Live the dream, guys. Photo by Carrie Matteson
Happy New Year, citizens of Jumper Nation! Today marks our one year anniversary of bringing you Hunter Jumper coverage from around the world and also right in your backyard. We typed our fingers to the bone to deliver updates on all things H/J; from the Global Champions Tour in Beijing to the Fall Circuit in Santa Fe; From the heart of Rome to the Kentucky Horse Park.
Each and every story was delivered with the intention of giving you digestible, relevant news about your peers and your heroes, and our goal is to do even more of that in the year to come.
On that note: Contributors Wanted! Please consider submitting your story or epic photo to share with Jumper Nation and our thousands of readers. Maybe you have an incredible story of overcoming the odds to make a victorious comeback, maybe you’re a young scrappy and hungry inventor, or perhaps you’re a stellar up-and-coming or amateur photographer looking to expand your professional portfolio. We are committed to sharing stories, photos, and moments from around the country, but we need your help to do it.
Consider getting involved in one of the following ways:
Stand-alone Submission: Maybe you got the catch ride of a lifetime, or maybe you brought an unlikely horse up the levels to rousing success. You could be a trainer with a message you wish you could share with a larger audience. Perhaps you know someone who you think is worthy of a feature interview that we could highlight in a profile. We will also consider barn/farm/breeder features. If you’ve got a story to tell, we want to share it!
Season/Circuit Blogger: Going to be spending a few weeks at a HITS series or the Winter Equestrian Festival? Planning on setting up camp in Kentucky in the spring? If you can make a minimum weekly or every-other-week commitment to sharing your story throughout the show, you can become a blogger for our VIP section! Grooms, trainers, riders, ammies, juniors, parents and show organizers are all welcome to share their point of view!
Photography Intern: I see you there, working the rail in your show breeches and getting the hang of your SLR with ambitions to see those photos featured proudly and prominently. We LOVE professional show photographers and have loads of photos available of winners from the shows, but what we don’t often see are the behind-the-scenes moments; hours of braiding, course walking, warming up, cooling down, congratulations and consolations. If you think you have a story to tell with a camera, hit us up. Give readers an intimate view of a show or a moment we might otherwise miss.
Compensation:
There is no compensation available for individual stories at this time, but if a writer or photographer contributes consistently fabulous work and can demonstrate dependability, paid freelance opportunities may be offered.
Writer Guidelines:
- 300-800 words is ideal, some longer features will be considered on a case by case basis
- Pitches with well-developed story ideas prior to writing are welcome
- Please include media with your story! Photos, videos, and YouTube/Facebook links are all welcome as long as you have photographer credit included and have the photographer’s permission to use their work. (Embedded videos do not require permission, as we will post from their channels/pages directly.)
- Writers submitting humorous/blogger submissions can write in third or first person, (“That time I ate dirt and embarrassed myself in a jump-off”) and for feature/news submissions we prefer a more professional, third person tone (“John Smith of Maple Farms has recently imported an impressive string of Dutch Warmbloods from Europe.”)
- Cross-posts to your personal website or blog are allowed, cross-posts from other publications are prohibited.
Photographer Guidelines:
- You may share photos by email or dropbox, high res is not necessary, but not discouraged. (600 – 1024 pixels or less than 1 MB is preferred)
- If you would like to photograph at a recognized show that has a media accreditation process, please make sure you pitch your plans to us before the deadline and we will work with you to get credentials.
- Please include the name or show number of the photo subject whenever possible. Submissions of subjects under 18 should receive permission to include from the child’s guardian.
- You ALWAYS maintain the copyright to your photo, and we always include photo credit and will link to your website or portfolio when provided.
- Photos from all shows, locations, and levels are welcome!
All submissions can be made to managing editor Lorraine Jackson at lorraine@nationmediallc.com.
It’s going to be a great year in 2017, JN, and we are humbled and thrilled to have each and every one of you along for the ride.
Go Jumping!