Enviro-Net - Submission Guidelines

The Florida Specifier

Focus on a specific aspect of your subject, covering it thoroughly. This is a better approach that picking a broad topic and finding out you can't explain it adequately or offer much detail in the space you have. Avoid submitting material to the Florida Specifier that you're also distributing throughout the industry to competing publications, daily papers, newsletters and other trade journals. This sort of "canned" copy is not published. Our columnists select a subject and produce an article expressly intended for our particular reading audience.

Column length is limited to 700-850 words (about 3 typed pages, double spaced). Set in our type for printing, it's about 30 column inches. That's about as long as you can keep a reader with you.

State your premise somewhere near the beginning. This is the nugget, or as reporters call it, the "nut" paragraph--the statement (usually one sentence) that concisely answers the question, "So what?" Most news writers and columnist put it in the lead paragraph or shortly thereafter.

Include any photographs, bar graphs, charts or explanatory illustrations you feel would help the reader. We can reproduce most any line drawing or photo, and like to use them when space permits. Call if you have questions about such submissions.

A short paragraph on your position with your firm, professional specialties or activities is requested. We use these mini biographies at the end of the column.

Generally, your audience is made up of engineers, scientists and consultants, local government/utilities personnel, and local, state and federal agency regulatory people. They may be familiar with your subject. Our surveys of readers indicate they like insight/analysis of environmental topics, and also like applications, i.e., what someone did to effectively solve a pollution problem that everyone else is wrestling with.

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St. Petersburg, FL 33713
Office #: 727-300-1300
Email: jwaterman@floridaspecifier.com