Bike Magazine: Market Spotlight

For this week’s market spotlight, we look at Bike Mag, a quarterly mountain biking magazine.

Bike Mag is a quarterly print magazine focused on mountain biking. This coverage includes gear reviews, personality profiles, developing trends, and more.

The editors say, "Bike has the finest mountain-bike photography in the world, hands down. What's more, Bike has the most inspired, original writing in the off-road universe."

Payment rates are not listed on their website, but the most recent edition of Writer's Market lists their rates as 50¢/word.

What They're Looking For

Bike Mag is focused specifically on mountain biking. As such, content should all be aimed at a target audience that is locked in on the sport, including the top riders, trails, gear, and more.

The editors say, "No other mountain-bike title in the world is as influential as Bike. Our devoted, longtime subscriber base truly cares what we publish, whether it's our opinions on trail-related issues o the latest riding gear."

Of course, the best advice, per usual, is to pick up a few recent copies of the magazines to get the best understanding of what they publish, as well as what tends to be written by freelancers versus staff.

How to Submit

Potential writers should submit queries or stories by email to nicole@bikemag.com or by post to: BIKE Editorial Office, Attn: Managing Editor, 2052 Corte Del Nogal, Ste. 100, Carlsbad CA 92011.

The editors say, "BIKE will consider, but assumes no responsibility for, unsolicited proposals, manuscripts and photographs."

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No other market is as open to the freelance writer as the magazine market. From trade and association publications, to special interest magazines, to regional and national consumer publications, editors are looking for writers who can deliver well-researched, reader-targeted articles on deadline. To make it in this market, you want to learn how to identify a magazine's editorial needs and—most important—how to fill them.

Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Editor of Writer's Digest, which includes managing the content on WritersDigest.com and programming virtual conferences. He's the author of 40 Plot Twist Prompts for Writers: Writing Ideas for Bending Stories in New Directions, The Complete Guide of Poetic Forms: 100+ Poetic Form Definitions and Examples for Poets, Poem-a-Day: 365 Poetry Writing Prompts for a Year of Poeming, and more. Also, he's the editor of Writer's Market, Poet's Market, and Guide to Literary Agents. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.