Bend Magazine brings the people, places and events of Central Oregon to life for visitors and locals through strong stories, great photographs and quality writing. We pride ourselves on being the eyes and ears of this beautiful and popular Oregon destination, delivering its vibrancy in a high-quality publication. Bend Magazine publishes bimonthly and is distributed throughout the region. We love to connect with great writers eager to help us tell the stories of Central Oregon.
Mission: To showcase in high-quality stories and photos the people, places and events that make Central Oregon a dynamic place to live and visit.
Vision: To be the voice and the window into the community, projecting Central Oregon’s diversity, personality, natural beauty and vibrancy. We are the brightest lifestyle publication, set to illuminate the culture, nature, flavors, comforts and adventures of this incredible region.
The Magazine
Articles for Bend Magazine are largely written by freelance writers. We accept story pitches (queries) for departments and features. Your idea has a better chance of being picked up if you tailor it to our magazine style as well as to one of our specific story categories. Please read through back issues of our magazine before pitching to demonstrate your understanding of our publication. See our website for past articles.
Commonly freelance-written categories include:
Explore: A weekend or multi-day getaway
Retreat: A day trip or nearby getaway
Wellness: Health, fitness and positive lifestyle
Pursuits: Athlete profile, event or organization
Heritage: History story or legacy profile
Helping Hands: Local non-profit organizations
Home feature: Luxury or innovative home feature
Maker/Artisan: Profile of a maker
Business feature: A look at a business or trend
Business Interview: entrepreneur Q&A
Palate: Food feature
Restaurant: Profile of a restaurant
Imbibe: Cocktail feature
Artist profile: A Central Oregon artist
Books: Local authors and topics
We also love strong feature ideas about the people, places and events of Central Oregon. Strong features tell a story from a personal point of view, bring to life an experience or adventure, get behind the scenes of a local topic or shed fresh light on a subject.
Queries
Bend Magazine invites freelance writers to submit queries for feature stories and departments. Good queries command attention. Bend Magazine articles are focused, illustrative, upbeat, informative and fresh; queries should reflect that style. The query should also reflect the tone of the proposed article. Queries should be appropriate: political, religious or explicit topics will be deleted.
We prefer standard query structure: A) a paragraph or two describing what the proposed article is about, B) a paragraph telling us why we specifically should run this story and when, C) a paragraph about you, your experience, and why you should write this story for us.
Writers may include up to three story proposals in one query. Queries should not be simply a list of topics. Send queries in email only. Writers should email queries with two writing samples to kim@oregonmedia.com at least six months in advance of the targeted issue.
The editor will make every effort to respond within 30 days of receipt of a query.
Assignments, should they be given, will be detailed in email. We aim to assign stories three to five weeks in advance of deadline, with another three to four weeks slated prior to publication for editing and layout. We pay upon publication. Pay rate varies. Bend Magazine buys first North American serial rights.
Format
Writers should adhere to the following formatting guidelines when submitting an article:
● Article length must approximate the word count as assigned by the editor.
● All articles must be an MS Word file.
● Use double-spacing, black Times New Roman, 12-pt font.
● Italics and bold typefaces are fine where appropriate, but no other format variations should be used.
● Do not use headers or footers.
● Do not include a title page.
● Do not number the pages.
● Include a working title.
● Use only one space between a period and the first word of a new sentence.
● Indent each paragraph 0.5 inch, using indent formatting as opposed to the tab key.
● All other formatting, including color, should be avoided.
● At the end of the article or in an accompanying document, list contact names, websites and phone numbers for persons or businesses mentioned in the article.
● You are responsible for fact checking your own copy. This includes, but is not limited to, people and place names, factual assertions, attributions and all contact information.
● Use more than one source for each story.
● Include fresh quotes from actual people.
Style
Bend Magazine articles are written in a conversational style meant to be easily and enjoyably read. We follow AP Stylebook guidelines.
Submissions
Completed story assignments should be submitted via email. The editor may edit a writer’s work and/or return a submission for revisions, or both. Please send a bio and headshot of yourself, too, so that we can share your story with our readers.
