PITCH US.

Here’s our contributor guide.

Contributor hours: Thursdays 6-8. 1028 Weber in the back.

Who are we?

The CCOJ is an environment and outdoors magazine centering on the experiences of CC students, alumni, faculty, and more. The publication is meant to highlight every corner of outdoor and environmental life – especially areas that have been traditionally underrepresented. That means next to an article about first alpine ski descents of famous peaks, you’ll also read about backyard botany or women in the rafting industry. Our stories center on themes that challenge the status quo and reach deeper than a play-by-play of expeditions.

Our Mission Statement.

Here, the word “adventurer” is meant to encompass a wide breadth of students, alumni, athletes, activists and more. The CCOJ is for casual evening strollers, backyard botanists, ski fanatics, and more – from novice to expert. It is a publication for anyone who loves being outside.

Key Values.

We strive for inclusivity and antiracism in everything we do. If mistakes are made, we hold ourselves accountable, apologize, and change our actions moving forward.
The outdoors is not a monolith and neither are the people who interact with the natural world.
As a student publication we hold ourselves to the same editorial standard of legacy publications while still creating a place for learning and growth for first-time writers, artists, and photographers.

Voice.

Stories should be told using strong narrative and style. Timely, news-worthy topics should be contextualized with greater consequence. Stories about expeditions etc. should have a(n) underlying theme(s) that the author explores. Your storytelling (even visuals) should be narratively driven and written in a close, familiar, casual voice which the reader can relate to.

Core Content Types.

Quick Reads: Short 400-600 word pieces that explore an engaging tidbit of the outdoor experience. Some examples from our website are pooping outside and embracing “The Casual Send,” or from the print edition: “Field Notes: A Love Letter to the Imperfect Expedition Journal,” (page 9) and “Climbing Giants” (page 10).

Essays: 800 + word pieces that might detail a longer expedition and/or sentiments around certain practices, communities, etc. outside. See I Have No Checklists as an online example or in print “But I Love My Girlfriend!” (page 42) and “The Many Ways of Returning,” (page 56).

Gear Reviews: 600 - 1,400 word pieces reviewing gear (and we use the word “gear” loosely), places, and/or places to get gear. Think affordable, creative, and quirky. Maybe you have a favorite pan to use for cooking outdoors from Walmart. Maybe you want to go nuts at a thrift store and see if you can pull together enough for a backpacking trip. Tell us about it!

Photography: We look for photo essays that convey a clear storyline and resonate with the values of the Outdoor Journal. Singular, high-quality photos are accepted for print.

Art: We look for art that is of high visual caliber and shows the unique personality and style of the artist. We aim to highlight a variety of artistic voices and mediums. Art in the CCOJ is work that the artist has spent time on and put their heart into.

General: These guidelines are flexible(ish). If your idea doesn’t necessarily fit the above, that’s okay, we are happy to do some brainstorming with you. Just ask yourself why does this matter? And why would someone else care?

Pitching. (applies to photography and art too).

If you’re hoping to contribute to the CCOJ, please reach out and say hello. If you have a story idea in mind, please send us a “pitch” as outlined below. If you don’t have a story idea yet, no worries! Come to contributor hours to brainstorm with us.

We only accept work from current CC students, alumni, faculty, or staff.

What should be in your initial pitch email:

1-2 sentences about yourself. Link to some previous work if you have it (but not required at all).
A short synopsis of your topic. 200 - 400 words. Keep it focused and provide any source names, links, etc. that could be useful. A draft article title and/or subhead is also great to include.
What style of story is this? (i.e. personal essay, reported narrative or profile, interview, product review etc. photo essay, art, something else?)
Approx. word count?
Make sure to answer the following:
- What’s the subject?
- Why is it a good fit for the CCOJ?
- Use the pitch to show us how you write!
  - Or attach sample works of other mediums.
Email to ccoutdoorjournal@gmail.com

If your pitch is approved:

You’ll work with the EICs to come up with a draft deadline.
Written work will be submitted via a Google Doc to ccoutdoorjournal@gmail.com
You’ll likely go through 2-4 rounds of edits with the EICs. Please do not start resolving edits until the editors reach out and tell you to review the piece!
Once the piece has been edited, it’ll be put online or in print! Celebrate!
Submit any images in a shared Google Photos folder to ccoutdoorjournal@gmail.com when you share your first draft. Please name all photos LASTNAME_ArticleTopics_CCOJYEAR. Also please provide captions and image credits for everything that you provide.
If you are submitting a photo essay, the photo editors will reach out about submitting photos via WeTranser.
If you are submitting artwork, our art director will reach out to you and give you more details on how to do that.

Style Guide:

Time is styled 00:00 AM/PM (Ex: We hit the trailhead at 5:00 AM)
Em dash: it doesn’t need a space on either side
Directions: Compass directions are lowercase. So, if you are traveling east, don’t capitalize the word, but do capitalize them when they indicate a region, like the South or the Midwest. Someone can have a Southern accent or be a Northerner. (By the way, did you ever notice the points on the compass actually spell out the word news?)
Street names: Abbreviate only when noting the full address. So you could write someone lives on Main Street, but when writing their address you would write 1342 Main St.
Oxford Comma: Also known as a serial comma. Either way, please always use a comma before “and” in a list of things. (Example: We like camping, hiking, and fly fishing.)
Punctuation goes within “quotation marks.”
Numbers nine and below are written out, 10 and up use numericals
Use exclamation points sparingly, if ever
Dates are stylized as Day Month Year (Ex: TK product is available Friday 20 April 2020)
Photo captions should follow “Image courtesy TK” or “Photography by TK”
Passive voice: Avoid it as much as possible. Instead of writing “The speaker was brought to campus by...” write who brought her. “The innovation center at Colorado College organized Twenge’s visit.”
Avoid editorializing

TK is a placeholder used by editors to mean “to come” (add info here).
Use the indigenous names for places (mountains, rivers, lakes, etc…)

Happy pitching!