Art-i-facts submission information for nonprofit Cultural Arts Council members.
Please submit your good quality, high-resolution front and back cover photos, event calendar listings with photos, articles (your feature stories) and advertisements by the submission deadlines to admin@polkarts.org. If you suspect you may need a day or two extra after the deadline to submit your article or photos, please let me know ASAP. Please send what you can by the deadline. You may print or view the deadlines and information on our website anytime, 24 hours/day. The direct link is polkarts.org/art-i-facts. Or, go to polkarts.org and click on the top menu item “Art-i-facts” to go where all of the information is located. Do not expect an email reminder. You may not get one.
FRONT COVER PHOTO SUBMISSIONS – High resolution, quality images of events and/or exhibitions taking place during the issue dates. Images should be at least 8.875 inches wide. This size includes bleeds. Height is not as important, but must be considered. A full size front cover, the height including bleeds should be 11.25 inches. The live area of the front cover is considered to be 8″w x 10.375″h. I receive submissions that would be around 2 inches wide (600 pixels) by 1 inch high (300 pixels). It may look great on your screen, printed on your inkjet or your laser printer, but would look horrible in the magazine. If your file is not at least a couple megabytes or larger in size, then it’s probably too small for the front cover. If you don’t understand the jargon, find a photographer who does understand, and can explain it to you, and why it may be smart to hire a photographer.
PHOTOS – High quality images from your upcoming AND past events to let the public know what you do. We can use events from the recent past to express something coming up. We frequently use these images in the calendar, on the back cover, to accompany your features in the magazine. Photos are important. I know it’s difficult to have a photo of something that hasn’t happened yet, but sometimes you can find something that has already happened that will help your story.
ARTICLES/STORIES/FEATURES – 350 +/- words (fewer words are better and photos are more important). Ideas – Write about a featured artist (visual artist, performer, dancer, musician, etc), a volunteer or group of volunteers, an employee highlight, a grant or award, important news, a timely arts issue, etc. Be creative. Do not use your articles just to regurgitate the details of your upcoming events. Write about someone participating in the event to promote it.
If you must write about an event, exhibition or special program focus on just one, or connect it to something else, maybe a guest artist biography. If you write about more than one subject, please keep items separated and indicate the order of importance. That way items can easily be placed where they belong, prioritized or even cut if there is not enough space. There isn’t always enough space for everything.
No organization is guaranteed a certain size article in the magazine. Every organization doesn’t get a page or a half page,a quarter page, or a two-page spread. Your story could be saved for later too. The only guaranteed space is a paid advertisement.
A high quality large photo with a a short caption or a paragraph is better than 300 words with a very small lousy photo.
Need story suggestions? Ask! Maybe we can help, but not at the last minute. Planning is really important. Put us on distribution for your press releases. If you send your press releases with photos far enough in advance, we can put those in our folder for you for the appropriate upcoming issue. In that case, we are choosing your content completely and it’s not the same as getting that special something you may prefer talking about. Also, we may not know or remember when you have an event cancel or has date changes.
EVENT CALENDAR ITEMS – Keep it short (around 24-36 words), only using more if you must. The general format includes Date(s), Event Title, Time, short description (may be edited or omitted for space), Organization, Venue, City, Website and/or Phone Number. We sometimes omit the phone number if we don’t have the room, and will list your facebook page address if we have the room. Sometimes we move the order around a bit, because of the way it fits in the column. When possible, we include admission or ticket prices. Let us know if the event is FREE, so we can list that too. We have sections in the Event Calendar: Continuing Exhibitions, Recurring Events (monthly, weekly, etc), Theatre Events, and Events (listed under the month).
Typical Event Calendar Examples (old examples):
November 19. ArtEscapes Tour. 8:30am-5pm. Visit Cornell Museum at Rollins College (Winter Park), and the Festival of Trees at Orlando Museum of Art. Fee with lunch: members $65, nonmembers $70. Lake Wales Arts Council. www.lakewalesartscouncil.org.
November 19. Polk County Family Week Free Day: “Healthy Families Enjoy Their Community.” 9am-5:30pm. Enjoy a free day at the Museum with the donation of a non-perishable food item. Explorations V Children’s Museum, Lakeland. www.explorationsv.com; 863-687-3869; www.facebook.com/explorationsv.
November 19. Orchestra Concert. 7pm. Adults $11, Students/Seniors $9. Harrison School for the Arts, Lakeland. 863-499-2855; www.harrisonarts.com.
December 3-20. Black & White & Read All Over. Gallery hours: Mon-Fri, 12:30-4:30pm and one hour prior to all Theatre Winter Haven performances. FREE. Ridge Art Association Gallery, Winter Haven. 863-291-5661; www.ridgeart.org.
MEMBER RATES FOR ADVERTISING – Look at the Ad Rates/Specs/Deadlines for information or print this PDF.
Have questions? Email admin@polkarts.org.