We're delighted that you're interested in working with us at Mammoth Monthly. To assist you in understanding who we are and what we require of our writers, please read the following information carefully.

Our Mission

Mammoth Monthly's mission is to be the premier source of information about the people, outdoor activities and mountain culture of Mammoth Lakes and the surrounding Eastern Sierra.

Mammoth Monthly is a regional lifestyle magazine. Its aim is to be cosmopolitan in viewpoint and of the highest quality journalism, and to reflect the intellectual and cultural vibrancy of the ‘new' Mammoth -- a growing, world-class, four-season resort and ski area. Mammoth Monthly reflects the very special place that is Mammoth: the premier alpine destination for the Southern California market.

In 10 issues a year -- we publish monthly, with combined issues in May/June and September/October -- Mammoth Monthly offers in-depth, intelligent feature coverage of the people, places, trends, news, health and fitness, outdoor sports and activities, arts and events, culture, wilderness and wildlife issues, and natural history of the area. We also publish poetry and other forms of creative writing. Mammoth Monthly attracts the best local writers and photographers, and strives for excellence in editorial, graphic and photographic quality.

Our Readers

Mammoth Monthly is directed to and read by the most affluent, active, educated and sophisticated visitors, locals and second homeowners in Mammoth Lakes. Thirty-eight percent of our readers report household income of more than $80,000; 65 percent have completed college and 28 percent have finished graduate school, and 43 percent hold a professional or managerial position.

More than half of our readers live in the five Southern California counties, Las Vegas and Reno. The magazine is distributed in Southern California by News West, Inc., which also distributes the L.A. Weekly, and Certified Folder Display. We are distributed throughout Mono and Inyo counties; because of the relatively small permanent population and a large tourist base, about half our readers are local.

All our readers rely on the magazine for in-depth, current information on events, outdoor activities, arts and culture, and insight into the people of the area.

Mammoth Monthly readers are engaged and passionate about the magazine.

A 2003 study by the City and Regional Magazine Association showed city and regional magazine readers to be most similar demographically to the readers of Conde Nast Traveler and Architectural Digest. The study used a profiling system called UMPIRE, developed to calculate the best match between unmeasured magazine titles and those measured by MRI (Media Research, Inc.).

Our Editorial Content

Mammoth Monthly is primarily concerned with the people and events that help shape the High Sierra mountain culture experience. Much of this has to do with the outdoors experience. Examples of this include, but certainly are not limited to, alpine and backcountry (cross country) skiing, hiking, mountain biking, road cycling and flyfishing. In addition, the magazine is concerned with natural science, the arts, local history, wildlife and land/resource management.

NOTE: Mammoth Monthly is a lifestyle magazine. As such, it is not political and will not accept polemics or political tracts.

What We Look For

We are looking for well-written magazine stories, not newspaper stories. Newspapers are the natural medium for issue-oriented journalism. Magazines are the natural medium for people-oriented journalism. This does not mean we cannot examine issues. But when we examine issues, we prefer to examine them through the lens of the human experience. In this regard, the range of subjects is only limited to the number of interesting human experiences, or adventures, that apply to the Mammoth mountain culture. In other words, it is unlimited.

Features

Feature stories are 1,000 to 3,000 words, plus sidebars, photographs, charts, boxes or whatever else is needed in the presentation. Types of features we look for are:
In-depth adventure stories

Profiles of people of substance

In-depth stories dealing with specific events, such as the Jazz Jubilee, Opening Day (ski season), the Sierra Summer Festival, the Banff Mountain Film Festival, etc.
Service journalism: Where to go, how to find it, things to do, etc.

Departments

Stories in the departments typically are 350-750 words. These include "Big Science," wildlife fauna and flora, the arts and fitness.

Where to Start

Before pitching a story to us, be sure to read a sample of the articles in the magazine, or the articles posted on our website so you can shape your pitches to our content needs.

Submission Guidelines

Submit queries only, not finished stories, by email or by snail mail. Full-length, printed manuscripts are very much discouraged.

Queries should describe the topic clearly.

Mammoth Monthly requires a signed contract before an article will be published.

Contact Us

Please send queries in writing via e-mail to George Shirk, Editor-in-Chief, at george@mammothmonthly.com or via snail mail to P.O. Box 1606, Mammoth Lakes, CA, 93546.

Allow a minimum of eight weeks for a response.

Mammoth Monthly, LLC assumes no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts, photos, graphic art or content of any kind.

If You Receive an Assignment...

You will receive a contract and letter or e-mail outlining the terms of your assignment, along with any other materials that you might need in writing your article. Please sign the contract and return it to George Shirk as soon as possible.

Before you begin working on your article, read through the following guidelines carefully:
Read the magazine thoroughly.

Hit the agreed-upon deadline. Stories filed late may be spiked.

DO NOT, under any circumstances, send your article, or any part of it, to the individual you are writing about.

All articles should be in the third person and past tense (newspaper style) unless otherwise discussed with the editor in charge of the assignment.

Always include ages of all subjects in your article.

At the time you interview a subject, ask if photographs of that person or event exist. If there are existing transparencies or photographs available, we can scan them to their proper digital weight. If taking your own digital pictures, we will accept only 300 dpi (minimum) files. JPEG files from the web (72 dpi, typically) are much too small for publication purposes.

Include contact names, addresses, phone numbers and/or email addresses and web sites for all sources used in the article, if possible. This is for our own factchecking. Please re-read, proofread and
proofread again before submitting your article. You should also factcheck with your sources: Double check spellings of names, companies, home towns and any other factual information used in the article. You should not factcheck quotes; just check hard facts.

We encourage our writers to make themselves the authority on a given topic, without talking down to readers or patronizing them. We want you to sound experienced, so you can point our readers in the right direction. To this end, you should almost always -- unless otherwise specified -- talk to experts who can comment on an issue or personality, trend or idea; this lends credibility to articles.

Use your best judgment when talking to experts. If one expert doesn't answer your questions satisfactorily or if you question their advice, find another expert to interview. Make sure your sources -- expert or otherwise -- know upfront that being interviewed does not guarantee they will appear in the article.

Provide a brief, personal bio (along with a publishable e-mail address and Web site URL, if you wish) for inclusion in the magazine.

All articles should be Microsoft Word documents with no formatting.

They should be Times New Roman 12-point and should follow standard rules of paragraphing and punctuation.

Our guide for all style questions is "The Chicago Manual of Style." For Web contributions on MammothLocal.com, our guide is "The Associated Press Stylebook."

Keep backup material and interview tapes or files for one year from publication date.

Acceptance, Rights & Payment

Mammoth Monthly LLC buys first worldwide and North American rights, as well as all electronic rights, and pays on publication. Please e-mail, mail or fax an invoice with your article. Include a description of the article, your Social Security number, address, email address, phone number and date of invoice. The invoice should be numbered (the numbering system is up to you). We use those numbers to track your payment.

Articles are usually read within two weeks of submission. George Shirk will contact you if any major revisions are needed.

Finally, if you have questions at any point during the writing process, feel free to contact George Shirk.