Table of
Contents:
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Welcome
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The Editorial Process................................................................................... |
2 |
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Content Requirements................................................................................. |
3 |
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Style Guide.............................................................................................. |
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Template................................................................................................. |
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Photo Guidelines & Copyrights........................................................................
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Welcome
Greetings from The Voice magazine's Editorial Team. We have compiled this
document to help you understand our editorial process, style sheets, content
formats, templates and delivery schedules.
We look forward to working with you to spread the truth about the apostolic
reformation.
God bless you!
The Editorial Process
Story Pitches
Story pitches are always welcome at any time during the editorial process for
consideration in an upcoming issue. In each pitch, please include: working
title, justification for including the story in the magazine, a word about the
timeliness of the topic, list of primary sources (if applicable), and a brief
description of the revelations/strategies to be covered.
Accepting Assignments
When pitching a story, we may agree on a deadline together. However, assigned
stories will be distributed with deadlines attached. Please be sure that you can
meet this deadline before accepting the assignment.
A Word about Deadlines
We must receive content from you on the appointed days in order to meet our
deadlines. Of course, you are always welcome to turn your stories in early.
We are on a tight schedule to deliver content to our Art Director for layout and
subsequently to the printer. Deadlines are absolutely critical. If you
anticipate, for any reason, filing your story late, then please contact your
editor immediately. The more forewarning we have, the better our chances to find
a replacement solution.
Rewrites
It may sometimes be necessary for you to complete rewrites to fine-tune the
article for our audience or to offer additional clarity on the subject. Rewrites
must be turned around in 24 hours in order to meet our deadlines, unless
otherwise indicated. However, with solid communication, rewrites should be
minimal.
When articles are sent back to you for rewrites, you'll find questions and
comments in blue inside the file. This will allow you to quickly find areas in
the story that need attention. By the same token, when you make your
changes/additions, please use blue text so that the editor can find them
quickly. Please do not make any additional changes to the non-highlighted text -
add or change only what is specifically required.
Content Requirements
The Voice magazine - Advancing Christian life and
Culture. The magazine's purpose is to provide a platform for
what the Spirit of God is saying about today's Culture and
Christian Life, equipping believers with information,
revelation and inspiration to be this generation's reformers
and change agents.
Our editorial board is pulling on the Spirit of God to bring present day truth
about spiritual warfare, prayer, deliverance, governing churches, evangelism,
team ministry, the believer's authority, marketplace ministry, equipping and
sending believers into the harvest field, and other relevant areas.
Our mandate is to bring readers fresh revelation and prophetic insight into what
the Spirit of God is saying and doing in this generation and around the world.
By offering a balanced perspective and presentation of the apostolic
restoration, our goal is to quench any apprehension among believers who may
already sense the revolution that is taking place in the spirit.
Sources
If your article requires outside sources other than the Bible, such as apostles,
prophets, pastors, believers, etc., then ensure that they understand and are in
agreement with the apostolic reformation. This is not a platform for legalistic
debate, but a platform for the apostolic voice. So, in almost every case, any
writers or interviewees should have a firm grasp on the apostolic.
Do not rely on previously published sources or other web sites for the Stepping
Stones department - or any other department. These sources won't tell us
anything new, and will not make your articles original. If you're successful in
finding the right sources, readers will learn from the examples and anecdotes in
your articles, and will be able to transfer that revelation knowledge directly
to other believers.
Topics
If a topic has been covered somewhere else, let's either find a new angle or a
different topic. Ask yourself if the information you're providing is common
knowledge to most apostolic and prophetic believers, or has been covered at
length already. If not, you're on the right track. We always want to be on the
cutting edge. We want to publish what says the Spirit of God to the Body of
Christ in this time and season; not what He said last year. Every article should
be approached from the apostolic point of view. It should all relate back to the
needs of apostolic and prophetic believers today.
When you're finished writing a piece, ask yourself if the reader will learn
anything new from the article. Your articles should be rich in apostolic and
prophetic truth and/or strategies to help apostolic and prophetic believers
succeed in both life and ministry. In some cases, such as Department articles, a
list of standard questions will be forwarded to you so that we can ensure a
story that is complete. However, these are only the basics and you will also
need to ask whatever else you see fit that might enhance the story.
Additional Guidelines
If specific guidelines are required for a particular department or column, then
your editor will furnish that information along with the assignment outline.
Style Guide
This section contains some basic “dos” and “don'ts” in regard to editorial
style. Please adhere to these requirements when preparing your stories for
submission. Your writing should be compelling, informative, helpful, and
motivational.
DO…
Use 12-point Garamond font.
Insert only one space after a period.
Use block style paragraphs with no indents.
