And if anything sounds remotely like this, "Draped in a February morning's cool, grey mist, the property echoes with songbirds' ceaseless calls, punctuated by a woodpecker's staccato cadence. In the undulating vineyards, workers methodically tend the neatly trellised sea of vines slumbering in midwinter dormancy" we'll blacklist you from our site.

Articles will be immediately dismissed if your "pitch" contains "I can write your style" or the first sentence of your article contains the word "I" more than once as well.

Keep articles to 1,000 - 1,200 words. Prices are negotiated per article.

Do not indent, center or stylize the text. Use single line spacing in paragraphs.

Text/pictures must reflect the young adult lifestyle.

Our most important guideline is that what's written would not fit into the style of any other wine magazine. We're a consumer magazine, not a trade rag. No profiles of collectors, auction results, coverage of trade events, long-winded, self-absorbed journeys into remote wine regions, etc. Articles should be written with the 25-year old in mind.

We thrive on hip, fun, stylish writing. Conversational, dynamic, reader-friendly. We're setting new trends and styles. Just about anything goes.

Quirky is good, and it's okay to break grammar rules, use slang, etc. (e.g. ain't, bubba, rockin'), especially if that's part of your unique "voice." Whatever gets your point across.

Use contractions whenever possible.

Neologisms (words you invent) are fine, if the context makes the meaning clear.

With that all said, here are a few sticklers that we insist on. Articles submitted to our office that don't conform to the guidelines below will not be accepted.

When naming wine varietals or types, use lower case unless the name is the name of a place; then use capitals. (Ex: merlot, pinot noir, but Chianti, Champagne.)

Paragraphs: use line breaks; and again, don't indent!

Use of spaces: one space (not two) after period or colon.

Use of numbers: spell out numbers from one to nine; use numerals for 10 and above.

No capital after colon: use lower case (except for proper names).

No serial comma: in a list of three or more elements, omit the comma before the final one (e.g. "We ate toast, pancakes, fruit and ham") UNLESS the last element in the series contains "and" or "or" (e.g. "We ate toast, pancakes, fruit, and ham and eggs").

Punctuation with quotation marks: commas and periods go inside, semicolons and colons go outside, question marks and exclamation points can do either, depending on context.

Recipes:

* T = tablespoon
* t = teaspoon
* lb. = pound
* cup = cup
* oz. = ounce
* spell out "degrees Fahrenheit"

Thank you.