Writers' Guidelines

Overview

Oft cited by the futurist R. Buckminster Fuller as a metaphor of leadership and empowerment, a trim tab is, in essence, a small lever acting upon a large lever to create change out of all proportion to its size. Trim Tab is also Cascadia’s quarterly e-magazine—a publication that intends to mirror the metaphor evoked by its name.

The magazine showcases the provocative ideas, innovative projects, critical issues and premier events that are truly redefining how we design, construct and operate buildings and communities. Our readers are professionals and emerging professionals that are seeking the most cutting-edge information on green building and design.

We accept freelance submissions covering issues, news and projects that support our mission of providing readers with the ideas and solutions that will create transformative change in the built environment. Though Cascadia is a regional organization, the articles we publish in Trim Tab can be national or international in scope.

Sections accepting submissions

Freelance submissions are accepted for the following sections:

Features: 1000-2000 word articles that cover issues and/or solutions on the leading edge of the green building movement. If covering a specific project or projects, it/they should meet the requirements for the highest level of LEED Platinum or its equivalent at a minimum.

Project Highlight: 500-700 word case studies of projects, highlighting one innovative “green” aspect. The project should meet the requirements for the highest level of LEED Platinum or its equivalent at a minimum. High-quality images should accompany the piece.

Moving Upstream: 50-100 word news bites of pertinent, transformational milestones, events, and issues that demonstrate real progress in the green building movement. News can be regional, national or international in scope. Note: no credit will be given to the submitter for the news bites, if used.

We do not accept and will not review “advertorials” or commercial pitches.

Format of Submission

Submissions are only accepted electronically. We strongly recommend you send queries or proposals, rather than completed submissions. Please include any published clips or writing samples with queries. Photos are encouraged.

Please send submissions as attachments (in Word) to joanna(at)cascadiagbc{dot)org.

Process

Once your pitch is received, it will be reviewed for appropriate content and quality of writing by the editorial team. If we are interested in the story, we will request a draft for review—this is not a promise of inclusion. If the draft meets the caliber of writing and thought we expect, we will slate it for publication.

Please allow one to two months for an initial response.

Compensation

Freelance contributors will have the benefit of sharing their stories and ideas to an advanced audience of green building practitioners, providing progressive fodder for discussion, projects, and real change.

At this time, freelance contributions are voluntary. This may change as the publication grows.

Rights

We make our articles available under the Creative Commons license, so as to engage as many people as possible in transformative change in the built environment. We grant permission to our authors to reprint their work, as long as they acknowledge in the reprint that the piece first appeared in Trim Tab and include the author byline.