FAQ

Click the link below to access your account details and renew your subscription. You can also renew over the phone by calling our friendly subscription customer service folks in Harlan at 1-888-341-5878.
Renew My Subscription

Absolutely! Click the link below to give a gift subscription.
Give a Gift

If you're a new subscriber, or if you renewed after your subscription had expired, it may take up to 6 weeks to receive your first issue. If you haven't received it after 6 weeks, please give us a call at 1-888-341-5878, or use this contact form. 

Periodicals aren't included with regularly forwarded mail, so you'll need to arrange it with us. Give us a call at 1-888-341-5878 and let us know where to send your issues. You can also let us know when you'll be heading back, and we'll get that set up too!

Single copies of Our Iowa may be purchased for $6.00 at the locations listed here. Or, save the drive and order a current copy or back issues from our online store. Shipping's free for magazine purchases. 
Visit the Our Iowa Store

Yes! We have two free printable gift card choices below. Download the PDF, then print in color. Fold the sheet in half, and then fold in half again. You handle the "thank you"s, we'll handle the subscription!
Holiday Gift Card
General Gift Card

Yes, you will! As long as you renew your subscription within 10 days of receiving your first renewal notice, you will be entered into the High on the Hog drawing for a chance to win $250 worth of pork! The same goes for renewing over the phone, too. 

Our Iowa looks for sharp, colorful, high-resolution images that highlight people and places across the state. Due to our high printing standards, we require photo files to be at least 1MB or larger. 

Email photos to editors@OurIowaMagazine.com. Please identify persons in the photo and indicate when and where it was taken. Be sure to also include your name, address and phone number in case we have questions and need to contact you. Before hitting "send", make sure your email program is sending the file as "actual" size. Downsizing to expedite delivery well make the photo too small for print. 
You can also submit photos online using our Submission Form.

Yes, to scan color prints or those in black and white, choose the "color" setting on your scanner, and scan at 300 ppi (pixels per inch). Before you send your scan, make sure your email program is not compressing the file. Send it at "actual" size to ensure its large enough for our printing standards. If you have several scans to send, it's best to include just one or two per email message. 
You can also upload your scan to us using this Submission Form.

Our Iowa receives many stories, photos and ideas via mail and email, and not all submissions can be printed. With the magazine's limited space and only 6 issues a year, we sometimes hang on to stories or photos for several months (or even years!), waiting for just the right issue to use it. Factors like the season, advertising placement, and other material we have planned for an issue can all impact when we choose to print a particular story or photo.

Please be patient--we receive a lot of material, but know that we read each and every one! If we do choose to publish your material, we'll send you an early copy of the magazine to notify you (this is why we require your mailing address with each submission). It might even earn you a delicious, fresh baked Amish pie! 
Read about how you can earn a pie here!

Mailed in submissions will not be returned. Please do not send us your original, cherished family photographs. Instead, we will gladly accept copies. 

In special cases, please call our office at 515-232-0075 or email editors@OurIowaMagazine.com to make prior arrangements with an editor, and be sure to include a self-addressed stamped envelope with your mailed item. Our staff is small, but we do our best to return requested material as quickly as possible. 

Unfortunately, no. We don't have a community events calendar, because Our Iowa's mission is not to provide news. Instead, we celebrate the state with entertaining stories about people...armchair reading describing why Iowa is the best place to live. Besides, there are so many wonderful events and celebrations around our state--we'd never be able to cover them all!
For more information on the kinds of stories we print, read about our Recurring Features

Full-length stories that we print are compensated with an appropriate freelance fee, depending on the length and whether photos were included. For shorter items and individual photos, we compensate contributors with a thank-you gift of a freshly baked Amish pie!
I Like Pie!

Our Hawk-Eyes would love to hear from you! Click below to send a message to your county representative. 
Hawk-Eye Contact Form

Field editors, or Hawk-Eyes, as we call them, are not paid staff, but volunteers. They serve as our "eyes and ears" in the counties where they live, sending tips for stories and often writing or shooting photos themselves. Field editors' submissions that are published qualify for the same compensation as all other contributors. 

