Making Music Contributor’s Guidelines
Making Music is a different kind of music magazine. Instead of being dedicated to one instrument, to young musicians, or “gearheads,” our magazine is a lifestyle resource for all recreational music makers and music hobbyists, older than 45, regardless of instrument or ability.
Our readers play many different instruments and styles and have diverse abilities—some may be returning to music in their empty nest years, others may be serious and devoted amateur players, while others are picking up a guitar or violin for the first time in their lives. What unites them is a love of sharing music with others, challenging themselves to learn, and making play one of their healthy lifestyle choices.
They are educated, self-motivated, and excited about an activity that has many physical, social, and psychological benefits.
We publish instructional articles, resource spotlights, and product guides. We also publish health news and tips, profiles of amateur musicians, and feature stories that explore the world of music hobbyists. We don’t publish music or book reviews, tablature, or interviews with professional bands and celebrities.
Departments
We want our articles to be inspirational, uplifting, educational, and celebratory—feedback from our readers indicates that they respond to our enthusiasm for music and music making!
We will review unsolicited articles or proposals for the following departments.
- Extended Feature Story/Cover Story (1,300 to 1,500 words)—these focus on groups or organizations that serve amateur musicians, anything from highly visible programs (such as The Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp) to small, localized organizations (such community bands). Our special interest is in articles that link music making to lifelong health and wellness.
- Short Feature Story (700-1,000 words)—Its focus might be on a particular small group of musicians rather than the concept taken as a whole (i.e. a local drum circle or rather than “drum circles” as a topic)
- “Vibes”—In every issue we include an explainer about a health problem that might affect musicians in our demographic (such as playing with arthritis or how to treat a muscle cramp). Again, these are non-technical articles that should include basic prevention or treatment ideas.
- “Destination”—In every issue we include a short review and other information about a music-related destination that might be of interest to our readers when planning a vacation (such as The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame or the Grand Ole Opry).
- “Forte”—These are instructional pieces aimed at beginner or intermediate musicians. They can be either general instruction (“How to Sight Read Music”) or specific to an instrument (“The Skinny on Tuning Drums”). They are fairly basic, short, non-technical pieces. The ideal reader for our “Forte” articles is someone who has played their instrument for about six months to a year, someone who may know the absolute basics and is looking to take his or her hobby to the next level.
We are also interested in good “explainers” that offer information about high-tech concepts (such as MIDI) in layman’s terms.
Tone and Style
When writing a feature story, we need to hear the real, inspirational voices of amateur musicians, not just the facilitators or managers of a group. When speaking to musicians, your journalist’s questions should always touch on why they play, how they got involved in music, what are the benefits to them of making music, and how music fits into their lives.
If you are interested in submitting articles or ideas to us, it will help if you are an amateur musician yourself. The tone of the articles should be more like a lifestyle magazine than a music magazine (more Runner’s World than Guitar World). The articles should be upbeat, positive, and infused with a love of making music and sharing it with the world!
Submitting Articles
Unsolicited material will not be returned. Making Music assumes no responsibility for loss or damage to unsolicited articles, photographs, or art. If accepted, unsolicited manuscripts will be published with byline credit to the writer (writer will be notified). Additional compensation will be considered case-by-case for feature stories only.
Send unsolicited manuscripts as Word attachments or proposals in the body of an e-mail to: afollett@makingmusicmag.com or by snail mail to:
Antoinette Follett, Editor-in-Chief
Making Music
221Walton Street, suite 200
Syracuse NY 13202
Making Music, ISSN (1552-2946), is published six times annually. Making Music is a registered trademark of Bentley-Hall Publishing.
