final update May 10, 2001

Rx.com is an online pharmacy and health resource that launched in October 1999. In addition to providing a reference desk of licensed medical and health content, we publish original content in the form of articles and columns in Rx.magazine.

We want to help our readers manage their health with sharp, reliable, and entertaining articles that give context to the information they learn from their doctors or at Rx.com's reference desk. We also want to provide a range of perspectives, from newsy reports on breakthrough medical treatments to first-person essays and stories of inspiration in which individuals dealt nobly with or surmounted health conditions.

The best way to get an idea of what kind of stories we publish on our site is to explore it. Before you query us, please familiarize yourself with the magazine.

Feature stories are commissioned to populate the departments below, and new stories are posted several times a week.

• Men's Health
• Women's Health
• Senior Health
• Real Life (first-person essays)
• Pediatrics/Parenting
• Living Well (nutrition, fitness, sexuality)
• End-of-Life Care
• Public Health (legislation, environmental health, issues that affect society, such as epidemics, STDs, and drug abuse)
• Alternative Health

Right now we're running articles generally 500-700 words in length.

Rx.com will pay $1/word for freelance work, unless otherwise negotiated, and all facts must be footnoted with sources (please read our research guidelines thoroughly). All assignments will refer to a memo of agreement outlining the angle and scope of story, deadline, and compensation. The memo will be prepared by Rx.com and signed by the writer at the time the work is commissioned.

Pitching a story idea

Note: Rx.magazine does not accept unsolicited manuscripts. If you have already completed an article and want to submit it for review, first send us a query that follows our submission guidelines below.

Please send a query that includes the following information to the editors.

1. Article Title.
2. Word Count. Word count can be approximate and should not include source code or sidebars.
3. Mission/Scope. Explain why Rx.magazine readers will care about this article. What makes it compelling? What is to be learned from the article?
4. Possible Sources. General ideas about sources, as in "a cardiologist," may suffice in some cases, but it is better to have a specific source in mind, e.g., "Jeff Smith, M.D., head of cardiology at MIT."
5. Delivery Date. Fill in the blank for us: "I can get this article to you by ..."
6. Additional Treatments. Charts, sidebars, text blocks, etc.
7. Art Ideas. Photos or illustrations.
8. Focus/Summary. This should be an overview of the article's contents and an explanation that should compel people to read the article.
9. Representative samples of your published work.
10. Background/Biographical information. Include information about your writing experience and any pertinent health/fitness expertise you might have; academic degrees and your outside interests. Convince us- and our readers-that you are the best writer imaginable for the suggested article.