Writing for Coaching at Work
We very much welcome your contributions and ideas. Here is some guidance on how you can contribute.
News
Coaching at Work, for both the bi-monthly magazine and the online resource, is always on the look-out for company news, case studies, coaching research, new coaching and mentoring initiatives, news about people changing jobs in the coaching/mentoring arena, conferences and speeches.
Letters
We welcome letters in response to articles you have particularly liked, hated, found inspiring, provocative, annoying. This could be up to 300 words.
Writing articles
Please read these guidelines before submitting an article/article proposal to Coaching at Work.
Coaching at Work publishes articles on all aspects of coaching and mentoring. It is the official coaching magazine of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, published in conjunction with People Management.
If you are interested in submitting an article for publication, please first read the contributors guidelines provided here. To contact us either complete the form below or call 020 7324 2729 or write to the editor at lizanhall@gmail.com
Submitting articles
In the first instance it is useful for us to receive a summary of your ideas for an article. Proposals should be no longer than two pages. We usually commission feature articles approximately ten weeks in advance of publication date, so if you want your idea to be included in a particular issue, please offer it well in advance.
Proposals for articles should be addressed to the editor. We do receive a lot of proposals so do bear with us but we will endeavour to get back to you promptly. Please include your contact details and an e-mail address with the summary.We will follow up ideas that we think have potential and will contact you one way or the other.
If we do commission you to write the article, we will give you a deadline, and you will receive a copyright letter setting out the legal agreement to publish. Complete articles should be submitted by email. Any diagrams or figures should be included in separate documents via e-mail.
We would also like you to supply a colour photograph of yourself and a 100-150 word biographical statement to accompany the article.
The publishing process
Once we have accepted an article and received the copy by the specified deadline, we will edit it to ensure it reads clearly, fits the initial brief and that any queries are answered and missing information supplied. If substantial changes are made it will be returned to you for final approval.
The article then passes to the sub-editors who write headlines, sub-headings and introductions ("standfirsts") to the articles, edit them for grammar, house style, and to fit the exact word count for the page. The article goes directly from this stage to print, and you will not be able to view the proofs. You will receive a complimentary copy of the issue of the magazine in which your article appears.
The features section
Coaching at Work has around 36 pages of original feature articles and regular columns written by specialist journalists, coaching professionals, HR practitioners, consultants and academics in every issue. We publish articles about best practice and `leading-edge' ideas and act as a forum for debate on topical issues.
We do not normally accept articles that have been published elsewhere or that aim to promote a particular product or service or are purely promotional copy for the organisation involved.
General features
These are usually 1,000 to 1,700 words in length (two to three magazine pages) but occasionally may be longer. They include investigations of current issues and developments, business case-studies or reports on recent research. We like to link theory and policy with examples of practice, so features often contain a panel with a "mini case study" to illustrate the point being discussed.
Cover feature (the lead feature)
These often have a theoretical, strategic or policy theme. They are normally 2,500 words in length and contain a number of panels, case-studies and text-boxes of additional information.
Viewpoint (600 words)
We welcome opinion pieces about coaching/mentoring-related issues you feel passionately about. These one-page opinion columns cover the entire range of subjects in the coaching field and key topical issues, should be focused on a specific issue or subject and concisely argued, using relevant business examples and statistical evidence where appropriate. The column should express a firm opinion, and/or challenge some aspect of policy or practice.
Troubleshooter
Here, we pose a question/problem (220 words) and offer two solutions (300 each). We are always on the look-out for contributors, one providing a problem and a solution and another just the solution. Contributors can remain anonymous if it’s a particularly sensitive issue. The problem is then put to a panel of practitioners for their response.
Internation letter (from 500 words)
This is an article in the form of a letter from overseas, giving a feel for how coaching/mentoring is applied in that particular country or comparing its approach with that of other countries or relating a particular trend from that country.
Road test
In this slot we look at various tools and techniques such as MBTI and how they can be applied in coaching and mentoring. We welcome coach and client volunteers to “road test” tools. The column is around 1,000 words in length and aims to give readers an insight into a tool and how they might adopt it into their coaching toolkit.
Contributors need to offer a brief description of the tool, its origins and how it works, followed by both the coach and client´s first person account of their experiences, benefits gained, difficulties in using it and so on. We need a colour photograph of both the practitioner and client. On some occasions, the client may wish to remain anonymous although we prefer this not to be the case.
Manager-as-coach
This new column is around 600 words and offers practical tools to help managers coach. Contributors outline a model/tool which managers can easily and practically incorporate into their management style.
Book reviews
We welcome suggestions of books to review, and experienced practitioner volunteers to write reviews of 200-250 words.
Features (900/1200/1700/2400 words)
If you have a suggestion for a feature, please send in a synopsis of up to three paragraphs describing your ideas and how you would go about presenting them. If you have examples of previously published material, please send them.
How to (1,000 words)
This is a highly-practical piece looking at coaching or mentoring in particular circumstances. We do have a regular contributor for this section but do use other contributors from time to time and welcome suggestions for topics.
On occasion, this section runs up to 1,700 words where the complexity of the subject demands. They are highly practical articles designed to convey best practice principles and be of use to coaches in their everyday work. They will be written in a logical, step-by-step fashion, with practical hints and tips for successful application, dos and don´ts, bullet-pointed summaries and sources of further information.
To subscribe to Coaching at Work, call 0870 428 7966 or visit www.cipd.co.uk/coachingatwork.