The Bark, which is enjoyed by 250,000 readers, is a bi-monthly magazine about life with dogs; we pay homage to the age-old relationship between our two species. With each issue, we seek to bring our readers a literate and entertaining spectrum of dog-centric articles and stories. While much of our content is assigned in advance, we also wish to provide a forum for writers who have a special appreciation for dogs.

We accept unsolicited submissions and queries, subject to the following broad conditions:

We review submissions in the intervals between magazine production. Therefore, it can take us up to a year to respond. Please do not contact us regarding the status of your submission. If we elect to publish it, we will notify you. If we decline, we notify you and return it only if you included a SASE in the original submission package; otherwise it will be recycled.

We are not responsible for unsolicited materials sent to us. In particular, do not send original photos/artwork/slides, or any other material that you would be disappointed to have lost or damaged in transit.

Manuscripts must be typed with the author's name, address, phone number and e-mail address on each page; it is very important to include word count on the top of the first page. A short bio would also be appreciated. If accepted, all material is subject to editing. Do note if this is a simultaneous submission.

It is very important for you to become familiar with the “voice” and scope of our magazine before submitting your work. The Bark has been publishing for ten years, and has covered many subjects and themes, we prefer not to repeat ourselves. Also keep in mind that we are a dog magazine, and our readers are very sophisticated in matters pertaining to dogs.

We do accept previously published work, but you must provide the name of the publication and the date it was published.

If you are interested in doing an original book review, please send us a writing sample (ideally, a review of an appropriately themed book) and let us know what subject matter interests you.

Note: E-mail submissions and queries are not accepted (unless they originate from outside the US).

Specifics:
Commentaries, essays, stories, fiction and well-researched non-fiction will be considered but all work must prominently include dogs.

Articles and stories should not exceed 2,000 words. Ideally an article should be no longer than 1,200 words, and will stand a better chance of publication if it is below this limit. We also accept short pieces (less than 600 words) on general tips, how-to and other topics.

We urge you to strive for universal themes and not to focus on any one breed of dog.

A journalistic approach is attractive to us—memoirs are strongly discouraged. If submitting an article, primary sources must be included or supplied for fact-checking.

We do accept poetry, but do not have space for all the poems that we would like to publish. We have already selected the poetry that will take us into 2011. But the shorter the poem, the more likely we might be to find space for it.

Essay tributes to dogs who have died are discouraged; while we empathize, and understand that this work comes from the heart, we normally do not publish it. You are, however, invited to submit your tribute here and share your story with our online readers.

Payment:
The Bark pays upon publication; compensation varies according to complexity and length of article and is individually negotiated.
 
Web Only Submissions:
We invite you to submit material for web-only publication. These pieces cannot be more than 600 words in length and must fall into the same categories as are covered in the print magazine. You will only be notified if your work is selected for publication.
 
In submitting material, you warrant that you have the right to do so and that your work does not infringe on the copyright or rights of privacy of others; you also agree that we may post and maintain the article on our site as well as allow reposting on sites with which we have established relationships. You retain copyright but grant us exclusive online rights for a period of one year and non-exclusive thereafter. As payment, you will receive a one-year complimentary subscription to The Bark.
 
Please email your work to susan@thebark.com and include YOUR LAST NAME and WEB ORIGINALS SUBMISSION in the subject line. We will not accept hard copy submissions for this category.
 
Claudia Kawczynska, Editor

The Bark
2810 Eighth Street
Berkeley, CA 94710