About

About
Contact
Submissions
Publishing Contract

About Grand Traverse Journal

 

Grand Traverse Journal seeks readers, writers and photographers who are familiar with or inquisitive about the history and natural history of the Grand Traverse area, focusing on Antrim, Benzie, Charlevoix, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska and Leelanau counties.

It is an odd union, history and natural history—our human past and the natural world—but the two topics are joined by our common residence in this beautiful part of the world, our love of the stories that were first told here, and our passion for omnipresent Nature: the mushrooms, fish, birds, plants, rocks and creepy-crawlies of every size and shape.

We seek out those who share our interests, providing an outlet for writers and photographers, whether young or old, experienced or not, educated in school or in the business of living.  Unlike other magazines focused on Northwestern Michigan, we do not encourage or permit promotion of individual businesses—though we do allow writers to include references in their biographies to works they have written previously.  If we cannot pay authors a fair amount for the tribulations of writing, at least we can do that much.

Online publishing provides us with a myriad of opportunities; digital creation is easier to share and store, and the primary cost is time. In addition to online access, physical copies of Grand Traverse Journal are circulated in the periodicals at all Traverse Area District Library member and branch libraries. If individuals wish to keep copies for themselves, they may do so upon payment of printing costs.

We, the editors of the Journal—Richard Fidler and Amy Barritt–wish to hear from you. We are constantly looking for new ways to enlarge our audience, reaching out to the young, the elderly, and to those who usually don’t read magazines like ours.  Please help us make this publication wonderful!

Contact

Grand Traverse Journal
c/o Traverse Area District Library
610 Woodmere Ave
Traverse City, MI 49686
231-932-8502
gtjeditor@tadl.org

Submissions to Grand Traverse Journal

Content

Please consider the audience you are writing for: persons with an interest in history or nature who live in the Grand Traverse area. Articles reading like an encyclopedia cannot be accepted.  Personal accounts are always welcome: the pronoun “I” is not forbidden.  With regard to history, oral histories, personal accounts, old letters, observations of historical artifacts and buildings, short biographies of local figures, interviews, commentaries on old photographs—even videos—will be considered for publication.  It does not matter if manuscripts contain errors—editors will fix them.  For those interested in nature: personal accounts of encounters with interesting creatures, observations of things you have seen, visits to habitats special to the area, thoughts and reflections about the interactions between humans and the natural world, and interviews with persons especially knowledgeable about Nature are all fair game.

Submission Guidelines

Submissions should be in digital form so they can be easily transferred to the Journal’s template for articles.  Email is preferred, although we will also accept submissions dropped off at any Traverse Area District Library on a flash drive.

The editors maintain the right to edit for length and style, and will remove any other formatting imposed on article submissions. Notification of acceptance may take as long as 30 days and publication may not occur for some months after submission.

Please read and agree to the Contributor Copyright Agreement prior to submitting your work.

Articles
Articles may be submitted in either the body of an email or as an attachment. Article length should be at least 600 words but no more than 2000 words.  Exceptions will be made on either end if the work demands less or more space.

Author or photographer biography
A one paragraph biography of the author or photographer is encouraged.

Sources and links
If appropriate, the author should supply sources for photographs (author photograph if applicable), reading materials appropriate to the topic discussed in the article and references to materials used in researching the article.

Photographs
Photographs enhance any magazine article, or can be used as stand-alone images. Please send JPG or TIFF images to the editors as email attachments. The editors will edit the image size for publication.

Copyright
Before submitting an original work for publication,  the author should read and agree to the Publishing Contract. Previously published work can appear in the Journal if the copyright holder gives permission.

Ready to Submit? Read and agree to the Publishing Contract here.

48 thoughts on “About”

  1. Do you maintain an email list of people you send new issues to? If so, would you please add my email to this list? Thank you.

    1. We do have a list for people who would like a reminder of when the new issue is out! I will be glad to add you to the list, and anyone else who may be interested!

      1. Great idea and a great first 3 issues! Keep up the good work and contact theRecord-Eagle to do a story on you.

        Thanks for focusing on the history of the area; it’s wonderful for newcomers to Up North.

        1. Thanks for the kudos, John! You must be psychic; check out the front page Monday, October 6th, as the GTJ will be featured! Hope you are thinking about something you might write about, we’ll be waiting for your submission!

      3. What a wonderful journal, I’m from Traverse City but now live in Kalamazoo, how do I get added to the email list and I have a plethora of family who would also like to access the journal. thank you so much! Sharon

  6. Please add me to your notification list.

    I learned about your impressive publication from a front-page story when catching up on my Record-Eagle reading. I wish there were many more publications like yours.

      1. Just became aware of the journal and look forward to it. Please add me to the notification list. Thanks!

  8. Please add me to your mail notifications list. I am looking forward to spending some time with the issues already published.
    Thank you for such a creative project and all it will bring to the area and Michigan and beyond. Judy Kuntz

  9. I would like to speak with Julie Schopieray regarding her article about Charles Augustine from Jan. 1, 2015.
    I am available any time.
    Thanks.

    Sincerely,
    Marcus

    1. Hello Marcus! I’ll be glad to pass on your information to Julie; She’s one of our favorite researchers, and is always looking for more information, if you have some to share!

  13. Please add me to your list. The history of the North country in very interesting. Leave in SE Mich but come both often

    1. You’re all signed up, Jim! Expect an email from us the first of every month, and we’re glad to hear you’re a frequent visitor. We like it here, too!

  16. I’d love to be on the e-mail notification list. Suzanne McCarthy forwarded the Journal to me by e-mail because I had taken art lessons from Maud Miller Hoffmaster. I loved reading the article about her. Also the articles by Bob Wilhelm about the Bohemians. I went to school with Anthony Wilhelm, Gloria Wilhelm Murray, and Dorothy Wilhelm French. So many prominent Travese City families were of Bohemian ancestry.

    1. Thanks, Mozelle! We are glad you enjoyed the articles, and we are in agreement: those Czechs were a big deal! Entreprenuers, artists, laborers, they all were a big part of making Traverse City the “Queen City of the North”! We’ve added you to the list, look forward to a reminder email each month!

  17. Good Afternoon! Please add me to your notification list. Maintaining a focus on local history is so important in an increasingly global world. I’d be interested in contacting Julie Schopieray as well, if possible. I am a Schopieray, and attempting some family history research. Thank you and keep up the good work!

    1. Thanks for reading, Wendy! I’ll be sure to add you to the list and pass on your contact to Julie. Look forward to the next issue, coming up at the first of the month!

    1. Hello Jon! While we ourselves aren’t treasure hunters, there was an “Archaeological Atlas of Michigan” published by the well-known scholar W.B. Hinsdale in 1931. Many traditional burial places, mounds, fire pits, etc., were shown on this map, and since then, many of those sites have been raided. A friend of my interested in preserving these sites did an archaeological survey, funded by the State of Michigan in the 1980s, and found many of the Hinsdale sites to be totally ransacked. There is a story also of the Westmoreland, which supposedly had both gold and barrels of whiskey on board when it sunk in 1854. Its rediscovery in 2010 is well-documented in a book by Ross Richardson, “The Search for the Westmoreland,” but you’d have to read it to see if any of the purported gold was still on board. Stories like the Westmoreland abound, but I’m afraid we wouldn’t know if there was gold unless we went looking. Thanks for commenting!

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