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Editorial Guidelines

Articles for The Western Planner

January 2009

The Western Planning Resources (WPR) organization would like to encourage The Western Planner (WP) subscribers, readers, and others to submit an article for publication in The Western Planner.  The Western Planner is “a journal of information and ideas for planners, their boards and commissions, and their multiple publics, and News of the Network of Western Planners.”

WP is interested in feature articles and/or articles for the Featured Planner, Planning Commissioner’s Corner, and Planner’s Toolbox series.  Feature articles should be articles about successful planning techniques and projects that work or may work in the West, and address the problems Western Planners face.

Following are guidelines for submitting an article to The Western Planner:

Editorial policies for writing an article for The Western Planner.
The guidelines are inclusive rather than exclusive as we encourage planners to assist others by writing about what has been successful for them.  Probably the best first step is to e-mail an abstract of what you are considering writing to WPR Editor Debbie Ehlers at dseconsulting@msn.com.  She will review the abstract and contact you.

Feature Article Format

1.  Article Evaluation Criteria:  Does the article have wide-spread applicability to the West; is it interesting writing; are solutions offered; and does it provide ideas for bringing together planners and their constituents, the public, elected officials, the development community, etc.
2.  The publication schedule is lengthy.  It might be several months from our initial discussions until an article is published.  We publish as quickly as possible, but can’t always publish an article immediately.  We publish feature articles in each issue.  The deadlines are the 10th of February, March, May, June, August, September, November, and December.  We need four weeks prior to each issue to review, edit and get articles to the printer.

3.  WP is planners writing for planners, and we don’t attempt to rewrite the articles to a canned format with a single style.  We prefer the individual style of the author to show through and provide variety and interest to the publication.

4.  One page of text in WP is 750 to 900 words, 900 without graphics.  One page of single-spaced type roughly equals one column, or half a page.  A good length for a feature article is between 1,500 and 2,500 words.  This results in two or three pages of text and with graphics, etc., three or four pages.  Graphics help liven up the text and we encourage you to use them whenever possible.  If the article is longer than 2,500 words, the editor will return the article and request that it be edited to 2,500 words or less.

5.  We also request a short author biography and picture.

6.  Please send a computer disk copy or e-mail the text to <dseconsulting@msn.com>.  Any word processing format is okay, but Word, or other IBM format is preferable.

7.  We send feature articles to the Editorial Board review.  The vast majority of the time this results in minor modifications and the Editor makes final editorial decisions.  Any major changes are reviewed with the author. It does, however, mean a longer time between submission and publication. 

We send the author additional copies of the issue in which his or her article is published.

One-page Column Format - For WP Regular Columns such as the Featured Planner, Planner’s Toolbox, Book Reviews, and Planning Commissioner’s Corner

  • Use a descriptive title.  People often decide from the title whether to read a column or not.  Explain in the title what the column is about.
  • Use subheadings to organize the column.
  • Ideal column length is 750 words with one picture or around 900 words with text only.  If the article is much longer than 900 words, it forces us to a smaller font.  The smaller font is harder to read and doesn’t invite the reader to read the column.
  • Keep it simple.  If you have more than three ideas to express, consider doing more than one column.
  • Please send a CD or e-mail the article to <dseconsulting@msn.com>.  Preferably in Word, Word-Perfect, or another IBM format.

WHAT’S SO GREAT ABOUT YOUR CITY OR STATE ARTICLES

We would like our readers to take pictures and write about communities in the West they have visited and highlight good planning, which has made a difference in the community.  This article can be short, between 200 and 300 words and have at two or three photos.

OP-ED ARTICLE GUIDELINES
In the December 2007 issue of the WP, we have our first OP-Ed article and guidelines for future Op-Ed submissions. 

Please call Editor Debbie Ehlers at 307-234-9442, if you have any questions.  We appreciate your interest in writing for The Western Planner.

For State News Articles
Please bold paragraph headings and the first reference of people’s names.
List phone numbers with dashes (-) instead of slashes (/) or parenthesis.
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