesting from both environmental and health perspectives. Or a story about non-pharmaceutical ways to address stress might reflect the physical manifestations of that state of mind. We strive to provide leading-edge editorial that is not only entertaining, but also directly usable by our readers—information that mainstream media glosses over or doesn’t recognize.
WLT’s focus is local—issues, events and people in Southern California—so for subjects with broader application, it’s important to include a local angle and/or sources.
Please browse our archives at WholeLifeTimes.com to get a sense of our style and focus.
Queries
We accept queries only via email. If you have not written for us before, please be sure to include a brief bio and links to up to three published clips. Alternatively, you may submit a completed manuscript. If your story addresses the categories described above, your treatment of the issue, timeliness and the quality of your writing are the main keys to getting published.
General tip: Keep in mind that WLT readers are more sophisticated than the average reader when it comes to holistic living: sustainable lifestyle, health, personal growth, social responsibility, new spirituality and metaphysics. We prefer thoughtful, well-researched articles with an informed, contemporary tone. We favor a narrative approach in which storytelling is emphasized. We welcome in-depth reports and personal interviews, but outside of BackWords we rarely publish personal essays. We ask for reference links and source contacts for fact verification on all stories. Queries may be sent via e-mail to editor@wholelifemagazine.com.
Manuscript Format
Submissions should be double-spaced in AP style as an attached, unformatted MS Word file (.docx). If you do not have Microsoft Word and must email in another program, please also copy and paste your story in the message section of your email.
Please suggest a hed and dek for your story.
Original photos and illustrations are welcome and may be submitted along with your article for consideration. If you are sending large images, please use Dropbox or similar.
Please include a one-sentence credit line to accompany your story. If you do not include it, the story will run with your byline only.
Notification of Acceptance or Rejection
Ah, the life of an editor—deadlines, deadlines and more deadlines! Every time we look up from our computers, it seems there’s another deadline to meet. We try to respond to queries in a timely manner, but don’t claim to set any speed records.
If we do not immediately accept or reject your story or query, we may set it aside for a rainy day. If you are uncomfortable with ambiguity or are in a hurry because you want to submit it to other publications, be sure to make note of it on your submission. If we do not respond to you in a timely manner, please feel free to gently remind us.
Deadlines
We accept submissions at any time. If you would like your submission to be considered for a specific issue, we should have it in hand two to four months before the issue of publication.
Rates
WLT accepts up to three longer stories (800–1000 words) per issue, for which pay ranges from $75–150 depending on topic, research required and writer experience.
In addition, we have a number of regular departments that pay $35–125 depending on topic, research required and writer experience.
City of Angels is our FOB section featuring short, newsy blurbs on our coverage topics, generally in the context of Los Angeles. These are generally 300–400 words and pay $25-35 depending on length and topic. This is a great section for writers who are new to us.
BackWords is a 750-word personal essay that often highlights a seminal moment or event in the life of the writer and pays $100.
In the event that the magazine decides not to publish your assigned story, a kill fee of 50 percent of the original fee is offered. However, no kill fee is offered for unsolicited submissions or if this is your first assignment with us; you are free to publish the work elsewhere.
If we do print your work, we customarily pay within 30 days of publication. We pay by invoice, so please be sure to submit one, and name the file with your name.
We ask for one-time print rights and non-exclusive perpetual web publishing rights.
Thank you for your interest in Whole Life Times, voice of the Los Angeles holistic community for 38 years.