FAQ

• Advertising
• Gift certificates
• Classifieds
• Working at CL / Submissions / Editorial Internships
• About an article
• Reprints and Permissions
• Happenings
• Circulation
  
• Business2Business

Advertising

What are the advertising rates for print or online?
For all your rate information, call our Advertising Department at 404.614.2535.

Do you have a Media Kit we can look at?
We certainly do. Give us a call at 404.614.2535.

Gift certificates

How do I get a Eats/Bites/Unwinds certificate?
Thank you for your interest in our certificates programs. Please click on
"Eats", "Bites" or "Unwinds" to order certificates and to get more
information on our programs.

Can my certificate expire?
Each restaurant/spa will set restrictions on their certificates, possibly
including an expiration date. Please be sure to read all restriction
information following the description of each restaurant carefully.

How many certificates can I use per visit to a restaurant/spa?
Each restaurant/spa will set restrictions on their certificates, possibly
including a limit on the number a customer can use. Please be sure to read all restriction information following the description of each restaurant
carefully. If a limit on the number of certificates used is not listed, you
can use multiple certificates during one visit.

I ordered certificates, how come I haven’t received them?
Depending on your delivery option, your certificates may not have arrived
for a few reasons. Please re-read the description of your delivery method.
For any questions regarding receiving your order please e-mail us at
atleats@cln.com.

Where do I pick up my certificates if this was the option I chose?
We are located at 384 Northyards Blvd., Suite 600, Atlanta, Ga 30313. You can pick up certificates the following business day AFTER 2:00 pm. If
ordering over the weekend, you can pick up your order after 2:00pm the
following Monday (unless a holiday). The Creative Loafing office is open M -
F, 8:30am - 5:30pm.

How does the electronic certificate work?
When you chose "Print Out Online" as your delivery method, you can print out the certificate yourself at the end of the ordering process or you will receive an email confirmation with your order that you can print out at a later date.

I have a convenience fee on my order, what's that for?
The convenience fee takes the place of shipping charges on electronic
certificates to be able to provide you immediate access to your
certificates. No more waiting for them to come in the mail, or driving to
our office to pick them up. You can now purchase them and receive them
immediately and use them right away. The convenience fee applies to your entire order, so whether you order 1 certificate or 10, you only pay the convenience fee once.

We bought food certificates but the restaurant has turned into a nightclub, and won’t take the certificates, what now?
Please send all questions regarding the exchange of certain certificates for
another in our program to atleats@cln.com. We will do our best to remedy the situation.

Classifieds

For questions on Classified Advertising, call call 404.420.3290 or fax 404.420.3298 during business hours (Monday – Friday 8:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m).

Working at CL

I am a freelance photographer, can I submit my work to CL?
Send your resume and samples to Alicia Wages, editorial coordinator, at alicia.wages@cln.com or by snail mail to 384 Northyards Blvd., Suite 600, Atlanta, GA 30313.

I am a talented cartoonist, can I submit my work to CL?
Submit your resume and samples to Alicia Wages, editorial coordinator, at alicia.wages@cln.com or by snail mail to 384 Northyards Blvd., Suite 600, Atlanta, GA 30313.

I am a freelance writer and would like to write for CL. Do you have freelance guidelines?
Sure do! Here they are:
We tell readers the readers the real story.
With a distribution of 124,000, Creative Loafing is Georgia’s second-most widely circulated periodical. We are known for candor. We also are known for our coverage of politics, public affairs, social issues, culture, music, movies and the arts. Our stories must be fair and accurate, but can have a strong point of a view and even a little attitude. Our stories must be original: They must offer either a compellingly fresh look at a subject familiar to readers or a look at an entirely new but interesting subject.

Creative Loafing writers are expected to adhere to the commonly understood principles of journalistic ethics: They must refrain from covering subject matter that could present a conflict of interest, may not accept gifts from sources and must report stories accurately and fairly. Although we encourage creative writing approaches, our writers generally adhere to the Associated Press Stylebook. The use of unnamed sources is discouraged and must receive an editor’s approval. Writers must be prepared to provide full documentation so that their stories can be fact-checked. These guidelines apply to freelance writers for Creative Loafing/Atlanta.

