Brain & Life Today Freelance Market Guide
Created October 21, 2021; checked for accuracy June 7, 2023.
Fees: The fee is $1 per word for more experienced writers and 75 cents per word for writers new to the publication. Articles run from 800 to 2,500 words, and blog posts are around 500 words.
Submit to: Managing Editor Mary Bolster, mary.bolster@wolterskluwer.com
Website: www.brainandlife.org
Owner: Information services company Wolters Kluwer publishes the magazine on behalf of the American Academy of Neurology.
Readership demographics: Readers are people with neurologic disorders and family members. The print magazine is made available through neurologists’ offices, and individuals also can subscribe for free. Neurologic disorders that are covered include “everything from autism and Alzheimer’s to Zika,” Bolster said.
Frequency of publication: The print magazine is published six times a year. All print articles appear on the website. Digital-only articles are posted as soon as they are ready.
What they look for in a pitch: Bolster mostly commissions internally-generated story ideas, but she is always interested in seeing pitches. There are generally three feature articles in each print issue, including a celebrity cover story. Brain & Life recently published a feature on long-haul COVID and another on limb spasticity, which is a symptom of several neurologic conditions.There also are several departments: healthy living (nutrition, exercise, etc.); caregiving; take charge; brain boost; disorders (deep dives into a single disorder); research; and treatment. Brain & Life does profiles in the form of an as-told-to article, an interview or a personal essay. Bolster is also looking for bloggers to write 500-word posts on an assigned subject once a week.
Bolster would be interested in freelancers introducing themselves without a pitch. The email should contain a brief bio and links to clips that are relevant to topics that the publication covers. If pitching a story idea, freelancers should explain why Brain & Life should run it now, who they are going to interview and why the magazine’s readers would be interested. Almost all stories require interviews with a patient and several experts.
“The assignment letter that I send out to writers is extremely detailed,” Bolster said. She provides a list of experts, who must be academy members, links to research studies, an outline and a detailed explanation about what it is like to write for Brain & Life.
Most common mistakes she sees with pitches: “They didn’t do the homework. They didn’t know the audience and hadn’t read the publication,” Bolster said. “Or they are just bad writers.”
Lead time for pitching: “I try to give writers three weeks to write, and then I try to turn the editing process around quickly,” Bolster said.
Best place for a freelancer to break into publication: There is no best section for freelancers new to the magazine.