WRITER’S GUIDELINES

Thank you for your interest in writing for AfricanVibes.com. We publish articles from freelance writers and contributors on a broad range of subjects of special interest to our readership.

READERSHIP

African Vibes readership consists of people interested in the positive developments relating to Africa and Africans across the globe as well as the contemporary African lifestyle. Below are some quick facts about our readership.

• Mostly in the age range of 25 and 45
• Approximately 60% are female and 40% are male
• About 50% of our audience is based in the United States. The rest are from different African countries as well as Europe.

ABOUT AFRICAN VIBES

African Vibes reflects and celebrates positive Africa and the contribution of Africans across the globe. We facilitate and reinforce our readers’ journey to embracing and pursuing a contemporary African lifestyle. We paint a hopeful and positive picture of a continent that suffers greatly from so much negativity and strife. There is so much good coming out of Africa and Africans and we want to highlight that and bring it to the forefront. We continue to find ways of connecting, educating, inspiring, motivating, empowering and entertaining our readers with editorial covering social issues, culture, beauty, fashion, relationships, lifestyle, health, fitness, cultural differences and more. We focus on bringing information that will enrich the life and lifestyle of our readers.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

A good AfricanVibes.com article offers background and context to ongoing African issues, a challenge to the mainstream media perspective or an important story that hasn’t been told elsewhere. Our readership is nationwide, so local issues are only covered when they have national interest or implications. International stories must have a strong Africa or African related angle.

We strive to publish as many evergreen stories as possible. We want to publish stories that will matter today, next year, and if we’re lucky… for decades.

Align With Our Themes

Each story must align with one or more of our themes. Our themes include stories of individuals, companies, and organizations that want to develop/inspire a better future for Africa. We love promoting uplifting stories about the individuals lifting humanity and creating a better Africa and those that bring Africa’s diversity and beauty to the world. Some of our categories include the following:

• Culture: Experience pieces and reports on the African culture.
• Health & Fitness: Service articles, first-person essays, health news, fitness tips, and trend reports.
• Business: Business articles with a focus on Africa, doing business in Africa or Africans doing business abroad
• Reaching Out: People or companies reaching out to help others on the continent
• Raising the bar: Africans or their companies that have set a higher standard in whatever industry they are in.
• Travel: Highlighting a specific African destination
• Reflection: First-person essay of your perspective on a social issue or experience.
• JJC Diaries: Culture shock stories
• Money Matters: Personal finance and wealth management articles.
• Arts and Entertainment: Celebrity profiles as well as reviews of the arts, music, books, TV, film and the web
• Cuisine: Share African recipes and/or food experiences (For this click here for your submission)
• Opinion: Your opinion on a relevant topic

Tell a Story

Each submission should include a story, no matter how brief, to draw the readers into your piece. We’re looking to publish stories between 750–3,000 words. The types and format of stories we publish include: Op-Ed’s, in-depth how-to pieces, interesting musings, high-quality listicles, journalistic works of art, narrative nonfiction, and fascinating interviews.

Please Only Submit Unpublished Drafts

In the spirit of trying to get your article the most exposure possible, we prefer unpublished drafts over published stories. The longer it’s been since a story’s original publish date, the poorer it will usually perform.

We Reserve the Right to Alter and Edit Your Story

Our editorial team can edit the content of your story if grammatical errors are found, along with adding logos, bylines, ads, images, etc. to your story. If you remove this content after your story is published, it will be removed, and you will be removed from our list of contributors.

When an Article is Accepted

Once your proposal has been accepted and your article has been written, please keep in mind that there will likely be more work to do. Additional research and editing are normal parts of the editorial process, and every African Vibes article will undergo several complete edits. For substantial alterations, stories will be returned to Contributors for revisions or rewrites. If time is short, changes will occur after telephone or face-to-face consultation. However, last-minute cuts without notification may be necessary. We prefer to receive articles via email in a major word processing format.

Copyright

African Ubora retains copyright to the version of original material which appears in our publication or on our website. Editorial material appearing on Africanvibes.com  may not be copied and republished elsewhere in the same form without approval.

Submission Credits

We currently favor unpaid submissions. Contributors whose submissions are accepted will be credited accordingly. However, we will occasionally entertain paid submissions.

Your Query

Make query submissions through our submission form below. We regret we cannot accept unsolicited manuscripts or offer individual comments on submissions. We are not responsible for unsolicited material. Any publication of an essay or article is at the sole discretion of African Vibes. Note: African Vibes gives priority to articles that have not yet been published and are written exclusively for Africanvibes.com. We will consider articles that have been or will be published elsewhere, on a case by case basis. Please let the managing editor know if an article you are submitting for consideration has already been published elsewhere or will be published in other publications. To submit your ideas, write a query first, (not the entire manuscript) that introduces your story idea and defines your angle. Your query should answer the following questions:

1. • What is the story? A brief synopsis is written in the style of your proposed piece.
   • How will you tell it? Detail what sources you will use and how you will research the story
   • Why? Answer the “so what?” Why is this story important now? Why is this story right for AfricanVibes.com? How is this relevant to our audience?
   • Why are you the right person to tell this story? What are your credentials and experience? What’s your expertise and access to the subject matter?

SUBMISSION FORM