Larry Jordan 
Julie Campbell
First, a few words about we are not. Midwest Today isn't just another regional magazine of the "house and garden" variety. You know the kind we mean. Those that are the print equivalent of "happy talk" TV news: Vacuous. Chirpy. Mindlessly cheerful. Full of the sort of rah-rah boosterism that readers instantly recognize as lacking credibility. And usually the glossier the graphics and the heavier the paper stock -- the more superficial the content.
We realize that Midwesterners are interested in more than just recipes or decorating tips. So we offer a comprehensive view of life in the Heartland -- its people, challenges, opportunities, problems and rewards -- with relevant features not found in any other single source.
Midwest Today is a magazine for readers, not browsers. It's not meant to be merely glanced at and then tossed aside. It's designed to be read, re-read and savored. We're journalistically driven, so there's more substantive content to take readers cover to cover than many magazines two or three times our size.
Our bold editorial informs and entertains -- with credibility, sophistication, wit, humor and style.
Midwest Today obviously appeals to men as well as women, to an upscale audience of well-educated professionals and families.
Our paid circulation emphasizes the states that are at the "heart" of the Heartland -- with the heaviest concentration in Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee. The magazine is marketed at thousands of high-traffic retail locations, including supermarkets, convenience stores, pharmacies, restaurants and book sellers. A radio campaign, featuring well-known announcer Mike Pace, promotes each issue on several large radio stations heard by a multi-state audience -- thus encouraging single-copy sales.
We are also proud to be among a select group of magazines authorized for sale at B. Dalton, Walden's and Barnes & Noble bookstores nationwide.
Our "controlled" circulation goes into the rooms of numerous upscale hotels -- thus reaching an affluent audience that travels. And we are in the rooms of doctors' office waiting rooms to dramatically boost readers-per-copy.
Excerpts from our magazine are even broadcast weekly on a satellite radio service for the blind.
Some of the outlets where you can find copies of Midwest Today include Byerly's, Country Stores, Cub Foods, Dahl's, Drug Town, Eagle's, Hoiday Stations, Hy Vee, Jewell, K-Mart, Osco, Super Value, Target, Walgreens, Wal-Mart and many more. If you have trouble finding us, LET US KNOW. Please e-mail us at MIDTOD@netins.net. We can tell you where to locate a copy.
If you'd like to sell copies of the print version of Midwest Today at your retail establishment, please email us. We can either arrange for a local wholesaler to serve you, or in cases where that is not possible we can offer you "direct to retail" service by shipping copies to you. We pay a generous Retail Display Allowance (RDA) for full-face cover positioning, and our magazine does exceptionally well if it is prominently displayed. Contact our circulation department by sending email to MIDTOD@netins.net.
The Midwest is a vital, dynamic region of shared experiences -- cultural, economic, political and climatic. And it's generally within one day's driving distance city-to-city. No other single print medium offers targeted access to the same preferred audience within this lucrative market.
For information on our display advertising rates -- which are surprisingly affordable -- plus ways you can even take advantage of our new "Midwest Today Online" Internet tie-in package, call us at: 515-755-3851 between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Mon.-Fri., Central Time. Absolutely NO information on ad rates will be e-mailed.
We have a prestigious line-up of national, regional and local accounts, who go with us regularly and track ad response. (See a sample on our Good Offers page).
Midwest Today covers a wide variety of subjects, including news, sports, politics, entertainment, the arts, religion, poetry, fitness, outdoors, travel, interviews, people profiles, the environment, nostalgia, economics, agriculture, humor, consumer issues and more. We always try to be as au courant with events as possible, and our lead stories are updated literally within hours of presstime. We are also now looking for short fiction pieces or short true-life stories (2,000 words max.) -- particularly those that are uplifting or inspirational, with a positive outcome and a story line set in the Heartland.
We are willing to consider original and reprint submissions.
Your brief query should outline your idea, explain why it's right for a Midwest audience, and tell us something about yourself. Please include published samples of your work. Manuscripts should be typed, double-spaced and accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Writers who make submissions without a SASE will receive neither the manuscript nor a reply in return. Give us your daytime and nighttime phone numbers, or other way to contact you.
Length of articles varies widely -- from a few hundred words to 10,000. We do not accept simultaneous submissions. We require a three-month moratorium on all pieces we accept.
Midwest Today is a great venue for writers for whom exposure to a vast audience is more important than monetary compensation. The fact is, skyrocketing paper prices (up 100% since last November), have severely reduced our budget for freelancers. However, we do pay a modest fee within 30 days of publication on-sale date. We do NOT pay "kill" fees. Most articles we run are written by a small handful of experienced writers who have worked with us for several years. Please don't call our offices to propose a story idea, request a reaction to an idea for a story, or a detailed critique of your submission. We are unable to provide these, as we literally receive hundreds of queries from freelancers between each issue. Our response time is approximately four weeks. Due to the large number of requests we receive, we must charge $2 for sample copies, payable in advance.
Address all correspondence to: P.O. Box 685, Panora, Iowa 50216.
Attention Artists and Photographers
Midwest Today invites artists and photographers to submit samples, but ONLY duplicate sets of your photos or art. DO NOT SEND ORIGINALMATERIALS. No responsibility can be assumed for the safe return of such materials.
Midwest Today was launched in June 1992 , by Larry Jordan and Julie Campbell, who serve as publisher/editor and associate publisher, respectively. We are located in Panora, Iowa -- a small community about 50 miles west of Des Moines. Here, in a sylvan setting surrounded by wooded hills, abundant wildlife and beautiful Lake Panorama, issues of our magazine are prepared using Power Mac computers. The actual presswork is done out-of-state with high-speed, heat-set presses to produce a glossy, full-color magazine that goes into 19 states.
We are "desktop publishers" and our writers are scattered throughout the country. Lifestyle editor Sally Knight lives in Franklin Park, Ill.; arts editor Zade Duval is from Minneapolis; sports editor Woody Sculley calls St. Charles, Mo. home; Naomi Lenox is from Iowa City; religion columnist Matt Andrews resides in Ames, Ia.; "Country Chronicle" writer Mary Brooks is from rural Wisconsin; humor columnist Madeleine Begun Kane lives in New York state; and senior writer Neal Lawrence is Des Moines-based.
FAX machines, e-mail, overnight delivery services and modems enable us to assemble our publication from such divergent and far-flung sources. It's a pretty amazing process, and even though we have two months to do each issue, we're busy all the time. We're glad so many new readers are enjoying Midwest Today, and are thrilled that our new "Online" version will literally be available to the world. We're proud of the fact that Midwest Today offers a substantive, relevant and incisive approach to covering the Heartland.
We invite "Letters to the Editor" on anything you see online, or if you would like to keep your communication private, that's fine too. We welcome your comments and appreciate your support.
Larry Jordan
Julie Campbell
REMEMBER:
"All things work together for good to those who love God, who are called according to His purpose." -- Romans, 8:28