Writing for MW

Preface: if you already write for Medieval Warfare, please do not read the following as a declaration of ”new brooms sweep clean!” 

When I was challenged to take over MW, I was certainly fortunate in one thing: there was already a well-developed stable of regular, reliable contributors to the magazine. After all, there’s nothing more scary for a magazine editor than the idea that she’ll ever run out of copy to publish. Knowing you’ve got some people you can count on is great! So thank you Erich, Filippo, Murray, Nicola, Konstantin and all the others who’ve contributed to recent and less recent issues and who have already written for issues, submitted ideas and given me feedback! However, I believe that as an editor you always need to keep looking for new contributors. After all, however good our existing authors are (and they are good, don’t you agree?), new authors bring to the table their own style of writing, new insights and new points of view that help keep Medieval Warfare varied and interesting. Is this a call for new authors then? Well yes, as it happens, it is!

So, say you’re interested in writing for MW, how would you go about it? Well, please do not write an email saying “I want to write for MW, what topics do you need?” That’s, simply put, just not how we work. Please start by making sure you’ve seen a copy of MW. It’s available from our webshop, from WH Smith in the UK, Barnes & Noble in the US and many other book- and magazine stores besides. Then check the editorial plan. As you know, we dedicate a substantial part of our magazine to a single theme, so if your article is tailored to the theme, your proposal has a better chance of being selected. Pro Tip: when writing a proposal for a theme, try to think of an interesting, unusual angle or lesser known topic that fits the theme closely. That’s much more likely to catch my eye than a proposal to, say, discuss the battle of Crecy for a theme about the Hundred Years War… On the other hand, it’s not unusual to get two dozen proposals for a single theme where there’s only space for about half a dozen articles, so you might just consider proposing an article that doesn’t fit a theme. The same Pro Tip applies though: look for unsual topics, interesting angles and always, please, keep in mind what possible illustrations could be used. 

That, in short, is what it all starts with: find a good topic you can discuss with authority (we have lots more pointers) and then contact me. Sorry if the above sounds a bit foreboding; I really would love to hear from you! 

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