Grammar and Spelling

Articles for submission must be previously unpublished and well-written, and we encourage grace as well as clarity. It is important that papers be copy-edited carefully before submission; however, our editorial team will give each article a thorough copy edit for grammar, spelling, formatting, style, and more. The process is expedited when authors make an effort to proofread and apply proper grammar and spelling to article drafts.

Word Count

We don't worry too much about word count, and neither should you. If having a word count helps you structure your writing, here are a few guidelines:

500-800 words: Around 500 words might be all you need to announce a product/book release, a festival/fair, relative event, or share other timely news.

800-1,000 words: For reference, a 1-2 page print magazine article is usually around 800 words (1 page without images, 2 pages if it includes several images and/or screenshots). This is a good range for a spotlight on a product/book, event or artist. Consider adding a sub-head or two to break up the text and walk readers through sections of the article.

1,000-1,300 words: Featured articles go a little more in-depth and tend to be longer than a spotlight on an artist or product. (i.e. interviews and exclusive product reviews and events)

Formatting

Subheads: If your article is longer than 500 words, consider adding subheads to break up the text and make your article easier to read. Use <h2> and/or <h3> headers. If your article is longer than 1,300 words, we might consider breaking the article into a longer series.

Interviews: Use bold formatting for the interviewer and interviewee's names. You can spell out each name for the introduction, and then use capitalized initials for the remaining interview. (see example below)

Marina J: Hey Dawn, how are you doing?

Dawn Michelle Hardy: I’m doing well. How about yourself?

MJ: I’m great, thanks for asking! Let’s jump straight into this and I’ll try to breeze through it for you.

DMH: No problem.

Inline formatting: We allow italics and bolding, but please use these sparingly. If using dashes (--like these or mdash characters —like this), please be consistent.

Images

If you would like to suggest a lead image to be used instead, please let us know. If the editors agree that the image is a good fit, they'll also need image credits and licensing details.

Inline images: Inline images and screenshots add visual interest, may help to illustrate your article, and break up the text. If you include images, be sure that they match the license being used for your article, or that you let us know what the license is, and that you otherwise have appropriate permission to share them on our site.

• Credits: Please include image credits and license details when you submit your draft and images.

• Format: Please submit images as files, attached to your email. Images should not be placed inside the draft because our editors cannot extract them.

• Size: We strongly encourage you to sample your images within your written work before submitting them to ensure they appear as you expect and text is legible. If you need to include a larger image, create a thumbnail and link it to a larger version of the image.

• Label images: Label images so editors can easily tell which image should be used within an article (e.g., desktopspace.png).

• Add captions (if applicable): Be sure to reference within your article text where your image should go and what the caption should read. (e.g., [desktopspace.png] Caption: This is a screenshot of my desktop space.)

Style

Our editorial team does not require many specifics, but we do strive for correctness and consistency. Here are our main uses:

• serial commas (i.e. cat, dog, and mouse)

• write out numbers below 10 (i.e. nine, eight, and seven)

• format dates as December 1, 2014 (not December 1st, 2014)

• place periods and commas inside quotation marks

• Write out JESSMOBOOKS in all caps and Digital Magazine in sentence case.

Promoting

Thank you for contributing to the JESSMOBOOKS Digital Magazine community! Now comes the fun part of letting the world know about your latest contribution. Promoting your articles on social media is a great way to raise awareness of your work and build your reputation as a writer and a contributor for a magazine. You can promote it on your personal account(s), share and retweet it from our social media handles as well.

Like / Follow us on Facebook Follow us on Instagram Follow us on Twitter

Sharing your article on your personal and/or professional Facebook, Google+, and LinkedIn accounts is also a good idea.