A brand new magazine, The BIG Blue is accepting submissions from writers, artists and photographers.

This full color, slick and glossy magazine, will absolutely be chocked full of content about OUR area in southwest Virginia, the arts, music, businesses, festivals and fun. There is no other magazine specifically about this area with this kind of focus on our tourist-destination businesses! The inaugural issue will be in print by May 15.

If you are an artist and would like to have your art featured along with an interview, a freelance photographer looking for a home for some of your photos, or a writer interested in having a by-line, send samples of your work with an introductory letter to The Big Blue Magazine.

Artists and photographers please direct your response to Penelope Moseley, PO Box 1058, Hillsville, VA 24343 or email to penny@bigbluemag.com. We will be featuring work by artists on our covers, as well as sprinkled throughout the pages. We need photos of the area:

Patrick County, Floyd County, Carroll County, Grayson County, City of Galax, Hillsville, Fries, Floyd, Stuart, Wytheville, Mount Airy, and Sparta. Mountain scenes, people scenes...anything interesting and artistic. If you have a story with the photo, that is even better.

Writers please submit samples to Mitoné Griffith at mitone@bigbluemag.com with "Interested Writer" in the subject line. Please send us examples of your published or

unpublished work. We will be writing stories on our business associates. These articles will need to be assigned to talented local writers. Unpublished writers are welcome! Unagented writers are welcome!

Compensation will be a contributor's copy, byline and author's resource box. You will have the satisfaction of having published clips! Growth in the magazine may bring paying opportunities for consistent contributors.

We are looking for articles and stories that cover a variety of topics of interest to visitors and residents of our region. Writers wanting to cover events or submit creative stories should submit a brief query pitching the story idea first. We do not accept articles about businesses (even

non-profit businesses) under this category since articles are related to our businesses through an Associate Membership. Word length should be no more than 1500 words per article, without prior approval. Photos with work are preferred.

Topics we are looking for are festival coverage, art shows, museum exhibits, musical performances, theatrical presentations, family history stories, mountain fiction/folk tales, recipes with stories and people profiles.

For more information about The Big Blue you may go online to www.bigbluemag.com or call 800-431-3407.