We want reporting and writing of the highest quality. Cover stories (1,500-3,000 words) that are well researched, well written, fresh and impossible to ignore. We want writers to dig until they find out what’s really going on. We want stories that force readers to pick up CL every week because they know they will always get a fascinating read. They must have a strong local angle and must be of broad interest. The strongest covers have a central point or tell a dramatic tale. They may be investigations that expose government, corporate or individual wrongdoing; articles that challenge the conventional wisdom concerning important social or political issues; features about cultural or artistic trends that interest a broad range of readers; or profiles about fascinating people. We are not interested in exhaustive overviews, but we do want narratives about individuals that dramatically illustrate the big picture. We want stories with complications that must be resolved. We want writers to use multiple sources and, if necessary, documents and other public records to get a full-bodied understanding of their subject. Among our favorite beats are politics, injustice, the environment, business, tech companies, the arts and controversial personalities.

Inside features on the arts, music, movies, travel and news (600-1,200 words). We want edgy stories in both the arts and in news – stories that others haven’t done yet, but still will interest a lot of people – stories about fresh faces, new groups, styles or trends; and unique or important events and issues. We strongly emphasize local stories that dig to the heart of the matter and speak candidly to our readers. The articles must be well researched, well written, with particular attention given to prose, story flow and maintaining the interest of our readers. Generally, we do not accept single-source stories. Look closely at each section of the paper to guide your queries.

Reviews on the arts, music, restaurants and movies (400-800 words). Reviewers must demonstrate superior knowledge of their subject and be willing to offer criticism where it is due, but their work also must be fair and accurate. They should be adept at using wit and wordplay to express their points.

Opinion or humor columns (500-700 words). We have limited space but occasionally do publish freelance columns. We place a premium on good writing, provocative ideas and interesting local issues.

Sounds good! How should I submit a query letter for an article?
Send a letter proposing your story idea or ideas to the appropriate section editor listed in the Creative Loafing staff box. We prefer e-mailed queries. Address your e-mail to the appropriate editor, placing a dot between the editor’s first and last name, and then: @creativeloafing.com. Our snail mail address is 384 Northyards Blvd., Suite 600, Atlanta, GA 30313.
(Explain what you plan to cover and how you will proceed with the reporting. The query should convey your approach and style, and should describe your specific qualifications to write on the topic.)

If you haven’t written for Creative Loafing before, please include samples of previously published articles and a resume. We’ll consider unsolicited manuscripts but can’t guarantee their return. We very seldom publish memoirs, fiction or articles that promote specific businesses.

So, um, how would I get paid? Do I own my work?
Our pay varies according the article. Checks are mailed two weeks after publication. No invoice is necessary. We buy first print and electronic rights, and the right to archive online. Writers must tell us if they’re working on or have published similar material elsewhere. They must obtain special permission to resell work performed for us in the Atlanta market. We offer kill fees equal to one-fourth of full payment on assigned articles only to writers who have been published by us before. First-time articles or articles written on spec will not, if unpublished, qualify for a kill fee.

Here are the editors of each section:
News: Ken Edelsteinn
Arts & Flicks: Debbie Michaud
Music: Rodney Carmichael
Food & Drink: Besha Rodell

I want to be an intern at CL, how do I do that?

Submit a cover letter, current resume and three writing samples (preferably newspaper clips) to Alicia Wages at 384 Northyards Blvd., Suite 600, Atlanta, GA 30313 or alicia.wages@creativeloafing.com. No phone calls or surprise visits, please.

Will I get school credit for my internship?

Yes. Only students enrolled in college and receiving credit are eligible. No exceptions.

What are some general intern responsibilities?
70 percent of the internship is data entry. Interns are encouraged to pitch story ideas, but we hold them to the same standards as our professional writers.

For more, detailed information, see our Editorial Internships page.

About an article

I think there is a factual error in a story, how do I alert someone about it?
Please send the writer an e-mail at firstname.lastname@creativeloafing.com.

I want to send a letter to the editor/section editor/staff writer, where do I do that? Letters to the Editor should be sent to letters.atl@creativeloafing.com
Check the staff box for section editors or staff writers and e-mail them at firstname.lastname@creativeloafing.com

Where do I send press releases?
Arts events can be sent to artsagenda@creativeloafing.com
Music events go to soundboard@creativeloafing.com
Other events are mailed to happenings@creativeloafing.com
Any other press releases should be sent to the appropriate editors, who are as follows:
News: Ken Edelstein
Arts & Flicks: Debbie Michaud
Music: Rodney Carmichael
Food & Drink: Besha Rodell

I saw something go down, where can I submit a news tip?
Please e-mail our editor, Ken Edelstein, at ken.edelstein@creativeloafing.com

Where can I, the aspiring musician, send in CDs for review?
Please mail press materials and the CD to Rodney Carmichael, music editor, Creative Loafing, 384 Northyards Blvd., suite 600, Atlanta GA 30313

Reprints and Permissions

In print:

• Anyone wishing to photocopy or reprint editorial content from Creative Loafing may do so with verbal permission from the editor or the editor’s representative if the reprint request is under 100 copies, and with written permission for over 100 copies.

