The School Marketing Journal exists to serve school Heads. If school Heads have the right information, they can make better marketing decisions, realise marketing efficiencies and create more effective communications, putting their school in a better place to realise its mission. To do that, we enlist the foremost experts in school marketing and communication, collaborating to express their thoughts in the most influential way possible.
SMJ covers communication and marketing from a wide range of angles including strategy, leadership, technology, law, research, operations, innovation, decision-making and team management. Here are the five qualities we look for when evaluating what to publish:
Expertise: You don’t have to be well-known to be a contributor, but you must have first-hand experience of the subject you’re writing about.
Evidence: It’s not enough to know your subject deeply — you have to prove it to the reader. Referring to supporting research is one good way to do this; describing relevant examples is another. If you have interesting data, let us know.
Originality: New ideas in management are rare and precious — and one of the primary reasons school Heads turn to SMJ. If you’re writing about a well-worn topic, we’ll be looking for a unique argument or insight.
Usefulness: SMJ readers want to change the way they and their organisations actually do things. If you can explain your thinking so that the reader understands how to apply it in the real life of a school environment, that will make it more powerful.
Writing that’s persuasive and a pleasure to read: SMJ readers are smart and busy. If you don’t capture their interest right away, they will move on to something else.
General notes on process
We often have to say no to good proposals due to limitations of space and time, or because they are not distinct enough from other pieces we have already published. If we’ve passed on something you’ve submitted, please feel free to try again with another idea. If our editorial team has said no multiple times, it may mean your work isn’t a good fit for our audience of school Heads.
We retain final decision rights over headlines. Our team has spent years learning which kinds of headlines give SMJ pieces the best chance of being read. If we rewrite your title — and we probably will — it’s because we believe the revised version will help your idea reach the audience it deserves.
We strive for authenticity in our articles. We do not publish pieces that come across as promotional or that do not include rigorous citations (though these may not appear in the finished piece). We ask our authors to disclose any financial relationships they have with companies cited in the proposed article. SMJ typically holds copyright on the finished product, but authors continue to own the underlying ideas in their articles.
We try to evaluate ideas before we determine if we can publish them. We will consider submissions that contain only a short pitch, and we can help determine whether the idea should become a magazine feature, short article, podcast interview, infographic or another format.
Ask yourself these questions to help get to the heart of the matter:
- What is the central message of the article you propose to write?
- What is important, useful, new or counterintuitive about your idea?
- Why do school Heads need to know about it? How can your idea be applied today?
- What is the source of your authority? On what previous work (either your own or others’) does this idea build?
- What academic, professional or personal experience will you draw on?
SMJ features are usually 1,200 to 2,000 words long; articles are usually 500 to 800 words long. We know this is short and that’s what we intended. The time of a school Head is precious. We value and honour the trust they place in SMJ to bring them crisp, succinct thinking and practical content that makes them feel in control and equipped to make better decisions. This enables school Heads to save time and money, bring their vision to life and enjoy their school’s success.
Thanks for considering your article idea for SMJ.
Brad Entwistle
Editor, School Marketing Journal
Founding Partner, imageseven
