Submissions

Editorial description & audience

Perdido is a magazine devoted to examining organizational life in all its forms. "Leadership with a Conscience" means that we are concerned with what is happening in organizations that are mission-oriented—as opposed to merely profit-oriented. Perdido is focused on helping conscientious leaders put innovative ideas into practice. A common thread is the questioning of easy answers and examining issues from a socially-aware, progressive perspective.

The readership of Perdido is comprised mainly of CEOs, executive directors, vice presidents, and program directors of nonprofit and for-profit organizations. We try to make the content accessible to all decision-makers, whether in the business or nonprofit sector, government, or academia. Perdido actively pursues diverse opinions and authors from different fields.

Writer’s guidelines

In general, follow Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual guidelines. Format is loose. Perdido is interested in writers with a definite voice. Humor, opinion, and innovative insights into management, leadership, and organizational issues are sought-after qualities in writers. Articles that integrate new ideas with practical applications, or that use stories and anecdotes to put these ideas into a useful context for readers, are most desired.

The lead, as every good writer knows, is critical to the success of your article. Any article submitted to Perdido must possess a strong (i.e., humorous, compelling, shocking, thought-provoking, perplexing, enigmatic) lead.

In terms of writing style, Perdido favors clear, concise, active writing that tries to entertain the reader. Jargon, unnecessarily big words, passive constructions, and italicized, foreign phrases like zeitgeist or mise en scène (unless used ironically) are heartily discouraged. Journal articles belong in journals and research papers belong wherever it is they are published. Dry, excessively technical, or just plain dull articles will be handled with steel tongs and placed in the appropriate receptacle. Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style and William Zinnser’s On Writing Well are excellent guides to the kind of engaging, accessible prose we strive for at Perdido.

Offensive speech…

is a particular no-no for Perdido in that many of our readers work in human services. Sexist, bigoted, and stereotypical language is obviously not welcome—nor  is speech that is offensive or insensitive to minority groups and people with disabilities. The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association is a good reference for using inclusive language.

Queries and submissions…

We accept queries with published clips for feature articles. If you are interested in writing a book review, please send a sample book review (published or unpublished) and your resume. We usually respond within a week to queries and submitted manuscripts. Articles should be submitted via mail or e-mail. If an article is accepted for publication, you will be required to provide a digital file.

Deadlines…

Perdido is published quarterly—Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall. Deadline for copy, photographs, and artwork is 45 days prior to the publication date, i.e.; Winter: Nov. 15; Spring: Feb. 15; Summer: May 15; Fall: Aug. 15.

Articles and queries should be directed to: Mary Rundell-Holmes, Editor, Perdido Magazine, 3650 W. 183rd St., Homewood, IL 60430.

Departments…

Fast Foreword

This one-page (500-750 words) column is written by our editor-in-chief, Art Dykstra.

Points of Interest/Voices Carry

News items/quotes, culled from a variety of sources by Perdido editorial staff.

Book Reviews

Perdido features two book reviews per issue. They run between 650 and 850 words. The review must cover a new or recently-published book important to the fields of management, leadership, business, technology, trends, self-improvement, or psychology. Usually, this a book we want to recommend to our readers. However, if a book warrants a negative review, and is considered by some to be an important title, we will publish the review.

Rewind

A companion to Fast Foreword, Rewind is usually on the last page or two pages of the magazine and is similar in form to Fast Foreword. It is written by Perdido staff.

Features

These 1500- to 3000-word articles cover a wide variety of leadership topics. Profiles, interviews, stories, analyses and case studies about organizations, programs, and individuals in a variety of fields are all acceptable. The article must relate in some way to issues of leadership, management, human resources, current events that impact organizational life, technology as it applies to the workplace, and/or industrial psychology. Current trends in management, new ways of doing things, new concepts and new models are of primary interest to our readers.

Pay rates for submissions…

Features articles are paid, upon publication, at the rate of between $0.05 and $0.07 per word, depending on their location in the issue. Book reviews are paid a flat rate of $75.00 upon publication.

E-mail us at editor1@hightidepress.com to request a sample issue.