Adventure Sports:
Editorial Submission Guidelines 2024

Adventure Sports® is devoted to covering the challenge, the fun and the inspiration of adventure racing, off-road triathlons, and various outdoor adventure sports. Our goal is to excite, entertain and enlighten athletes and racers of all ability levels with stunning photography and authoritative editorial content. All aspects of multi-sport training, racing and lifestyle are covered: sprint multi-sport races, off-road triathlons, expedition-style adventure races, adventure travel, endurance mountain biking, and more.

Adventure Sports® debuted in March 2024 as North America's only full-color monthly magazine dedicated to adventure racing and off-road endurance sports. It is published ten times annually by RFA Media. The editorial calendar is generally finalized five to seven months before the publication date (note: some departments have later deadlines). Please be aware of this scheduling if you are submitting seasonal material.

WRITER'S GUIDELINES

Queries can be submitted via snail mail or e-mail, but all stories should be delivered via e-mail. Writers might be asked to help source out photos with some stories given the relatively low number of adventure racing photographers and the limited stock photography available. As best possible, all story queries should fit into one of the following categories:

FEATURE STORIES
Every issue of Adventure Sports will include feature stories written on a variety of subjects. Features will range in length from 1,500 to 3,000 words and be written in a unique voice that incorporates vivid details, humor, personal observations and keen insight of the activities, athletes and other subject matter. Possible feature stories might include race coverage, profiles of significant personalities and various themed subjects -- i.e. Adventure Racing and the Almighty Dollar; The World's 10 Toughest Multi-Sport Races; Generation Next: Twentysomethings Take Over; Femme Fetales: The Toughest Women on the Planet, and more.

STARTING LINES
Starting Lines is the front of the book digest section that will include various bits of news, humor, rumor, and other interesting shorts. Also included in each issue's Starting Lines will be an Opener, a 400-word story about a particularly interesting or timely trend, personalities, events and issues; Race Showcase, a 250-word profile of a unique race or race series with appropriate contact information; a Team Profile, a 250-word overview of accomplishments and race stories from a specific adventure racing team; a Catching Up With, an edgy and/or humorous 500-word Q&A profile of a notable multi-sport athlete; and more.

TRAINING & TECHNIQUE
This section will incorporate stories that instruct readers on how to improve their skills, training, nutrition and bodywork as it relates to adventure racing and other endurance sports. Included in this section will be a Main story, a 1,200- to 1,500-word story about a topical subject such as Training for Sleep Deprivation; Fixing Foot Problems in the Field; Training for Endurance Mountain Biking; Racing on a Vegetarian Diet; and Taking the Next Step: Training for your first multi-day race. Also included in Training & Technique will be a 400-word Expert Column written by a seasoned, world-class adventure racer; a section called Getting Disciplined, a pair of 500-word sport-specific training articles on the many core activities of adventure racing; and FYI, a collection of short training tips and news relevant to adventure racing.

GETAWAYS
Getaways is a destination travel and training article that focuses on doing a particular activity (or several) in a specific must-go-to destination. Examples for this section include Canyoneering in Utah, Cyclocross Racing in Roanoke, Virginia, Sea Kayaking off the coast of Oahu, Snowshoe Running in Summit County, Colorado, Rock Climbing in Acadia National Park in Maine, Mountain BIking in Sedona, Arizona. It will also include a 300-word travel-related sidebar with bits of info about that location.

GEAR BOX
(Note: All Gear Box stories are generally coordinated in-house from Boulder, Colorado.) Gear Box is the section in which gear, apparel and accessories for multi-sport training and racing is reviewed. Review topics might be something as basic as Adventure Racing Packs or Hydration Systems, or it might be a themed subject such as Gear for Night Racing, Water Sports Gear or Tools for Winter Training. Also included in each issue's Gear Box section will be Schwag Bag, a page of brief reviews on adventure-related apparel, equipment and accessories.

RACE REPORTS
Adventure Sports will report on several races in every issue. Reports will vary in length from 200 to 600 words, depending on the magnitude of the race and timing of the event.

IN THE ZONE
In the Zone is a mood-setting, inspiration-driven back-page photo that includes thoughts from an adventure athlete that apply to the sport pictured on the page. (For example: "One time I was paddling in my one-man canoe and I was thinking, 'It's taking be so long to get to Laniakea. I'm going to be late for work.' I just put my head down and drifted away for a while. When I woke up I was a mile past where I meant to be. It was like an out-of-body experience, a jumping off point to somewhere else." -- Jane Duncan, six-woman outrigger canoe racer, Oahu, Hawaii)

PHOTOGRAPHY
All original photography (including slides, prints and negatives) sent to Adventure Sports should be accompanied by a secure form of return shipping with a courier account number. In addition, all photography submitted to the magazine should be accompanied by a caption list that identifies the names, races and locations of the subject matter. Please include your name, address, telephone number, Social Security number and email address for billing purposes.

PRIMARY EDITORIAL CONTACTS

Editor-in-Chief / Photo Editor: Brian Metzler: bmetzler@asmagazine.com
* Features, Starting Lines, Training & Technique, Calendar

Senior Editor: Lisa Jhung: ljhung@asmagazine.com
* Gear, Getaways, Training & Technique, Race Reports, In The Zone

Send submissions to:
ADVENTURE SPORTS
1730 15th Street, 2nd Floor
Boulder, CO 80302
PHONE: (303) 545-5454
Editor@asmagazine.com


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