special report

DIG
Published in partnership with Archeology magazine
Readership: boys and girls ages 8 - 14.
Parent Organization Cobblestone Publishing/Cricket Magazine Group

Note: This Special Report first appeared on Janfields.com

SUBMISSION SPECIFICS
DIG does not accept unsolicited manuscripts -- you must query. They publish predominately nonfiction, but they do consider theme related fiction. Both must be queried about - do not send completed manuscripts. The bulk of the material dig publishes is produced by experts in the world of archeology. The articles use few direct quotes and depend upon careful research to back up the information.

From their Writers’ Guidelines:

"In order for your idea to be considered, a query must accompany each individual idea (however, you can mail them all together) and must include the following:

1. A brief cover letter stating the subject and word length of the proposed article,
2. A detailed one-page outline explaining the information to be presented in the article,
3. An extensive bibliography of materials the author intends to use in preparing the article,
4. A self-addressed stamped envelope.

Authors are urged to use primary resources and up-to-date scholarly resources in their bibliography. Writers new to DIG should send a writing sample with the query.

"A writer may send as many queries for one issue as he or she wishes, but each query must have a separate cover letter, outline, bibliography, and self-addressed stamped envelope."

DIG pays from 20 to 25 cents per printed word.

Send Submissions to:

Editorial Department
Cobblestone Publishing
Attn: Rosalie Baker, editor DIG
30 Grove Street, Suite C
Peterborough, NH 03458

WHAT THEY WANT:

DIG is a themed magazine and they haven’t updated their themes online recently. You should check their editorial guidelines because they will eventually get around to updating.

ANALYSIS OF SPECIFIC ISSUE

Contents:
DIG
Theme: Mysterious Etruscans
March/ 2004

Contents:

"The Mysterious Etruscans" by Nancy Stone Bernard (director of Archeological Associates) Short overview of what is known about the Etruscans. 234 words.

"Investing in the Afterlife" by Stephan Steingraeber (professor of Etruscology) Article about Etruscan burial tombs and what can be learned from them. Article uses subheadings for organization and specific detail to add sensory interest. Lots of description of Etruscan tombs and their contents

"Digging Deeper" about Stephen Steingraeber, Short side-bar interview (three questions with one paragraph answers) focuses on what caused the professor to focus on the Etruscans.

"Living on the ‘Frontier’" by Jane K. Whitehead (director of the excavation at La Piana). Article about an ancient Etruscan "frontier" settlement: La Piana. Includes lively legends, sensory detail, and lively language help reader imagine the destruction of this town by unknown attackers.

"Fashionable Teeth" by Marshall Joseph (professor of anthropology). Article looks at the use of gold to make fashionable teeth décor -- sometimes for functional purposes (to hold loose teeth into a mouth) and sometimes for purely decorative reasons (to replace teeth deliberately knocked out.)

"A Kiln With a Story" by Nancy Thomson de Grummond (director of archeology programs in Italy). Article begins with an overview of how work areas at an excavation can yield fragments that give clues about ancient jobs and technology. Then the articles shows how a "clue" found in ancient kilns can be used to form a theory about ancient spiritual beliefs.

"Etruscan ‘Graffiti’" by Nancy Thomson de Grummond (director of archeology programs in Italy). Theories about Etruscan symbols scratched on clay.

"Rummaging in the Basement" by Jean MacIntosh Turfa (consulting curator for the Etruscan Gallery). Article about how a discovery was made by using modern technology and knowledge to examine small objects stored for 100 years in a museum.

"Thunder ‘Speaks!’" by Jean MacIntosh Turfa (consulting curator for the Etruscan Gallery). Short piece on Etruscan beliefs relating to divination with a special focus on specific prophesy relating to thunder on specific days.

"The Curve Has It" by Larissa Bonfante (professor of classics). Differences in clothing styles. Begins with an overview of ancient clothing comparing it to some modern choices. Then a focus on Etruscan clothes and how they used curved cloth rather than simple rectangles like the Greeks. The Romans later adopted the Etruscan curved toga. Finally, a look at Etruscan shoes.

Departments

Ask Dr. Dig, reader questions answered by an archeologist, not theme related

Stones & Bones: Lice, Cow Bone Bank, and a Great Wall, updates on the world of archeology, not theme related. "Newsbreak" type items.

Games: Tomb Time -- picture puzzle, a maze

Games: Tuscan Tower Test -- picture puzzle, matching a photo to it’s correct silhouette.

Games: Wiggly Words -- a word-fit puzzle -- fit words into a crossword-type grid.

Awesome Art -- reader drawings

In the Field: Finding Out About ALL Etruscans -- brief (single page, four paragraph) field report of an on-going excavation and what it is learning.

Art-I-Facts: The Apollo of Veii -- Photo of a specific statue and four paragraphs of details of where it was located and what it looked like when it was made.

Dig This! Stunning Finds! -- Photos of a specific find at the "In the Field" site -- Etruscan jewelry, with a single paragraph of commentary.