Deadlines, Timeframes and Payments

If we like a pitch and want to take it forward, we will start a conversation to develop the pitch, arrange a deadline for a draft, agree a fee, and move forward from there.

Timeframes

We work on a monthly production cycle, and we tend to decide what's going in the magazine in the first week of the month before. It's essential to factor this into your pitches – they'll need time to be seen by a section editor, who then needs to get them greenlit with enough time for you to actually write the piece and get it through any edits before we go to print. 

With online pitches we tend to work with 1-2 week lead times, but because the folk who work on the website also work on print, you should keep the calendar in mind when getting in touch.

Here’s an example timeline, for a piece going into our December print issue:

  • Mid-to-late October: Editors start working on outline plans for Dec issue; writers start to pitch ideas for consideration for Dec issue

  • Late October: Editors start putting together their ideas for their section of the mag, and might start informally putting pitches forward to Ed-in-Chief to get the ball rolling

  • First week of November: Pitches for Dec issue discussed by editorial team, and pieces commissioned, writers contacted with word counts and deadlines etc (if they haven’t been already) 

  • Third week of November: Writer’s deadline; draft goes to editor who checks it over, provides feedback, and asks for any changes

  • Final week of November: Design, final fact-checking and last-minute amendments

  • First week of December: Print issue published, web version of article published shortly after

Deadlines

Individual deadlines are agreed for most articles, but be conscious of the timeframes above when you’re pitching, particularly for print.

Only agree to a deadline if you’re confident you can submit the finished article, as agreed, by that date. If you think something’s going to prevent you from meeting a deadline, let us know as soon as possible and we’ll do whatever we can to help.

Rates of Pay

We pay between £40-50 for a feature, and between £10-15 for a review; these rates will be dependent on word count, and will be clarified before you’re commissioned to produce the piece. Our invoicing terms are 30 days after publication, so an invoice for a piece that's published in the December issue will be paid in the month of January. 


For details of the kind of article ideas we're looking for, go to our Pitching Guide

If you're new to The Skinny and want more detail on what we publish and who's in charge, go to Content Guide and Contact List

If this is all seems a bit vague and hypothetical and you want some real-world examples, go to Sample Pitches, And Why They Worked