Writer's Guidelines

Thank you for your interest in The Old Farmer’s Almanac!

So, you think you’d like to write for The Old Farmer’s Almanac? We invite story ideas from writers and readers. We hire freelance writers for both The Old Farmer’s Almanac, which is published every September, and The Old Farmer’s Almanac Garden Guide, published every February. Wit and wisdom are still our stock and trade, and we are still guided by the words of the Almanac’s founder, Robert B. Thomas: 
“Our main endeavor is to be useful, with a pleasant degree of humor.”

To Write for The Old Farmer’s Almanac & the Garden Guide: 

1. Study the publications: Read an issue or two to better understand how to write for us. 

2. Explore Almanac.com to see the scope of what we do:

   • What’s an Almanac

   • History of the Almanac

   • Who are Our Readers? 

   • The Old Farmer’s Almanac Documentary (Video)

   • The Editors

   • Best of the Almanac Articles

3. Learn the topics that we cover—and those that we don’t 

   • We bring timeless topics to the page under a variety of categories: adventure, amusement, astronomy, folklore, food, gardening, history, home remedies, husbandry, nature/outdoors, pets, romance, sports/fishing, weather, and others.

   • We celebrate and commemorate past people and events with historic or “anniversary” stories that shed new light on the subject and/or update the subject with the latest information. (An anniversary year is typically one that is divisible by 5, but preferably is 25, 50, or 100 years ago.) 

   • We often feature a “special report” on a topic of broad general interest. In the past, these have included romance, superstitions, and wedding traditions past and present.

   • We especially encourage humor of all kinds: the fanciful, the bizarre, the ludicrous, and the offbeat. The best humor seems to be a true tale well told—for example, using ear wax as lip gloss, how to hypnotize a chicken, and how to forecast the weather with a pig spleen. 

   • Little-known profiles are also welcome. We have covered, for example, the first woman over Niagara Falls in a barrel, a dog that could read minds, and pet heroes.

   • In the Garden Guide, we publish stories about gardeners and gardening, from houseplants and native plants to landscaping and eco-gardening ideas, from plot plans to curated advice and reference, all with a focus on skill-building and DIY projects. 

   • We do not publish: personal/first-person essays; recollections, reflections, or personal experiences and/or memories without a clear benefit for readers, such as tips, advice, or humor; fiction; political discourses; book reviews.

4. Deadlines and details

We have a 12-month lead time for the Garden Guide; assignments are made in December and January for the following year’s edition. For the Almanac, we have a longer lead time, with assignments generally made by May for the edition 2 years hence (e.g., May 2027 for the 2029 edition), which, as mentioned, comes out in September. Payment is made on acceptance; rates are competitive. We prefer to buy all rights; for more on our Terms of Use, click here.

If you have a story idea, please email your query and published writing clips to AlmanacEditors@yankeepub.com, or mail to: 

The Editor
The Old Farmer’s Almanac
P. O. Box 520
Dublin, NH 03444
Please include a self-addressed, stamped envelope if you would like a response. 

Thank you for your interest in The Old Farmer’s Almanac!