Writing for 3rd Act Magazine

Today’s older adults are redefining aging. We are more demanding as to where, when, and how to spend our retirement years. Getting older also means many of us will face health, housing and financial challenges and concerns. 3rd Act is a quarterly magazine that reaches this growing demographic with articles and stories that speak directly to this stage of life. We foster “Aging with Confidence” through enlightening, inspiring, entertaining, and educating mature adults who believe age is just a number, and our greatest memories are yet to be made.

3rd Act accepts unsolicited submissions, however, as a quarterly magazine with limited space only the very best writing will be accepted, and then only if we have room to publish.

Due to the high volume of submissions we receive we will respond to you only if we are interested in publishing your submission. If you do not hear back from us, please assume we have declined publication. We are unable to give any specific feedback on your submission.

Please take a moment to review our submission guidelines; designed to insure all the writing that appears in 3rd Act is concise, informative, timely, and well-written.

Submission Guidelines & Specifications

  • Length/Topic – We are primarily interested in short feature articles of up to 500 words, and feature essays and articles of 750 – 1200 words that tackle modern aging-related issues such as ageism, lifestyle, health, home, family, community, moving, aging, memory health, downsizing, traveling, caregiving, legal, financial, living well at any age, and others. We are especially interested in articles that quote local experts and/or contain facts or information tied to Western Please refer to our annual editorial calendar for issue themes and planned articles.

  • Voice 3rd Act is a consumer lifestyle magazine. Our readers are primarily educated and affluent boomers and older adults who live in Western Washington, although our website has a nationwide audience. Our readers are sensitive to aging and resistant to being labeled in common ageist terms. In your writing pay special attention to whom you are directing the message. It’s more effective and respectful to talk to people than about them. Put yourself in their shoes and write from that perspective. Avoid using dated and ageist terms. We commonly refer to people in this life stage as “older adults” rather than “seniors.” Using the term “elders” is okay, but “elderly” is not. Use “boomers” not “baby boomers.” Utilize inclusive “we” instead of “you” when appropriate. Do not refer to this life stage as our “golden years.”

  • Organization – Many people don’t read, they scan. Organize your story so that someone scanning the page can take away an important fact or idea. Include suggested pull-out quotes, subheads, bulleted items, and/or sidebars.

  • Art & Photography – If you have photos or a resource for photos, let us know. Great photos or illustrations grab readers’ attention and enhance the story. Keep in mind that older adults picture themselves as ten years younger than they are. Make sure any photos you provide reflect this bias.

  • Submission – Email your article as an attached Word or Pages document to editor@3rdActMag.com. Please include the word count, your name, a brief bio of yourself, email, and phone number in your contact information. If this article has been previously published, please let us know where and when it appeared. You will need to provide us with reprint permission and credit information. Specify if you have any photos or graphics you would like to use. Please suggest a title.

  • Editing 3rd Act requires flexibility to modify articles to fit space requirements as needed. We reserve the right to edit submissions for publication due to space constraints, grammatical correctness, writing quality, organization, and clarity. Be certain that you have double checked and provided citations for stated facts, if needed. We will provide you a proof of the edited article prior to printing. Additional changes may be needed, however, due to space constraints that arise during our final layout.

  • By Line – Our readers rely on us to provide them with accurate, objective information that isn’t influenced by a financial motive. Therefore, it’s important that articles appearing in 3rd Act are independent of any commercial venture and do not promote any particular company, product or service. Accordingly, we will refer to your credentials in the credits.

  • Copyright – Oshi Publishing, LLC retains the copyright on all articles published in 3rd Act Magazine. To reprint any article, in whole or part, requires our permission which will not be unreasonably withheld. Reprinted articles will need to credit 3rd Act Magazine in one of the following ways: “Reprinted with permission 3rd Act Magazine(issue), or “Previously published in 3rd Act Magazine (issue).”

  • Payment – We have a limited editorial budget. Our standard payment for published articles is between $25 and $50 depending on length, complexity, quality, and whether it’s an original or previously published article. If you are a published writer with proven expertise and submit articles that are well researched and require little editing, you will be considered for our paid list of writers at a per word rate of $.25. We pay upon publication and will confirm payment to you upon acceptance of your submission.

Learn more about 3rd Act Magazine here.