•In all cases, the reprints must clearly credit Creative Loafing and state the date of publication in a type size at least equal to the size of the body copy; we also ask that the credit state that Creative Loafing is “Atlanta’s alternative newsweekly.”

• It is our general policy to allow commercial publications outside metro Atlanta to republish – for a fee -- staff-written or staff-produced material for Creative Loafing. In the case of freelance material, the arrangement must be made consistently with the writer’s contract, and usually with the writer or photographer. We generally refrain from permitting local publications reprint our articles.

• It is our general policy to allow reprints free of charge to nonprofit or government organizations. Small excerpts of our articles may be reprinted for political purposes, but if a political campaign or interest group wishes to publish more than one-third of an article we published, that group must publish the entire article. In all cases, reprints must be properly credited to Creative Loafing and the date must appear clearly.

Online edition:

Anyone wishing to republish editorial content from Creative Loafing online must first seek permission of CL’s editor or the editor’s representative.

In most cases, we only will allow two paragraphs of an article (or a description of the article) to be run, along with a direct link to our site.

In any case, unless a special exception is made, the re-publisher must clearly credit Creative Loafing and state the date of publication in a type size at least equal to the size of the body copy, and must also include a direct link to atlanta.creativeloafing.com

Happenings

Where do I send press releases or submit event information?
Events can be submitted via our online form or e-mailed to the following email addresses. When sending via email, we strongly suggest that you include your event information in simple text within the
Body of an email. Jpg images and attachments can cause problems in our
scheduling process and can also be blocked by our spam filtering software.

Arts events including dance theater, visual arts and literature events go to
artsagenda@creativeloafing.com

Club events, karaoke nights, open mic nights and other nightlife events go to
nightshift@creativeloafing.com

Concerts and other music listings go to soundboard@creativeloafing.com

Civic events go to publicagenda@creativeloafing.com

Wine listings and tastings go to winelist@cln.com

All other events go to happenings@creativeloafing.com

How far out from the Atlanta metro area do you allow your happenings listings to be, to be considered for publication?
Creative loafing lists events within the metro area. We generally list events that are up to an hour away.

I want to modify/delete an event/listing I submitted, how do I do that?
It is strongly encouraged that you carefully proof your event information before sending. Due to the volume of requests that we receive, it is very difficult to handle corrections once an event has been submitted. If you have submitted incorrect information, send corrected information in its entirety (not just the piece of info—such as a date or location—that was incorrect) with a note that this information replaces any previously submitted listing.

The same deadline applies to listings corrections as other listings submissions. If a correction is not received by wednesday at noon one week prior to the print edition of the paper, the correction will not be reflected in that issue of the paper.

I submitted an event listing, but it was not on the paper/online, What happened?
We receive and manually enter all listings for both the print paper and the website. This means that your listing will not appear online immediately after you send it.

All listings are in our online database, so check for your listing there before contacting us with problems. The print edition of the paper is subject to cuts for space. We print zoned editions of the paper that are distributed geographically throughout the Atlanta metro area; this means some listings may or may not appear in each zoned edition of the paper.

Due to the volume of requests that we receive, we are not able to enter
listings less than a week prior to the print issue of the paper during which the event occurs.
Listings appear online approximately one week earlier than in print.

Can I suggest a correction to a listing I saw at cl online?
You may only correct a listing that you have sent in yourself. If you have tried to attend a listed event and found that it is no longer occuring, you can send us that information as well.

Circulation

Where can I find a copy of the Creative Loafing?

You can find our print publications at over 2,300 locations in Metro Atlanta. 

How can I be a delivery driver for Creative Loafing?

We are urrently accepting applications for Independent Delivery Contractors with a good driving record, current insurance and valid state issued ID. To apply, come to our office located at

384 Northyards Blvd, Suite 600, Atlanta, GA 30313.

 

Business 2 Business

For business inquiries, please contact:

Taylor Eason - Director of Product Development

I want my business to sponsor promotions, or be part of a CL promotion, how do I do that?
Please contact the promotions director in the appropriate city: Shana Langfur in Atlanta, Joran Oppelt in Tampa Bay, Lauren Tigrett in Charlotte, Jane Hannah in Chicago and David Walker in Washington, D.C.