Accolades to Authors
One of ILTA's most valued resources is our volunteer authors -- knowledgeable and experienced legal professionals who come from the ranks of our member and vendor communities. It's the wealth of educational content that comes from folks in the trenches that is so valuable to our readers; and we are grateful to our authors for sharing the information and experience they've acquired.

If you'd like to contribute an article to ILTA, we want to help you both in getting your idea approved and in ensuring that your piece is published in the best possible light. It's truly a win-win proposition: You and your firm or company get exposure to the most attentive audience in the world -- and we get to publish articles that keep our readers informed, educated and coming back for more.

2012 Editorial Calendar

PEER TO PEER, OUR QUARTERLY MAGAZINE
To have your article considered for publication, send your ideas and pitches to Kristy Cole. We accept pitches for various types of articles: features case studies, "smart moves," "lessons learned" and others. Content should be original and have an educational focus around a strong thesis that supports the theme of the magazine.

March - Global Practices/Local Support
Content will focus on the dynamics of running a global firm or doing business on a global level, while supporting local offices. Input from all corners of the globe is encouraged.
Articles No Longer Being Accepted 

June - Law2020®: Two Years and Counting
Content will focus on the ways in which law firms will have to adapt in order to thrive over the next decade. Topics will include supporting “bring your own X” with technologies and policies, alternative fee arrangements, ubiquitous computing, leadership structures and more.
Articles Due by March 30

September - Security
Content will cover security concerns from all angles, including international governance of data, managing and securing tablets and PDAs, data centers, building an information security program, internal access to information, etc.
Articles Due by May 25

December - Law Firm 101
Content will aim to educate legal support staff on the business of running a law firm. Practice areas, filing procedures and taking on new clients will be explored.
Articles Due by October 5

DIGITAL WHITE PAPERS 
To have your article considered for publication, send your ideas and pitches to Kristy Cole. Articles in our white papers are typically "deeper dives" than those published in the magazine, but shorter content is also accepted. The subject should drive the final word count, but articles between 2,000 and 3,000 words are accepted. Content should be very educational, without any product promotion (a notable exception to this policy exists for Microsoft's products, which are ubiquitous in law firms). White papers are published in digital format and provide an environment for multimedia files, so consider including audio interviews or videos as content linked from the article.

March - Communications Technologies
Content will cover new ways that technology is enhancing communications in the legal profession, including platform-agnostic connectivity, tablets vs. notebooks, unified communications and Skype as a business tool.
Articles Due by February 6

April - IT Compensation Survey
This publication is produced internally and does not accept bylined content.

June - Knowledge Management
Content will give insight into current and upcoming trends in knowledge management. Tools for collaboration, strategies for knowledge-sharing and innovative uses of SharePoint will be explored.
Articles Due by April 30

July - Project Management
Content will focus on the adoption of project management within the legal profession, including success stories, best practices and more.
Articles Due by June 4

August - Technology Survey
This publication is produced internally and does not accept bylined content.

September - Financial Management
Content will explore alternative fee arrangements, technology to ease the budgeting process, workflows, advances in financial automation, etc.
Articles Due by July 30

October - The New Librarian
Content will cover the changing landscape of the library department and evolving roles of legal librarians. Electronic vs. hard copies, the minimization of physical library space and skill set requirements will be explored.
Articles Due by September 4

November - IT Staffing Survey
This publication is produced internally and does not accept bylined content.

December - The Changing Face of Computing
Content will take on a high-tech flavor with topics on open-source software, 32-/64-bit applications, virtual data centers and more.
Articles Due by November 5

Writing For ILTA (The ILTA Process)
All publications follow a similar editorial process. Please observe the steps below if you would like to contribute an article.

STEP 1: Send your article pitch.
A pitch is a few paragraphs or an outline that explains the article you intend to write. To have your article or other content considered for publication, please send your pitch to Kristy Cole.

STEP 2: Observe the guidelines.
If your pitch is accepted, we'll send you an email message that will include your deadline, word count and other relevant information. It's important that you observe ILTA's publishing guidelines noted below.

STEP 3: Submit your finished article.
Send your article in before the deadline as an MS Word attachment to an email message to Kristy Cole. Please consider this your final draft. 

STEP 4: Approve the final layout and sign the agreement letter.
Before we go to press, you'll see the article following iterative copyedit processes and final layout. You'll sign and return our Author Agreement Letter that outlines what we provide and what we expect from you. 

Things To Remember as You Write (ILTA's Publishing Guidelines)
It's important to keep the following guidelines in mind as you write your article.

• Every submission should be an original work. We occasionally reprint an article previously published by the author, but only if it fits our theme and audience.
• Start your article with a strong concept or thesis.
• Consider including a short sidebar piece in your article, especially if you conduct an interview, want to include a list or have other related information that doesn’t quite fit in the article.
• Consider using subheads and bullet lists. These make good "quick information" tools.
• Do not include footnotes, diagrams or images.
• Think education, not promotion. Do not spotlight specific products or companies; rather, write about challenges and solutions with technology or administrative procedures (we love case studies).
• Keep your audience in mind. This is an audience of your peers; please consider their knowledge as you write.
• Stick to the assigned word count.
• Craft a strong closing.
• Include an author bio of 50 to 75 words that includes your title, job responsibilities, company and complete contact information.
• You write, we'll edit. We reserve the right to edit the article to fit the ILTA house style.

If you have questions, contact Kristy Cole at kristy@iltanet.org or (512) 795-4675.