Submissions
American Angler Submission Guidelines
Feature Stories
Submit something we haven’t seen or read before. Be creative. Don’t give us something we can easily find online. Make it a “must-read” for the American Angler audience—think, “value added.”
Consider the story you want to write and decide if there’s a deeper element. We don’t want to read about how a fish fought really hard, and when it jumped it “blackened the sky (really, blackened the sky?)” and in doing so somehow saved your life. But, perhaps, there’s an opportunity to tell a guide or lodge owner’s story, or to detail the logistics of running a lodge, or tell about a fight to save a fishery, or impending struggles for a fishery . . . all within the context of fishing a certain area or for a particular species. Think deeper than catching a fish. Doesn’t have to be lodge-based and doesn’t have to be foreign and exotic. Domestic/Canada is welcomed and actually preferred. But, we’ll never rule out a good story, no matter where it takes place.
When writing, avoid cliches. Read your material out loud before submitting. If you lose your breath in the middle of a sentence, get out the carving knife and whittle. Avoid excessive use of adjectives. Be real, hone, and use sources to back up your material when needed. True journalism has a reserved parking spot on our desks.
Departments
Headwaters—A series of short pieces (500 to 800 words) reaching deep all aspects of our sport.
Art: The lives and works of our best sculptures, print-makers, painters, musicians and general creative types. (600 to 1,000 words)
New Media and Projects: Upcoming, current, or past book, video, music and online projects. (300 to 500 words)
Local Knowledge: You can’t know everything unless you live there and fish there. We seek the most knowledgable guides and independent anglers and detail their lives and the waters they fish. (700 to 1,000 words)
Eats & Drinks: Guide lunches. Chef and bartender profiles. The drinks that keep us going, on and off the water. The restaurants and bars we fly fishers call institutions, meaning the places we eat and drink when we are on our trips. The meals we make from fish and game at home, and carry to the water later. (600 to 1,000 words)
Conservation: If we don’t have water and fish, we have nothing. We detail the most pertinent conservation issues, ranging from Bristol Bay to the Everglades and beyond. These can be short pieces, in the 500 to 800 word category, or lengthier if needed.
DIY and Adventure: We celebrate the resourceful angler who finds freedom and a sense of accomplishment by doing it alone. (700 to 1,000 words)
Profile: From the quirky to the contemporary, from industry icons to common, hard-core anglers, from traditional conservationists to monkey-wrenchers . . . if these people have a story to tell we’re the ones to do it. (800 to 1,000 words)
Style: The gear and accessories that anglers want . . . and sometimes need. (600 to 1,000 words)
Fish Dog: In a single image and 500 words, we celebrate our canine companions and the humor they often bring to day on the water.
Guide Flies: We profile the lives of contemporary tiers and their most innovative patterns. (600 to 800 words)
Personal History: We all have a story to tell and stories that come from the water are just better than most. (500 to 800 words)
Destination: Going solo or lodge-based and fully guided, we detail the best modern trips. (800 to 1,000 words)
Top Run: Reflections from the world’s most famous flats, runs and pools. (500 to 800 words)
The Interview: We ask and they answer, whether they feel comfortable doing so or not. Either way, our readers get a window into the lives of the most influential people in our sport. Don’t rule out interviewing the opposition, also. (800 to 1,500 words)
Send queries or completed manuscripts to the editor at [email protected]
Send image support via We Transfer (free), wetransfer.com
