SUBJECT MATTER
The Compass publishes articles of interest to the boating community, both local and visiting, in the Caribbean. A variety of subject matter pertaining to the sea and people interested in the sea is covered.

LENGTH
Suggested length is 2,000 words or less. A good article is often shorter; don’t pump up an interesting concise piece into a long boring one.
Sharp, large photos are a plus and “speak a thousand words”.

EDITING
Submissions may be edited for accuracy, length, clarity and grammatical style. If you require pre-publication approval of editorial changes, please specify this when making your submission.

WHAT WE DO WANT
The Compass is a forum, shaped more by writers’ ideas and talents than by a rigid editorial policy. Be yourself, deal with a topic you care about, and write unaffectedly, as if you were writing to an intelligent but as yet uninformed friend.

You have the best chance of seeing your work in print if what you send in is informative, fact-rich, well organized, and “An Article”. An Article has a topic, an appropriate number of words, a beginning, a middle and an end. It’s a good idea for the beginning to include essential information. For example, “In early May, 2007 my husband, John, and I sailed our Rhodes 41 sloop to Prickly Bay on the south coast of Grenada” is much more informative to your reader than “We (who?) recently (when?) sailed (what?) to Prickly Bay (where?).”

We at the Compass often crew short-handed to a deadline, so we are more inclined to use articles in “sail away” condition (see SENDING IT IN, following) than “handyman’s specials” that need time to work into publishable shape.
In summary, what we want is a concise and informative Article, on a topic you really care about, in a condition we can readily use.

If you would like a short footnote about yourself included, please mention your name, name of your spouse or others on the boat where applicable, boat name and type, and length of time cruising. Include a sharp “head shot” if you like.

WHAT WE DON’T WANT
Except under special circumstances, the Compass does not use articles or photos that have appeared previously, or will appear simultaneously, in any other Caribbean publication or on-line. If you have submitted your article to any other publications or if it appears in a blog, let us know.

(A tip: It’s not a good idea to send the same article to several publications at once — either the assumption could be made that it’s a free press release, or, if two or more publications run it simultaneously there could be a squabble over who got “first rights” [see below]. Either way, you could have a problem getting paid.)

We also avoid sensationalism, personal or political ax-grinding, and articles that attempt to secure free advertising for a business on the pretext of furnishing news. If an advertiser, or any other business, has a genuine piece of news for our Business Briefs department, that’s great. If an article which stands on its own merit mentions specific businesses in a positive light, that’s okay, too.

We do not publish individual consumer complaints or individual regatta results complaints.
Articles or letters submitted anonymously will not be considered for publication. If you have a legitimate reason for requesting that your name not appear in print, this request will be considered.

RIGHTS
Our policy is to purchase “first Caribbean serial rights” in English, for our print and on-line versions, unless the writer makes a special arrangement beforehand stipulating other conditions of sale. As the Freelance Writer’s Handbook by Gary Provost says: “You don’t sell words to a magazine and you don’t sell pieces of paper. What you sell is a license, a right to reprint your words.” Compass buys the exclusive right to print your story for the first time in the Caribbean. After your article’s publication in the Compass, you can sell any or all of the rights to it to anybody else in the Caribbean who wants to buy. You can sell the rights outside the Wider Caribbean Region at any time. We reserve the right to re-publish photographs.

SENDING IT IN
E-mail
This is the most efficient and accurate way for us to receive text. Please send all submissions to sally@caribbeancompass.com

Please send stories as UNFORMATTED text files or Microsoft Word documents. DO NOT FORMAT your articles (e.g. centering and enlarging the headline, indenting paragraphs with extra spaces or tabs, embedding photos in text, etc.) Do not put two spaces between sentences. Do not use a carriage return at the end of every line; hit “return” only to indicate new paragraphs.

Please name all text attachments using a clue word from your article’s subject, and your surname, e.g. “lobster-jones.doc”. When we get several submissions a day named “compass article”, it’s easy to get them confused!

Hard copy
If you are sending hard copy (you know, paper...) only, if possible please type or write legibly and mail it in. Fax only in an emergency.

But please remember, even if you have to send your copy written in blood on the back of a cocktail napkin, high-quality writing is the heart of the Compass, so the main thing is to SEND IT. We, and all of Compass’s readers, appreciate your efforts.

PHOTOS
To e-mail digital photos, be sure that they are 170dpi (or more) at 100% size. (If you’re not sure what this means, set your camera to “large” before taking photos for Compass.) The JPEG (jpg) format is a good choice because it automatically compresses to reduce transmission time. For other formats, there are several compression programs available, such as WinZip (for PCs) or StuffIt (for Macs).
Please name all photo attachments using a clue word from your article’s subject, and your surname, e.g. “dominica-smith.jpg”. When we get many attachments a day named “compass.jpg”, or identified only by numbers, it’s easy to get them mixed up!

NOTE: We cannot work from photos embedded in text documents, pdf files, or from slides, negatives, laser images or faxed images.
Captions/cutlines for the photos are a great help. If you did not take the photos yourself, let us know the photographer’s name for photo credits.
Illustrations, sketch charts, etc. to accompany your articles are also welcome.

THE DEADLINE FOR RECEIVING SUBMISSIONS IS THE 1ST OF EACH MONTH FOR THE FOLLOWING MONTH’S ISSUE (e.g. submissions must be received by the 1st of January to be included in the February issue). Please contact Sally to arrange for any exceptions, such as coverage of an event falling after the 1st.

PUBLICATION DATE
We’ll do our best to include time-sensitive articles in the earliest possible issue. “Timeless” stories may be held for use on a space-available basis.

GETTING PAID
Payment is made after publication. In order for us to pay you promptly, please remember to send an invoice along with every submission, including the name you want the check made payable to and the address where it should be sent.

Our usual rate is EC$115 for a feature article. We can pay the equivalent in TT$ (approximately TT$287.50), or in US$ (US$45). We are also happy to make a donation to a charity in your name. Short, non-promotional items for “Info & Updates” or “Regatta News” are paid at a reduced rate. We pay for the story only – we do not cover any expenses. Articles by children are paid at a special rate; please inquire.

Our standard pay rate for photographs illustrating an article is EC$15 (US$6) per photo published.
Regarding the fact that writers NEVER get paid enough, be aware that small newspapers such as Caribbean Compass operate on a very slim profit margin. The Compass supports itself, certainly, and contributes to the support of a number of people, but it will never make us or anyone else rich. To paraphrase the editors of the Harvard Post: “The richness of the small newspaper life is of a different sort. We believe in small newspapers because we believe in small communities, whether ashore or afloat. Each independent newspaper adds to our collective independence by resisting the appalling homogenization of culture and information brought on by centralized news establishments.” We appreciate your being with us in this endeavor.