hen he was a little boy, a cousin once described my home as “like Boy Scout camp, but with nicer bathrooms.” My little house is surrounded by forests, ponds, meadows and lots of wild animals. So when I stumbled across the writer’s guidelines for Woods Reader, a magazine described as “for those who love woodland areas,” it seemed like a perfect fit for my life. I quickly sold them an essay on my husband’s family replanting a forest in the 1960s followed by two articles concerning the public garden Longwood Gardens: one on the historical trees that were the foundation for the gardens, and one on the treehouses that were built in 2008. For me, it quickly became a spot to share nature writing and photographs that hadn’t been able to find a home. I found it easy to find ideas for Woods Reader because there are woods, in one shape or another, everywhere. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t live in the wilds like me. If you visit forests, parks, or even have one lonely tree in your neighborhood, it could be the source of an idea.

After all my success, I contacted founding editor Sally Sedgwick to share her thoughts about Woods Reader and nature with me. “When you think about all the different landscapes in our country, what comes to mind when you say a ‘wild space’?  Often, that’s a woodland!” She used that belief to create Woods Reader, a magazine celebrating the woods in all its shapes and forms. Today she’s sharing how WOW writers can become a part of Woods Reader, which is a paying market!

WOW: Thank you for being here today, Sally! Although I’ve had the pleasure of having my writing and photographs in Woods Reader several times, your background is a bit of a mystery for me. Can you tell us about how you started Woods Reader?

Sally: Woods Reader is what some would call “a labor of love.” After leaving a position as marketing director for a small hospital, I enlisted my eldest daughter to join me in starting a magazine. What kind of magazine? We wanted a nature-based magazine that would be interesting and beautiful. And we wanted one that anyone could submit to—even if they had never been published before. I had always loved writing and photography, but my early academics and career had been in science and business. After moving from a city to the deep northwoods and starting to write for a local county newspaper, I woke up one day and said, “I’m earning my living writing!” It was such a cool feeling.

WOW: Magical words we all dream of saying! The theme that ties every piece in Woods Reader together is that it is “a publication for those who love woodland areas.” Do you ever worry that having such a specific theme is limiting?

Sally: No, no, no. Not at all limiting. After all, who doesn’t love woodland areas? There are so many dimensions to the topic: wood itself and all the things that can be made from it and from other forest finds, woodland destinations, plants and animals that live in the forest, woodland hikes and the reasons to take them…we have even published one story on how to dress for a hike.

WOW: Are there any pitches that you see over and over and want to just tell writers “No more”? 

Sally: As long as they are within our guidelines, we are open to submissions, even if we see many others on the subject. “Hiking” is one such topic, but there are so many ways to take a fresh look; one story we published was about a virtual hike where the author took along a disabled friend via pictures sent from his phone. “Forest Bathing” is another popular topic right now. We don’t print hunting stories and we try to stay away from forest management since we focus on the wild nature of the woods.

WOW: Is there anything you wish you could see more of in your submission pile? A type of writing, or maybe a geographical area? After all, the woods of Minnesota are very different from the woods of Hawaii.

Sally: That’s true, and differences in woodlands (with pictures) would be a great topic for a traveler/author! We like to see humor and stories that make connections with classical authors. We’re hopeful we can see more DIY stories on “goods from the woods,” and unusual structures (like skyscrapers) made from wood. We are always open to personal experiences. We would like to expand into book reviews and will be posting a list of books we would like to see reviewed. Our readers also like a bit of history in the magazine!

“We love to feel that—at the end of a story or poem—we have a new way of looking at or appreciating something. ... We are not poetry experts, but publish poems that are enjoyable reading, are easy to understand, and have that special use of language that creates the Aha! moment for the reader.”

WOW: So, a little bit of everything. Woods Reader features so many different types of writing as well as art. As you put an issue together, how do you decide what to include?

Sally: Thank you for asking this question. One of the best things about publishing is opening your inbox! We haven’t assigned issue topics, although we might in the future, so our content is somewhat driven by what is submitted. It’s interesting that often a theme will evolve organically as if a topic like “old trees” has spontaneously hit writers all at once. Readers respond to different types of writing, so we do try to balance poetry, imagery and prose…and topics like personal experience, factual information, philosophy, humor and travel destinations.

WOW: What are some things writers can do to make sure their submissions stand out?

Sally: We love to feel that—at the end of a story or poem—we have a new way of looking at or appreciating something. We are not happy to see misspellings or grammatical errors. We generally follow AP style due to a familiarity with it and the importance of having the whole magazine using the same style, but don’t base acceptance on it. Subject matter that obviously veers from our submission guidelines is usually rejected. 

Regarding poetry: poets should realize that we are not a literary magazine. We are not poetry experts, but publish poems that are enjoyable reading, are easy to understand and have that special use of language that creates the Aha! moment for the reader.

WOW: I love the idea of creating an Aha! moment for readers. Tell us more about the images that are such a big part of Woods Reader. I’ve submitted photographs to accompany a piece of writing, but can artists just submit woods related images for possible use?

Sally: Absolutely, we accept submissions of any art that can be converted to print. We have had serendipitous submissions where one author’s work just seems matched to another’s visual art, but we also print standalone photos. We have printed images of art and textile works, and our summer issue will feature a wonderful colorful collage on the cover.

WOW: Can’t wait to see it. Since you publish quarterly, do you ever accept a piece but hold it for an upcoming issue because it fits better with that season?

Sally: We do accept out of season articles. We pay 2-3 weeks after acceptance, even if we are holding an article. Where that makes a difference for an author is that we release the story for printing elsewhere 6 months after publication. The author owns the copyright.

We are working on decreasing the turnaround time for communication with authors. That has been a function of staffing, and we are consciously trying to improve in that area.

WOW: Anything else you’d like to share about Woods Reader?

Sally: We try to be author-friendly. One of the questions we’re frequently asked is whether publication on a personal website is a prior publication and our answer is “no.” We ask for first rights for commercial use. If a piece is in a subscription-based online magazine, that is different, but we will also buy reprint rights for that special story!

WOW: My last question is a bit quirky, but it’s been in my mind since I received my very first copy of Woods Reader. Why the unusual square format instead of the standard 7.5” x 10.5” of most magazines?

Sally: When we first started talking to our printer in 2017, we were looking for a size that they could do that would be easier to take along than the large magazines. We occasionally review that decision, but haven’t wanted to change it yet. Surprisingly, most people refer to our issues as “books.”

WOW: Don’t change it! I love the look of Woods Reader. The square format gives it a special feel, even before you open it up and start enjoying the content. Thanks for sharing with us and I have a feeling you’ll have lots of fun opening your inbox in the upcoming months.

My thanks to Sally Sedgwick for telling us more about Woods Reader. As each season blossoms, I find new ideas for Woods Reader occurring to me, and hope you will, too. Woods Reader pays $40 - $100 for articles/essays, $35 for poems/cartoons and $25 for standalone photographs. They will also consider reprints at lower fees and do not include personal blogs/websites as first publication. Woods Reader does not accept any writing or art that uses AI. For more details about submissions visit: https://woodsreader.com/submissions

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Jodi M. Webb writes from her home in the Pennsylvania mountains. She has bylines in Bob Vila, Pennsylvania Magazine, Tea Journey, Mental Floss, Business Insider, NPR, Woods Reader, and a WIP about her plant obsession. She's also a blog tour manager for WOW! Women on Writing. Visit her website at jodiwebbwriter.com.