Welcome to elephant. We’re independent media. That means no fat cats own us, we say what we want to say. Rather, we say what you want to say. We can’t pay for you to say what you want to say…but it’s good clips, publicity and karma. Still interested?

Two Options

elephantjournaldotcom is only as relevant and helpful as our local and national community makes it—this is a web site made up of, by and for the community it serves. We therefore welcome contributions from anyone, on anything remotely ‘mindful,’ from anyone at anytime. If you’d like to contribute, you have two options:

1A. Wanna Write an Article or Contribute a Photo/Video Featiure? Query Guidelines:

>> Email a short paragraph with a few details on what you’d like to write about—be sure to include specifics—to us at editorial@elephantjournal.com. We’ll get back to you with a word count and suggested angle. If any part of your work has been published previously, you must inform us in writing—or you legally guarantee our right to publish.
>> Submit your article in standard font & size, as a ‘Word’ attachment (not in text of email itself)
>> Subject bar includes 1) title of work and 2) your name.
>> with brief, fun (1-2 sentences) bio (include email or web address).
>> with any relevant artwork and photo of yourself (emailed as tif, pdf, jpg or png) attached. If you have more than 5 photos to accompany your article, we can include a lovely photo slideshow along with the text.

1B. Tone & Edits

>> Reading elephant before submitting work will help you write to our audience. We do not publish infomercials, advertiorials or glorified press releases. Articles are not a substitute for advertising. Your bio may, however, contain info re: programs, products, web site etc.
>> Write for ele as you would write a letter to your best friend (a personal style, however, doesn’t necessitate that the substance is casually researched). If you like something, be detailed. If you are negative, be fair. Always begin from the ground up: who, what, where, why, when. Keep it accessible—don’t assume knowledge on the reader’s part. Don’t dumb it down—feel free to go in depth—just define and explain as you go, and keep it fun or serious as appropriate.
>> Expect edits. This doesn’t mean that your article isn’t already great—but we may need to tailor your work to our audience and/or to fit our layout, particularly if your submission is on the long side.

1C. Acceptance, Payment & Right (Oh My)

We can’t pay. We do, however, hope that you’ll consider the publication of your work the best publicity money can(’t) buy, a good link/clip for your journalist’s portfolio, a contribution to your community and something to email home about. We may not be able to respond to or publish your work immediately—we have a long line of articles, reviews and features waiting their turn. elephant reserves all rights to anything we publish in any form—but, with permission, we’re usually happy for you to sell your work elsewhere, provided we’re credited and linked to. Please feature your elephant work on your web site, in your portfolio, etc.—the more you feature it in your personal sphere, and email it to friends, the more traction and traffic it will get.

1D: ele:Stylebook: please follow these guidelines, or we’ll send your post back to you.

>> Only one space after a period, not two.
>> M Dashes are “—,” not “- -.”
>> Any number over nine is written numerically (unless the first word in a sentence): nine years, 10 apples.
>> When using commas in list, do not use comma after last item in list, before the “and” or “or.”
>> Italicize long quotes (from scripture, for example) within articles
>> B.K.S. Iyengar not BKS Iyengar; a.m. not am
>> Always italicize and explain first use of foreign (Sanskrit, etc.) word. Exp: “It’s a difficult asana (yoga pose).” Exp: “It’s a difficult asana, or yoga pose.” Exceptions: if in common usage (yoga, karma, Buddha, etc.).
>> Do not put words in all caps for emphasis, please italicize.

2A. Wanna Be a Regular Blogger/Contributor?

If you’d like to become a regular contributor to elephantjournaldotcom, we can show you how to blog directly. You will have to commit to contribute at least one post per week, or four a month, for at least a year.

If that’s too much, you can just email us your query or article and we can post it for you (see 1-1c, above).

Most bloggers stick to one topic-of-interest, such as ecofashion or politics, while occasionally writing on whatever strikes their fancy, whatever they find themselves blabbing excitedly to good friends about. To familiarize yourself with the tone and format of our blogs (they are generally shorter, and more personal than articles), scroll through the first few pages of blogs at elephantjournal.com.

You can blog about anything that falls under “the mindful life”—living a good life that happens to be good for others, and our planet. More specifically (but not limited to), we generally focus on yoga, organics, non new-agey spirituality, active citizenry, sustainability, adventure, conscious consumerism, wellness and the arts. Basically, good blog material is any article and video you find yourself getting emailed by friends, or stumble across on the internet, or any new products that you discover—anything interesting enough to chat about to a friend at a café or bring up over dinner.

If you’re interested in blogging, we ask would-be columnists to email four sample blogs over the course of a month, along with information about what topics you’d like to cover to us at editorial@elephantjournal.com. It takes us time to set you up as a contributor on our site—so you must first commit to post at least one blog per week.

 Some links you may find helpful in writing a blog for the first time, or improving your skills:
http://www.alistapart.com/stories/writebetter/, http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2006/11/how_to_write_a_.html. 

May your writing help elephant to be of benefit!

Heather Mueller, Waylon Lewis et les autres elephants