Writers' Guidelines
Who We Are
The Dollar Stretcher is a group of publications dedicated to "Living Better...for Less". The goal is to provide readers with ways to help them save time and money. Occasionally we will also include material on ways to make money at home. The monthly print version of the newsletter made it's debut in Jan. '98 and follows in the footsteps of an online newsletter (current circulation 120,000) and web site created in the April, 1996.
Compensation
Monthly Print Version. Payment is at the rate of $0.10 per published word. Payment is made at the time of acceptance and will be sent to the address provided. Payment will be by check in US$. At present we are only able to pay for material that appears in the monthly hardcopy version of the newsletter.
Online Version & Website. At this time we are unable to pay for material that's used in the online newsletter and website. However, it can provide an excellent opportunity to showcase your talents. We do have a large audience and send out press releases to newspapers, radio, TV and online media regularly. Recently the site has been mentioned in The Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, Yahoo! Internet Life and other publications. Our authors have been contacted by various media outlets. It's also an excellent way to let our readers know about your website, business venture or book.
Rights
Monthly Print Version. We are purchasing all rights. Acceptance will allow us to use your article in any or all of our publications or to make it available to other publications.
Online Version & Website We are obtaining the one time rights to include a story in the online newsletter and website. No further rights are implied. Any inquiries on usage are referred back to the author. In some cases we'll negotiate permanent online or print rights.
Writer's Qualifications
You need not be a professional in the area being discussed. But you must be knowledgeable. Knowledge is more important than literary skill. Personal, hands-on, experience is valued. Unpublished authors are welcome.
Article Legnth
We are interested in articles up to 800 words in legnth. The majority of articles that will be used will be in the 500 to 700 word range.
Type of Material Used
- how to articles based on personal or professional experience
- time and space saving techniques
- creative ways to save on food, housing, auto and clothing
- stage-of-life material for babies, children, teens, college students, singles, couples, the divorced, single parents, empty nesters and retirees.
- Material targeting different levels of experience with frugal living is welcome. We are looking for articles for the newcomer as well as the experienced tightwad.
- Material on dealing with non-frugal partner, children or significant others
Interviews
We are also interested in interviews with people who have successfully found ways to save time and money. An emphasis is put on those who have found new and creative ways to accomplish the frugal lifestyle and who can share ideas that can be imitated by our readers.
Your Article
The article should be submitted either in the body of an email or as an attachment in ASCII text file format or Word .doc format. If you're mailing your submission please include a CD or 3.5" diskette with the article. Our typist is too busy already! Please make sure that your email and postal addresses, as well as your daytime phone number, are included in the email or on the disk label. Please include a brief one or two sentence bio statement with your text, and any title suggestions that you may have. If your article includes resources, please make sure that you provide the necessary addresses and phone numbers. And that they are correct! Please make sure that your lead 'hooks' the reader. In a newsletter dedicated to saving time and money our readers are very quick to skip to the next article.
How to Submit
- email to editor@stretcher.com. Please indicate hardcopy or online submission in the subject of the email. We need to know whether you expect payment for the article. Neither one of us would be happy if your work was used without payment!
- by mail to The Dollar Stretcher, PO Box 14160, Bradenton FL 34280.
A Final Note
As you would expect, the monthly print version has limited space. We can be much more generous in the online and web versions. Since the online version is a weekly, we'll use about 7 times more material online than in the print version. But, remember that we're not able to pay for that material except to get your work displayed before a sizeable audience. Please mark your submission "Print Version" or "Online Version". If a submission is not marked we will need to go back to you before we can begin to review it.
