Marina Dock Age

MARINA DOCK AGE MAGAZINE!

If you are a vendor, manufacturer, marina industry consultant, independent expert, association member, or other industry professional with knowledge to share, Marina Dock Age may be interested in publishing your work.

The magazine and its audience

For more than 20 years, Marina Dock Age has been the leading magazine in the marina industry—the only business-to-business publication serving the educational and informational needs of the U.S. waterfront facilities segment of the marine industry. Our readers include nearly 17,000 marina industry professionals across the United States, reaching marina owners, operators, managers, consultants, suppliers, as well as boatyard managers, marina suppliers, and others related to the marina industry.

Marina Dock Age is published 8 times each year, including our annual Buyer’s Guide and marina trends coverage, as well as other special themed issues.

What readers want

In general, our articles help marina and boatyard owners and managers run their businesses more efficiently, be more profitable, be more customer-oriented, etc.

Our readers should come away from articles having had answers to questions such as:

• How will this help my business?
• What steps do I need to take?
• What additional information do I need?

Frequently covered topics include:

• Dredging
• Fuel and lubricants
• Fuel products and systems
• Pumpout systems
• Docks, decks, and dockside equipment
• Dry storage
• Hiring a consultant
• Marina renovations
• Dock pedestals
• Marina software
• Boatyard equipment including lifts
• Seawalls and sheet piling
• Government regulations, compliance, and permitting
• Environmental issues pertaining marinas
• Safety and security
• De-icing
• Mooring and anchoring
• Finance and insurance.

This is in no way a complete list of the topics, and we encourage creative thinking within these categories and expanding outside the box.

Getting Started

You should start first by reading the magazine. You can find a link our current and past issues here on our Web site under the Current Issue heading above. If you need help with a topic or narrowing your ideas, please don’t ever hesitate to contact any of the editors.  The more focused an article can be, the better.

If at this time you are interested in writing, please continue reading our editorial guidelines.

EDITORIAL GUIDELINES FOR MARINA DOCK AGE

Before you write

Ask yourself:

• How is this topic practical to the marina industry?
• Do I have specific examples, case studies, research, expert testimony to support my theme?

If the answer is yes, please send a query letter or outline describing your article topic, personal qualifications for writing on this topic, and how the article will benefit our readers.

You may also speak directly with one of the editors about an idea.

Original content

Articles submitted for publication in Marina Dock Age should be submitted to our magazine on an exclusive basis.

Avoiding common mistakes

• Focusing too broadly—Generally, no article will pertain to every single reader. Rather, we want focused articles that investigate a specific topic.

• Poor organization—A tip: note that all our articles include bolded subheadings. Create those first and use these to arrange your thoughts.

• Too much information—Sometimes you can overload readers with information. Think of different ways to package your information by including graphs or charts.

• Passive voice—Always make an effort to write in active voice, meaning the subject of the sentence performs the action expressed by the verb. In passive voice, the receiver of the action expressed by the verb is the subject. Here’s an example of passive voice: There are many reasons why these opportunities occur. Here’s the same sentence in active voice: These opportunities occur for many reasons. In general, active voice is more concise and will ensure your sentences are not too wordy or overly complicated.

• Lack of evidence—Though your extensive industry experience is usually the reason that you’re writing for us, your individual opinions alone are not enough for a well-rounded article. We value your insights, and they can be even stronger when they’re backed up by evidence – research, statistics, or industry testimony.

• Offering too few examples—Every article should assist marinas and boatyards in doing their jobs more efficiently. Show specifically how your topic has influenced the industry. A case study can be one approach. Including information from multiple marinas can be even authoritative. Just make sure you organize your information and/or subheadings as topics, not by each marina example.

• No conclusion—Don’t leave your readers hanging. They should feel satisfied finishing your story. Finish the article with a solid conclusion and recap how the reader will benefit from using the information you provided.

• Overly promotional or self-serving— All articles should be written objectively. Make the benefits of services or products generic. Never talk specifically about your unique products/services but rather product categories in general. For example, if you’re writing about a specific aspect of dock pedestals, you shouldn’t mention your specific brand X dock pedestal. Instead, give readers a clear view of the general choices. Any articles with yellow journalism, insulting competitors or even hinting that their products or services are flawed in any way, will be rejected.

Article submission guidelines

• Articles should be between 1,250 and 1,500 words, single-spaced.
• Write in third person—he/she. Never use first person (I/we) or second person (you).
• Include a headline. It’s the advertisement for your article; make it informative and catchy. Avoid ‘titles’ that do not include a subject and a verb.
• The article should also be organized into bolded subheads. Keep in mind your article should flow and make sense without the subheads. They should only act to highlight the different aspects of your article and not feel disjointed. A well-written outline should give your general subheadings.
• Please submit photos, graphs, or other artwork along with the article. We use ONLY hi-res photos (300 dpi) in a JPEG format. Think about doing this even as you’re writing. You must have visuals to go with your text.
• At the end of articles, we include contact information about you and your company. Please include your name, company title, company name, address, phone number, and e-mail, along with the article.

Evaluation and acceptance

Once Marina Dock Age editors accept an article idea, we will have final approval of all content. No exceptions. We may work with writers during the editing process, but you will not be asked to approve editing changes.