Contributor Guidelines - TRAINS Magazine

TRAINS Magazine depends on its contributors for the majority of photos and words we publish. A typical issue of TRAINS contains about 80 photos and 27,000 words.

Published: Wednesday, July 19, 2006

When sending material, please address it directly to the proper department (for example: "Railroad News"), and provide a stamped, self-addressed envelope of suitable size for its return.

Mail photos to:

TRAINS Magazine
P.O. Box 1612
Waukesha, WI 53187-1612

As time permits, we do review each photo and article submitted.

Manuscript inquiries: editor@trainsmag.com

Photo inquiries: photoeditor@trainsmag.com

Before submitting articles and photographs, please read the following:

ARTICLES

Queries for news stories and feature articles

TRAINS buys news stories and feature articles covering railroading's past and present, including first-person recollections. We do not buy travel stories, poetry, or fiction.

Before submitting a feature-length article, we urge you to send a written inquiry to TRAINS Magazine at: editor@trainsmag.com. Please send a brief paragraph explaining the story, its theme, and highlights. Queries should include a possible headline. No telephone calls, please.

The best way to become familiar with the types of articles we publish is to look at several recent issues.

Rights and payment rates

TRAINS prefers to buy exclusive rights to a manuscript.

We pay upon receipt of a signed author contract. Standard manuscript rates begin at 10 cents per word.

Submitting and returning articles

The preferred format to send articles to TRAINS is via e-mail, with the article sent as an attached Microsoft Word document. Please do not send us computer disks. See below for photos.

Supporting material such as photographs and maps should be sent to us in the mail. Include a stamped, self-addressed envelope so that we may return your material.

We will acknowledge receipt of your material by e-mail (if provided) or postcard. Please allow 90 days for review of the articles you send us. If you'd like it back at any time during review, just e-mail us, and we'll be happy to return it.

Because we try to balance the mix of stories in each month's issue, articles that we buy may not appear in print right away.

TRAINS assumes no responsibility for the return of unsolicited photographs or articles.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Acceptable formats

We do use a select number of digital images, provided they are of sufficient resolution for magazine reproduction (at least 300 dpi, 4x5-inch physical image size, in eps or as a tiff file with lzw compression).

You may upload your images to www.contribute.kalmbach.com. Please choose "Trains" and provide caption and contact data. You will receive a message indicating your images were successfully uploaded.

We cannot use images made from home scanners, and we cannot use images sent to us as jpegs over e-mail.

For other questions about digital image submissions, e-mail us at: photoeditor@trainsmag.com.
We prefer 35mm or medium-format original color transparencies. Color prints can be used but are not preferred. Black and white and color prints should be 5x7 or 8x10 inches in size.

Do not send negatives or duplicate slides.

Review time and return policy

We will acknowledge receipt of your photographs the day they arrive via e-mail (if provided) or postcard. Please allow us sufficient time to review your images.

If you are sending us news photographs, please send them as quickly as possible after the event you photographed.

When submitting slides, please indicate if we may keep them on file for possible future use, or if we should return slides that are not immediately used. TRAINS assumes no responsibility for the return of unsolicited photos or articles.

If you would like your photographs returned, please provide a stamped, self-addressed envelope of suitable size.

We try to return unused images within two months if their return has been requested. Slides kept on file will be returned upon e-mail or written request. Please provide caption data as photos are filed by railroad. The photo files that serve TRAINS are open to other Kalmbach publications, which pay separately for use.

Rights and payment rates

TRAINS pays for the one-time editorial use of a photograph, upon publication.

Standard rates are based on published size of the photo, and vary from $15 to $300. We require Social Security or Federal Taxpayer I.D. numbers from U.S. contributors before we can issue checks for photos or stories.

Captioning photographs

Each slide mount or print must have the photographer's name and address on it.

Slides should have as much information on the mount as possible (location, date, and subject). Expanded information may be included on a separate sheet.

Prints should have all the photographer's name and address on the back, with caption information included on the back or on an attached sheet. Do not type on the print, and do not use rubber cement. Attach caption information to prints with transparent tape or self-adhesive labels, or use an attached sheet.

Sorry, no copies of photos available

Since TRAINS pays for only one-time use of photos, the original slide or negative still belongs to the photographer, so we cannot provide copies of photos that appear in our pages, and our policy prohibits release of addresses of non-commercial contributors. Inquiries will be forwarded for response at the photographers' discretion.