LOCALE Magazine Editorial Style Guide

Please refer to the guidelines outlined below when writing and submitting work for LOCALE Magazine. We utilize AP Style, with a few exceptions to the rules. We recommend that you have your own AP Stylebook for detailed explanations and other subjects that we might not have covered. If you already have one, you’re a rock star! If not, don’t worry, that’s why we created this guide for you. We encourage you to have this guide open when you’re writing or reviewing your work. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Thank you! 

 

Submission Guidelines

-At the top of the document, please follow this header format:

Title:
Subtitle:
SEO:
Meta Description:
Written By:
Photo Credits: (it’s okay if you don’t know this)

 

Style Guide

Addresses

-If the story is about one business, be sure to include the correct information for businesses mentioned in the story that’s associated with the subject. This is our template:

LOCALE Magazine
2755 Bristol St
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
949.436.8910
www.localemagazine.com

-Abbreviate street suffixes for numbered addresses and do not use periods 

i.e. 602 Fourth St

-Spell out non-numbered addresses along with numbered streets nine and under 

i.e. Fourth Street

-Do not spell out the street direction

i.e. 123 S Alphabet Ln

-Put the business address at the very bottom of the document. 

 

-If the story is a listicle format, this is our format:

Business Name, Neighborhood

 

Colon

-Our rule is to keep the word after the colon lowercase even though AP Stylebook says otherwise, whether or not what follows is a complete sentence

i.e. When you visit LA, you’ll find out why it’s the best: the city births diversity, food, fame and fortune.

-Colons go outside of quotes unless it’s part of the quoted statement.

 

Commas

-We do NOT use the Oxford comma 

i.e. They will serve nachos, sliders and fries.

 

Dimensions

-Use figures and spell out, no abbreviations

i.e. It’s a 21 square-foot venue.
The sign is 4 feet long.
She was 5 feet and 7 inches tall.

 

Directions

-Lowercase for directions on a compass

i.e. north, south, east, west

-When referring to a specific coast/region, always capitalize

i.e. The West Coast is the best coast. 
His family moved to the East Coast. 

-Capitalize regions in the US

i.e. Northeast, Midwest, etc.

 

Fractions

-Spell out numbers less than one in copy, use a hyphen

i.e. One-third of the group went to the left side of the room.

 

Cities, States, Countries

-No periods when abbreviating

i.e. US, LA, SD, GPS, SD

-Do not capitalize “downtown” for cities, but abbreviate after the first mention

i.e. downtown Santa Ana, downtown Los Angeles
DTSA, DTLA

-Capitalize “Downtown” only if it is part of an official name

i.e. Downtown Long Beach Alliance

i.e. Downtown Disney

 

Food

-Leave names of food items lowercase unless it’s the name of a specialty dish

i.e. He loves fried chicken and waffles.
The Bacon Bomb is full of flavor.

 

Hyphens

-Use a hyphen for compound adjectives before a noun

i.e. Well-kept yard
15-year period
Back-breaking work

-The following words are either hyphenated/non-hyphenated 

Midcentury
Email
T-shirt
Nonprofit
Housemade/Homemade
Mouthwatering
Laid back

 

Money

-Spell out the word “cents” and use numerals for amounts less than a dollar

i.e. 12 cents

-Use dollar sign and decimal system for above one dollar

i.e. $1.50

 

Names

-Only use first and last name the first time referenced. All other references after, use last name. Do not use courtesy titles like “Mrs.” or “Mr.”

 

Numbers

-Spell out one through nine, use figures for 10 or above and whenever preceding a unit of measure or referring to ages of people, animals, events or things. 

-Exceptions include: 

• Addresses
• Ages, but not for inanimate objects
• Cents
• Dollars (do not include a period and two zeroes when referring to an even dollar figure)
• Dates
• Dimensions
• Highways
• Millions, billions
• Percentages
• Speed
• Temperatures
• Times (do not include a colon and two zeroes when referring to an even hour)

-Hyphenate when expressing ages as adjectives 

i.e. 6-year-old girl

-Spell out numbers when they begin a sentence

i.e. Thirty participants showed up for the event. 

-Use periods for phone numbers—no parentheses around the area code and dashes. 

 

Parentheses

-If the sentence is complete inside the parentheses, leave the period in. If incomplete, leave the period outside of the parentheses. 

 

Percent

-Always spell out “percent.” Never use the symbol %.

 

Photography Credits

-If there is one (or more) photographer that photographed the whole story, the credits should be as follows:

i.e. Credit: Josie Gonzales

 

Possessives

-When a plural or name ends with an “s,” do not add another “s” after the apostrophe

i.e. We visited the Jones’ house this weekend. 
It’s worth hearing out the students’ testimonies. 

 

Quotes

-Punctuation inside quotes

i.e. “He said he wants to go.”

-When a subject quotes someone else or in a Q&A, use single quotes

i.e. “It was a blast. My husband said, ‘This is the best day of my life.’”
John Withers: I love to cook. My mentor always said, ‘Always do your best.’

-Do not use single or double quotes for emphasis.

 

Movies, TV Shows, Albums

-In quotes

i.e. “Orange is the New Black”
“thank u, next”

 

Social Media

-Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok, X

-When mentioning follower count, it’s okay to use “150k followers” instead of “150,000 followers”—looks cleaner this way.

 

Special Words

-Barbecue (unless the restaurant specifically spells it out as “BBQ”)
-Farmers market (lowercase and no apostrophe)
-Happy hour (lowercase)
-Pastime (one word)
-Taste buds (two words)

 

Time/Dates

-Always leave a.m./p.m. lowercase with periods separating the letters and use a space between the number and abbreviation

i.e. Four o’clock in the afternoon.
The event starts at 4 p.m.
3-10 p.m.

-Do not use a double period if the sentence ends with a.m./p.m.

-Use “noon” and “midnight” instead of 12 p.m./a.m.

-Abbreviate months accompanied with figures except when the month and year are only mentioned

i.e. Feb. 8 and Jan. 4, 2008
February 1994

-Do not use “st, nd, rd, th” after figures

i.e. The event takes place Sept. 3, 2019. 

-For years and decades, the rule of thumb: the apostrophe precedes numbers

i.e. Class of ‘13, the ‘60s, 1980s

-Never spell out years even if it starts the sentence

i.e. 2019 proved a complicated year for many. 

-Centuries

i.e. 21st century
Fifth century

 

Titles

-Capitalize formal titles when they appear before a person’s name, but lowercase if they are after a person’s name or informal

i.e. Marketing Director Alexis Wright
Mark Rogers, marketing assistant

-When conducting interviews, always include first and last name of the contact as well as their credentials/job titles. 

-When creating story titles, do not capitalize “a,” “an” and “the,” or conjunctions or prepositions—unless it’s four letters or longer

i.e. This Will Be a Year to Remember

 

Websites

-Do not include “https://” when typing out the business’ website. Hyperlink all business names to their websites.

 

LOCALE Magazine Terminology

–Local Insight is like a fun fact or local advice. This should not be information that we can find on the Internet. Think of it as an insider’s tip.