Writer’s Guidelines
Franciscan Media conducts its publishing ministry with the official ecclesiastical approval of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Cincinnati. We hope you find the information on this site enriching, inspiring, and informative. Enjoy!
St. Anthony Messenger
St. Anthony Messenger, published by Franciscan Media, has been in print since 1893. We seek to promote deeper faith, stronger family life, good citizenship, and greater economic justice—all in the spirit of St. Francis.
The best way to know what we publish is to study several recent issues. Visit our website to read archived issues. The magazine is no longer accepting poetry.
Guidelines for Writing, Preparing, and Submitting an Article
- Query us in advance by e-mail. If a query is accepted, the completed article should normally be submitted within two months of acceptance.
- In your query, state your proposed topic, sources, authorities, and your qualifications to write the article. Fresh sources and interviews with experts or people in the field will be necessary. Seasonal material (Mother’s Day, Lent, Christmas) should be submitted one year in advance.
- We never consider articles submitted simultaneously to other magazines. We do not reprint articles from publications outside of Franciscan Media.
- E-mail submission is required. Please also include your name, address, and phone number. E-mail all queries to MagazineEditors@FranciscanMedia.org.
- Feature articles are 2,000-2,500 words. We also publish shorter pieces as well.
- Our articles are popular and accessible in tone.
- Please allow up to eight weeks for return or purchase of publication rights.
- Payment for articles and fiction is 25 cents per published word. We buy first worldwide serial rights to publish and republish “the work” in any and all forms or formats, including all electronic formats. Authors receive two complimentary copies of published work.
Photography
- Photo support is crucial for articles about a one-of-a-kind event. Our art director is part of the decision to buy an article and will indicate whether photos or illustrations will be needed. For more information, contact our art director at MagazineEditors@FranciscanMedia.org.
- If professional-quality photos already exist on a subject, please supply information on how to obtain them. Otherwise, supply contact information for the subject(s) of the article so that a professional photographer can be engaged.
St. Anthony Messenger Fiction
- Preferred word length for short stories is 2,000 to 2,500 words. Submissions must be e-mailed. Please allow up to six weeks for a response.
- In submitting a short story, please include your name, address, and phone number. E-mail us at MagazineEditors@FranciscanMedia.org.
- We pay 25 cents a word on acceptance for first worldwide serial rights. We do not publish reprints or stories simultaneously submitted to other publications.
- Stories that sound more like essays or monologues with no dialogue or interaction on the part of the characters will not succeed.
- Dialogue should move the story forward and sound real.
