Writers Opportunity Meander, Maitland's Lifestyle Magazine

Duckenfield Road

Writers Opportunity Maitland City Council is inviting writers to submit stories for potential inclusion in the third edition of Meander, Maitland’s Lifestyle Magazine.

ABOUT THE PUBLICATION Meander, Maitland’s lifestyle magazine, aims to engage local residents and visitors by exposing hidden aspects of Maitland presenting a fresh and personalised insight into the city. Rather than developing a traditional visitor guide that explicitly attempts to sell the area to visitors, the magazine will include feature articles, creative imagery and uncover unique and intriguing stories to capture the local audience and the attention of visitors to the area.

This will be the third edition of the magazine to be released in April 2019.

THE OPPORTUNITY Writers are invited to submit stories about Maitland around specified themes for potential inclusion in Meander Magazine.

THE REWARD Apart from being published and recognised within the magazine, each selected successful story printed will be awarded an Australia Post Visa Prepaid Gift Card to the value of $300.

mymaitland.com.au

Walka Water Works

STORY THEMES The Meander stories within the current magazine are personal accounts or stories about experiences in Maitland. We are seeking a similar approach for the third edition and would love to see stories about what makes Maitland unique.

Please see the below themes we would like to see stories based around. It is the responsibility of the writer to research, fact check and uncover story angles, as well as organise and conduct interviews if necessary.

It is important to note that stories will need to take a different angle to those included in the current version if a similar topic is chosen to write about. Examples given are just to guide you and act as a springboard to get creative ideas flowing. Feel free to come up with your own story theme showcasing Maitland.

VILLAGE PROFILE A feature on a suburb within Local Government Area eg. Lorn - story could talk about places only real locals know, best kept secrets about the suburb.

HISTORIC BUILDINGS Stories around buildings what they were used for, what they are used for now, any quirky facts.

CHANGING FACE OF MAITLAND A story on how Maitland is changing in your eyes, physical and social changes.

HEALTH AND FITNESS A story on latest trends, places to go, hot tips for the health conscious person.

TAKING FLIGHT A story on Luskintrye (largest fleet of Tigermoth planes in the world), Rutherford, drones, open spaces.

A NIGHT IN MAITLAND A story on best places to go, locals choice, best vibes.

ART SPACE A story incorporating Maitland Regional Art Gallery, boutique local art galleries, local artisans.

PRODUCE A story incorporating the Slow Food movement, paddock to plate, local farmers.

EMERGING FOOD SCENE A story about favourite place to eat, best dish, culinary experiences, up and coming.

WATER BASED A story around activities such as fishing, kayaking, history of the river, local fishing spots.

Riverside Walk, The Levee, Central Maitland

TARGET AUDIENCE The key market of Maitland’s visitor economy is Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR). Research conducted by Tourism Research Australia indicates that over 50% of visitors coming to Maitland for leisure are within this consumer market.

This type of visitor is most likely to visit places in the city based on recommendations from the people they are visiting. Maitland is working towards raising local awareness of the many great products, attractions and services the city has to offer, enabling local residents to become the ambassadors for the area and proving the proposition that ‘You’re welcome in Maitland’.

TONE OF VOICE The tone and voice of Meander is playful, fun, casual, exciting, friendly, humorous and a little quirky. The voice of Meander should be familiar, helpful, confident but not cocky and informal but not sloppy.

The stories should take both a first and second person approach when using personal pronouns. The idea is that the writer is sharing a positive experience they have had in Maitland with their family and /or friends. This approach leans on the philosophy of promotion via ‘word of mouth’, which lends itself to the idea that the writer is sharing their favourite thing/s to do in Maitland, whether that is eating out, exploring the city or even shopping locally.

The stories should take the reader on a journey through the writer’s personal experiences and stories as they meander through Maitland.

Please refer to the current version of Meander Magazine to get a sense of what we are after. This can be found on mymaitland.com.au/about/magazine/

A typical spread from Meander Magazine

Amorelle Dempster, Slow Food Hunter Valley leader

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS WORD COUNT Stories should be between 350 and 800 word count.

FORMAT Stories need to be supplied in Microsoft Word via email to media@maitland.nsw.gov.au RESTRICTIONS There are some restrictions on what you can or cannot write about, remembering that this is a lifestyle magazine.

Topics to avoid include politics, religion and sex.

Writers can submit as many stories as they wish as long as they adhere to the technical requirements.

RESPONSE TO THIS WRITING OPPORTUNITY Please respond to Chris Breaden by close of business 5.00pm Friday 16 November 2018 with stories created.

Any questions should be directed to Chris Breaden, 4934 9730 or media@maitland.nsw.gov.au

OTHER ACTIVITY The supplied copywriting will not only be used in Meander but duplicated onto the mymaitland.com.au website, for social media and may be pitched to a range of external media and publications. It may also be used in whole or part.

The writer will receive a byline on each story included in the final version of Meander.

CONDITIONS Once stories are submitted to Maitland City Council, story authors will relinquish editorial control.

Please note that it is not the intention of Maitland City Council to change any stories submitted.

Changes will only be made if needed to reduce story length to suit layout of the magazine and/or change language to suit branding guidelines.

Maitland City Council will retain the ownership of all sucessful submitted stories in perpetuity and has the right to use all the articles unemcumbered. The author will be given full aknowledgement within Meander Magazine.