A Change in El Ojo del Lago
In this month’s Ojo you will see two pages dedicated to poetry. It is the Poetry Niche, and we have added Mel Goldberg to the staff as the poetry editor. As you will learn, Mel has an extensive background in teaching as well as writing and is an international award-winning poet.
The following is in answer to questions about submissions to the Ojo:
Please save for future reference.
We are the largest English-language magazine in Mexico, celebrating life and times in one of the highest concentration of expat locales in the country. We publish monthly, since 1983, via print and online at ojo.chapala.com. El Ojo del Lago is available for free at various locations Lakeside, in Guadalajara and for mail-out subscriptions globally.
Our slogan is “The Best Publication Money Can’t Buy.”
El Ojo del Lago accepts submissions from any level writer for a variety of topics: fiction, memoir, book reviews, poetry, personality profiles, creative nonfiction, political insights, culture, travel, history, and humor. Acceptance of a submission does not guarantee that it will be published immediately. Seasonal articles (e.g. Christmas) can be submitted at any time, but may be held for publication in the appropriate month. Authors will not be made aware of publication dates. We do not pay for content. If chosen for publication, the author is automatically placed in competition for the annual awards luncheon at Tango Restaurant, one of the premier restaurants in Ajijic, held in September of each year.
Before submitting please follow these guidelines:
- We accept completed, edited and polished manuscripts only. We recommend your submission follows proper grammatical, clarity, and punctuation guidelines as per Chicago Manual of Style version 16, The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White, Getting the Words Right by Theodore Cheney, or a comparable high quality style manual. There are many online writing style guides, e.g., www.grammarbook.com and www.grammerly.com. Basic mistakes will risk rejection.
- Submissions must be received via e-mail as a Word document attachment, with the title of the piece in the subject line. Pdf formatted documents are not acceptable.
- We do not accept requests for edits after submission. If you must edit, request withdrawal, edit your piece and re-submit. You may lose your place in the lineup of available articles.
- U.S. spelling must be adhered to. For example, use honor, not honour.
- Use Times New Roman font, 14-point type, 100% size, single spaced, unjustified at the right side, and one space between sentences.
- In your e-mail, you must include your name and contact information, word count (not including title) of your piece, a brief synopsis and a short writer’s bio with a recent high-res headshot. Frequent and/or repeat contributors and columnists with bios and headshots on file are exempt.
- Book reviews, once submitted to our book-reviewing board, will be considered for acceptance.
- Directly at the top of your Word document attachment you MUST include your title in uppercase, your name, contact information, and word count, not centered, for example:
FUNNY PAGES
by Danny Dominguez
650 words
e-mail address (PLEASE LET US KNOW IF YOU DO NOT WISH YOUR E-MAIL PUBLISHED.)
You risk rejection without proper accreditation. This information is not to be included in your word count. - Accepted word count varies with high-low season publication. Minimum count is 600 words and maximum is 1,200. Longer pieces are subject to available space, may span two or more issues. Our editorial staff has complete discretion over if/when your piece may be published.
- The deadline for regular columns is the 1st of each month.
- If you have been asked to submit, either verbally or via our e-mail mailing list, adherence to these guidelines remains in place.
- Send all photos directly to El Ojo del Lago office elojodellago@gmail.com clearly marked as to which article they should accompany. Photos must be high res and in a jpg. format.
- And last but certainly not least, send your submissions to victoriaAschmidt@gmail.com.
Helpful Hints:
Italics vs. Quotation Marks
book titles italics (when a possessive precedes a book
title that begins with an article, the article
is omitted: The Hunt For Red October, but
Clancy’s Hunt For Red October)
newspapers italics (including the if it is part of the official title:
The New York Times, but the Washington Post)
magazines italics
movies, plays italics
radio, TV shows quotation marks
musical compositions Roman
ballets, operas, musicals italics
song titles quotation marks
works of art italics
ships, other vessels italics
For more information about Lake Chapala visit: www.chapala.com
- Editor’s Page – December 2024 - November 30, 2024
- Editor’s Page – November 2024 - October 29, 2024
- Editor’s Page – October 2024 - September 28, 2024