If you are interested in serving as an Our Iowa Hawk-Eye, click the link below to read about the "job" and see if your county is in need of a representative. To apply, send an email to editors@OurIowaMagazine.com. 
Hawk-Eye Information

To get in the drawing, send a postcard or letter listing the pages where you found all three of the “I’s” to:

Lucky I 
Our Iowa 
1510 Buckeye Ave.
Ames IA 50010.

Print your name, address, phone number and email address if you have one, so we can contact you if you win.

NOTE: You can enter only by regular mail, not by email, so your entry can be tossed along with others into our cracker barrel for this issue’s drawing. One entry per person only. Please do not include subscription orders or questions with these entries.

Yes, you will! As long as you renew your subscription within 10 days of receiving your first renewal notice, you will be entered into the High on the Hog drawing for a chance to win $250 worth of pork! The same goes for renewing over the phone, too. 

To get in the drawing, send a postcard or letter listing the pages where you found all three of the “I’s” to:

Lucky I 
Our Iowa 
1510 Buckeye Ave.
Ames IA 50010.

Print your name, address, phone number and email address if you have one, so we can contact you if you win.

NOTE: You can enter only by regular mail, not by email, so your entry can be tossed along with others into our cracker barrel for this issue’s drawing. One entry per person only. Please do not include subscription orders or questions with these entries.

Absolutely! Click the link below to give a gift subscription.
Give a Gift

Single copies of Our Iowa may be purchased for $6.00 at the locations listed here. Or, save the drive and order a current copy or back issues from our online store. Shipping's free for magazine purchases. 
Visit the Our Iowa Store

Yes! We have two free printable gift card choices below. Download the PDF, then print in color. Fold the sheet in half, and then fold in half again. You handle the "thank you"s, we'll handle the subscription!
Holiday Gift Card
General Gift Card

Orders are normally shipped via USPS no later than two business days following the date the order was placed. Orders are shipped via Media Mail, First Class, or Priority mail, depending on the product ordered and weight of the package.

Yes. All of our orders are shipped via the US Postal Service. 

Sure! All of our merchandise is shipped from our Ames office, so you are welcome to swing by and shop here. If you place an order online, choose "Pick Up In Store" for the shipping method, which removes shipping costs. Or you can place your order over the phone by calling us at 515-232-0075 and letting us know you'll be by to pick it up.

We try our best to make sure we're packaging everything correctly, but mistakes do happen! If you receive an incorrect shipment, please notify us within 7 days so it may be corrected immediately. Securely package and seal the incorrect merchandise and original packing list in an appropriate shipping box or envelope and send back to us through the USPS. You will be reimbursed for your shipping costs.

Returns on unused/unworn apparel/merchandise will be accepted for 30 days after the date of purchase for a full refund. Send the defective apparel/merchandise in a box with your original packing list back to us via insured mail with delivery confirmation to the address below. All merchandise purchased with a promotional discount will be refunded for the price paid. Please allow 1-2 billing cycles from the day you return your package for your account to be credited. Shipping charges are non-refundable on returned items.

Orders are normally shipped via USPS no later than two business days following the date the order was placed. Orders are shipped via Media Mail, First Class, or Priority mail, depending on the product ordered and weight of the package.

Yes. All of our orders are shipped via the US Postal Service. 

Sure! All of our merchandise is shipped from our Ames office, so you are welcome to swing by and shop here. If you place an order online, choose "Pick Up In Store" for the shipping method, which removes shipping costs. Or you can place your order over the phone by calling us at 515-232-0075 and letting us know you'll be by to pick it up.

We try our best to make sure we're packaging everything correctly, but mistakes do happen! If you receive an incorrect shipment, please notify us within 7 days so it may be corrected immediately. Securely package and seal the incorrect merchandise and original packing list in an appropriate shipping box or envelope and send back to us through the USPS. You will be reimbursed for your shipping costs.