Justify the text.
Use “says”, not “said”, in all quote attributions and identify every person
quoted with their title, ministry and location. (i.e., “…the ministry,” says
Prophet John Doe of Equipping the Saints Ministries in San Diego, Calif.)
Spell out “percent”
instead of using “%.”
Use curly (“, ”), instead of straight
(", "), quotes and apostrophes.
Use a long dash , i.e., - instead of two hyphens, i.e., --, to represent a
dash.
Use a lower case “c” when describing the local church.
Use a capital “C” when discussing the Body at large.
Capitalize Word of God.
Capitalize Body of Christ.
Capitalize Scripture, Scriptural, etc.
Capitalize Bible
Capital the first letters in movements, i.e. Apostolic Movement, Faith
Movement, Pentecostal Movement, Voice of Healing Movement
Put Scriptures in quotations if you are quoting the whole verse literally.
Put period after end of Scripture reference, e.g. “And he gave some, apostles;
and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For
the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of
the Body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:11-12).
Spell out the proper name of the book you are quoting from, e.g. Ephesians
4:11.
If you are quoting Scripture from any translation other than the King James,
then include the translation information after the Chapter and Verse, e.g.
Ephesians 4:11 (NLT).
Please include full name, ministry name and ministry city and state for all
sources in your article. Use journalistic abbreviations for states, i.e. Calif.
or California instead of CA.
Double-check key facts with the source to avoid potentially embarrassing
errors. During the interview - prior to writing the articles - confirm and
reconfirm all name spellings, titles, full ministry names and any other
pertinent information with your sources. At the conclusion of the interview, ask
the source's permission to call back for fact-checking or follow-up questions.
Include a byline on every piece of work you submit that reads as follows: By
XX. Note: Write your name as you would like it to appear in print. Please note:
we do not run ministry titles in the bylines.
Please include a brief bio of you to include at the end of the article. This
should be no longer than 50 words and may be edited to fit content needs.
Always proofread and spell check your work.
Promptly meet your deadlines.
DON'T…
If your article includes interviewed sources, then do not allow your biased
opinion to shine through in your reporting work. (i.e., It's a shame that most
churches don't understand the role of apostles today.) Let your sources do the
talking in non-teaching articles.
Refer to research or expert opinions without citing examples. (i.e., “Studies
show that only 22 percent of Christians today vote - with no reference to any
such study.”) Also, don't offer facts and percentages without attributing them to
the source (i.e., “Forty percent of pastors are close to quitting the ministry.”
-- with no reference as to where that number came from.)
Rely on quotations from other published sources. Your source material must be
the result of original research and firsthand interviews.
Don't use discretionary commas (last comma in a series). Use the following
style when listing items: a, b and c. Use discretionary commas after the third
item: a, b, c, and d.
Leave your punctuation marks outside your quotation marks. Tuck all
punctuation marks inside the quotes.
Replace articles without first checking with the editor. If a story falls
through, which they sometimes do, ensure that your editor knows about it and
approves any replacement article.
Template
We have taken the time to assemble a story template for your convenience. This
documents will help you to better understand exactly how your article should
appear when you file it with your editor. Please follow this template step by
step when compiling the elements of your article.
Headline (describes article)
Subheadline (gives more detail about the crux of the article)
Byline (your name)
Pullquote (Pull out two of the most compelling quotes here)
Example:
An Apostolic Gang
Ex-Gangsters Take the Gospel to the Streets
By Jennifer LeClaire
Pullquote: “We take teams because this work is too big for one man to do it
alone. The bigger the team the more we can do for God.” - Apostle Sonny Lara
Pullquote: “We do not send believers out into the bad neighborhoods until they
are fully equipped because the devil would chew them up and eat them for
breakfast.” - Prophetess Linda Lara
Please submit articles in Microsoft Word format for delivery via e-mail at
editor@thevoicemagazine.com. If you do not have Microsoft Word, then please
paste the article into the message portion of the e-mail.
If you have any questions about these requirements, please address them with
your editor.
Photo Guidelines
Please be sure to request photos from your sources during the interview. If
we can get the photos before the story is completed, that is ideal. Please give
your editor the appropriate contact information so that we can deliver a photo
request form.
Copyrights
In most cases, you will be asked to sign an editorial agreement. Unless the content is a book excerpt or some other previously published work, this agreement gives Spirit of Life Publishing or agents first rights and reprint rights, which include the rights to subsequent use of the material in future issues, compendiums, digital archives, electronic, special editions, promotional materials, and other periodicals we may publish. Spirit of Life retains the exclusive right to decide whether and in what form to publish the material. The agreement releases the above-mentioned content copyrights.
