Ulster Countrywoman Magazine

The ‘Features’ form the main body of each magazine, with photographs and imaginative articles depicting all sorts of fun and frolics – all the great things our groups get up to when members get together!  Features can be submitted at any time and do not follow a rota.  The most active and interesting articles are selected for publication in each edition by the Editor.  Our magazine is circulated amongst family, friends and further afield and we must showcase the most complimentary content to the wider public. 

When submitting photographs to the Editor for consideration, please choose a select few of the very best, sharp, flattering photos of your group/members, maximum 2-4 photos per Institute, and include a short paragraph or caption to put each of your images in context.  Instead of including many separate images of individual members (for example at an awards presentation), please gather your group together for 1 or 2 photos – and please always remember to ‘look at the birdie’, strike a pose and SMILE! 

It is not necessary to attach a large number of photographs of one event, or send a link to a huge photo database – please be selective.  Photographs should be emailed as individual attachments, in jpeg format.  Please do not submit photo montages created with editing software or add any artwork to your images.  Photographs may be cropped where appropriate.  Also, please do not place photographs within Word documents.  It helps the Editor if a small selection is attached as separate jpegs within the same email, along with a short blurb typed into the main body of that email, or text typed out and attached in a Word document (please do not send scans or photographs of text).  There is no strict word count for the Features section, however, for general Institute articles approx. 100–200 words are sufficient.  Other seasonal articles or summaries of Federation events may be a few hundred words. Depending on the volume of content received for each particular issue, a greater word count may be permitted for other topical features of interest at the Editor’s discretion.

Hundreds of emails and photographs are received each month, so please collate your information and send all together in one message with a clearly labelled subject line. An array of the most diverse, action-packed features and photos are selected for each magazine, in order to depict a variety of activities and the very best of what WI has to offer. 

The main Features section of each issue also includes reports of Federation events throughout the WI calendar, topical/seasonal items, regular/long-running articles and advertising for WI competitions/events, as well as outside businesses who pay a fee to place an ad.  Space is allocated for each of these elements, meaning WI articles are fitted in around these items.  We are limited with space in each issue (usually approx. 44 pages) so a variety of the very best WI articles by members are chosen for publication.  With 128 Institutes and 21 WI Areas, there is a lot of ground to cover, so please do not be offended if your submission does not make the cut for a particular issue. 

No suitable items are deleted, in fact everything is collated and saved on file for consideration for the next consecutive issue.  The Editor is very grateful to receive such a vast array of content from the members – and please keep it coming!  Articles and photographs submitted for the main ‘Features’ section that don’t make one magazine are catalogued to be considered for publication in the next consecutive issue, or a future issue. The most creative content will also appear sporadically on WI’s online outlets of social media.

Please do read your magazine and look at each issue for inspiration when submitting features, look at the type of articles and imagery that are published.  You can also check out the WI’s official Facebook and Instagram pages, which show the most interesting snapshots of WI life.