Interested in writing for Arthritis Today?
Tell Us Your Personal Story

About Arthritis Today
Thank you for your interest in writing for Arthritis Today, a national consumer health magazine published by the Arthritis Foundation to help people with arthritis take control of their lives and their health.

Arthritis Today is a bimonthly publication with a special seventh Buyers Guide issue published in the fall. We have a circulation of 650,000 and a readership of 3.1 million.

Arthritis is a general term that describes more than 100 diseases and related conditions. All have some musculoskeletal involvement. The most common form of arthritis affects only the joints, but some forms of arthritis are systemic, meaning they are autoimmune disorders that threaten multiple internal systems and organs in addition to affecting the joints. Arthritis is not an old person's disease. It can happen at any age. Arthritis Today is written for all people with arthritis, including all ages and every form of arthritis, but our primary focus is on baby boomers, ages 45 to 65, who have osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, lupus, gout, ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis or osteoporosis. It is difficult for a writer who doesn't understand our audience or who is not familiar with arthritis to successfully write for Arthritis Today.

We expect any story submitted to Arthritis Today to contain the same quality of writing and depth of research as stories in other national magazines. Writers should seek the most recent, relevant research, track down primary sources and conduct interviews with people who have arthritis wherever appropriate. Even a short department piece requires research.

Arthritis Today comprises five departments: Nutrition, Balance (emotional coping), Fitness, MedWatch and Solutions (strategies and products). Most department pieces are between 200 and 500 words. We prefer queries to completed MSs. 

Arthritis Today typically includes three to five features in each issue. Features are usually between 1,500 and 2,500 words and on subjects of broad interest to people with arthritis, such as emotional coping, health or treatment, research, lifestyle and creating a healthier lifestyle. Very condition-specific stories are better suited to departments. We prefer queries to completed MSs.

Before querying Arthritis Today, we strongly suggest that you familiarize yourself with the magazine to understand the kind of stories we look for and topics we have recently covered. You can review the TOC for the past several years. Queries should include information about the author and clips if the author is new to Arthritis Today. While we prefer to work with experienced writers, we consider all interesting and relevant queries.

We prefer submissions by e-mail or postal mail. Send e-mail queries to atmail@arthritis.org and postal submissions to: Arthritis Today, 1330 West Peachtree Street NW, Suite 100, Atlanta, GA, 30309. Please send e-mail queries in the body of the e-mail message; we will not open attachments. No phone calls, please.

We try to read all submissions in a timely manner, but it may take us up to two months to respond to a query. We cannot guarantee that we will return or publish any unsolicited MS. Nor can we accept articles that have been previously published in another magazine.

A caveat
We prefer not to receive unsolicited manuscripts or telephone queries.

Tell Us Your Personal Story
Hardly a day goes by that we at Arthritis Today don’t hear from readers who want a chance to share a personal story about how they’ve encountered – and bested – arthritis. If you’d like to share your poem or essay with others, mail it to Arthritis Today, 1330 West Peachtree St., Suite 100, Atlanta, GA 30309, or send it via e-mail to atmail@arthritis.org.