The best way to get acquainted with who we are is to read several issues of the magazine and visit our website. They are different, so you really need to do both. Copies should be available at most bookstores in the state, Walmart, and your local library. We welcome contributions from photographers and writers, and either one can spark major features.
OUR MISSION
Missouri Life Media includes our magazine, MissouriLife.com, Missouri Lifelines, our e-newsletter, Missouri eLife, our digital edition, our Facebook and Twitter accounts, and our Show-Me Steal discounted shopping offer. But all of our products share the same passion to celebrate and explore Missouri and its diverse people and places, past, and present. We emphasize heritage, travel opportunities for weekend getaways and day-trips, and interesting topics, people, and events that make Missouri a great place to live, work, and visit.
FEATURES
Travel: These features are in every issue. We like road trips, single destinations, adventures, and mild adventures. If you can surprise us with something we’ve not done or don’t know about, even better.
Heritage: Our features about aspects of Missouri’s history bring the people and events of the past alive for our readers. History that has a destination or associated road trip are perfect.
Roundups: We select a subject, such as Romantic Getaways or the Amish in Missouri or springs in Missouri, and present a general overview of the topic. A guide to Amish communities and stores (roundup) open to the public accompanied the Amish story. In the springs story we listed the largest ten springs accessible to the public with relevant information about location, facilities, and special features.
Miscellaneous: We’re interested in just about anything that makes our readers say, “I didn’t know that.” Past miscellaneous stories have featured a boys’ ranch and wild orchids in Missouri. Again, travel opportunities are important.
REGULAR DEPARTMENTS
See our regular departments in these these two past sample issues:
We use short items for our Zest department, our Made in Missouri pages, and our restaurant recommendations. We plan almost a year ahead for some departments. If you can provide a photograph, either that you have taken or one supplied by the subject, that can make a difference. We are also interested in ideas for Show-Me Showcases, a little bit of a longer story. Shorter items are a good way to begin with us. You can get a sense of word counts by looking at these issues, as well
SENDING YOUR IDEAS AND WHAT TO EXPECT
Send your ideas by email to info@missourilife.com.
We are a very small crew, with only two of us reviewing queries. Please be patient in awaiting a response. We save ideas we’re interested in, but as we consolidate planning once about every four months, this is a lengthy process for us. We usually let you know immediately if it’s an instant “no” for any variety of reasons.
If we assign you a story, we ask for “work for hire” rights. If you bring us the story, we ask for a non-exclusive but unlimited copyright (meaning you still own and can re-use but we can use on web, etc. as well.) We pay $50 for shorter items and negotiated rates above that.
