The following guidelines (effective 9 May 2021) apply to solicited features and unsolicited feature submissions. Please ensure you have read and understood these guidelines before engaging with type4girl and Director Woman Magazines. You are deemed to have read, understood and accepted these terms by submitting your information.
SUBMISSIONS: For consideration in any one of our magazine brands, please email a full bio with personal/business social handles to our editor with subject line RE: DW Feature for [name].
Main & co-main features
The Editor or assistant editor reserves the right to recall a main/co-main feature pitch if the feature candidate doesn’t acknowledge receipt of the pitch or express interest (written) to move forward with the feature within 3 working days of pitch being sent. The editorial schedule is compiled with extreme care and as such, it is important for us to confirm feature candidates ahead of time to avoid last minute scrambles to put an Issue or Edition together.
Editorial angles
Every story in Director Woman Mag and Director Woman Fastrack has a different angle. While some feature stories may be generic and follow the traditional format of childhood, coming of age, adulthood and transition, the editorial team reserves the right to use any angle that they deem appropriate to achieve the brand mission of educating, empowering and impacting. Formats (not exhaustive) that the editorial team may use are as follows:
- Educational: These feature angles are designed to educate the reader on a particular topic including but not limited to the logistics of for instance running a business or rising in the ranks of a particular career field.
- Impactful: These are stories that are introduced to the editorial team at an existing angle that has had an impact via social media or otherwise. For example, if we identify a feature candidate resulting from a post about how they quit their toxic job and started a business, the focus is going to be on the decision to quit and the resulting transition, not necessarily on the lifetime achievements or other endeavours of the individual.
- Empowering: This is the most preferred and popular format used across both magazine brands. These are stories meant to be relatable to the reader and explore the complete story of becoming of the featured individual. These stories will usually be tagged as the main, co-main and spotlight features respectfully (in Director Woman Mag).
The editor in charge reserves the right to select a suitable angle and run with it for any feature story – this angle will be apparent in the style of interview questions sent to the featured individual. As such, the onus is on the featured individual to enquire about the focus of the article, i.e. WHAT AND HOW THE STORY WILL BE TOLD (with their point of contact) before or 24 hours after submitting their responses. Once you’ve submitted your responses for editing and formatting, editorial angle changes will rest on the editor in charge of the individual’s feature. These changes are final and can not be changed at any other point after 24 hours have lapsed after submission.
Images and magazine styles
All images sent to the editor in charge for possible inclusion in Director Woman Mag or Director Woman Fastrack may be altered to suit the design format of the magazine. The decision on which images to use, background edits and types of filters (usually mono/black and white) is entirely up to the design team and cannot be changed at any point. Individuals must ensure the images they send are flattering to them and are suitable for a full page spread. At no point can the design team inform an individual about where, in what style or size or filter the images will appear or be edited.
Editorial copy preview and changes
All feature copy is a product of responses submitted as well as any other additional material provided or available on websites linked in the featured individual’s social media profiles and the world wide web in general. Feature individuals must, before or when submitting their information, advise the editor in charge on information they’d prefer to be excluded as long as it is not included in their written or audio responses to questions sent by the editor in charge.
The editor in charge is responsible for allowing one full copy review if it is explicitly requested by the individual being featured at any point between initial contact and response submission. The individual may make changes to that copy within 30 hours of receiving a copy of the feature text communicated via their preferred method. No other changes will be made to the feature text once this period has lapsed.
There is no additional responsibility on the part of the editor in charge to send unsolicited full copy for review.
Feature cancellation
An individual can, for 12 hours following submission of their responses for use in the feature, request for their feature to be cancelled.