An Outline of Submission Guidelines.

• Overview. A 3-4 line piece of self advertising which is useful in on-line guidelines. See notes and example above.
  
  
• Name. It is amazing how often this is omitted.
  
  
• Topic. What is the magazine about?
  
  
• General Comments. What are you looking for in a general sense? Save specifics for the following sections.
  
  
• Don't say, "Send only your very best writing." For Atlantic Monthly it is an appropriate comment but a magazine that pays $10 for 5000 words should expect to be near the bottom of the food chain. http://www2.theatlantic.com
  
  
• Don't say, "Read the last five issues for style," unless they are archived on the internet or commonly available in libraries. One local magazine wanted $5 plus $2 postage per back issue. It would have cost me $35 to research a $2 poem -- no thank you.
  
  
• Readership. Who do you think reads your magazine?
  
  
• How do you publish: print, ezine, newsletter etc.? Don't assume I know. I may find your information out of context.
  
  
• What is the frequency: monthly, quarterly etc.? This is especially important for ezines.
  
  
• Rights: what are you buying? I believe that it is the clear definition of the rights wanted that distinguishes a true ezine from a glorified home page. Writers should NOT submit material without knowing rights even to a non-paying market.
  
  
• For Print it's usually FNASR (First North American Serial Rights) or FSR (First Serial Rights).
  
  
• For ezines try FER (First Electronic Rights), FR (First Rights), One Time Rights -- copyright stays with author, Limited Archive Rights, etc.
  
  
• Do NOT ask for ALL rights unless you are paying big bucks. For $4000 Omni Magazine can have all rights and the body part of their choice. I have seen vanity ezines that expect them for free. http://www.omnimag.com/fiction/datlow/guidelines.html
  
  
• Writer's Market has a good section on rights. Available from http://www.BarnesandNoble.com
  
  
• Copyright. Tell me my work will be protected. You don't really need to but tell me anyway -- I'm paranoid. See Brad Templeton's "10 Myths about Copyrights" for a lot of useful information about internet rights. http://www.temple tons.com/brad/copymyths.html
  
  
• Do you like new writers; work with a few; prefer experienced writers; or use agents only?
  
  
• When do I get paid: on acceptance, on publication, royalties or non-paying? If it is royalties, then explain the basis. If non- paying, then say so explicitly. I file non-paying magazines separately from semi-pro; please don't make me wade through the guidelines looking for your terms.
  
  
• Rate: how much do you pay?
  
  
• Use flat rate or per word (per line for poetry).
  
  
• If you use a weird unit like per page or per column inch, then give an approximate per word equivalent.
  
  
• Make sure currency is clear if posting on internet: Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the USA are all English speaking (more-or- less) and use dollars.
  
  
• If you have different rates for different material, put the rate information in the relevant section.
  
  
• Personal Review. A personal review is a big plus. If you give one for every submission, make sure you say so loudly.
  
  
• Simultaneous Submissions: do you allow them?
  
  
• Reprints: what do you allow and at what rate? Do you want a photocopy? What do you want if it was published on web?
  
  
• Email Submissions: Do you allow them and what about queries?
  
  
• The less you pay, the more you should consider allowing Email submissions. An 5000 word story costs about $2 to mail. For less than $30 it is not worth the risk.
  
  
• Consider allowing short, low paying items like fillers and poetry to be emailed.
  
  
• Consider allowing queries to be emailed.
  
  
• Never let Email submissions come to your normal address. Set up a separate account. You can get a free Email account from Yahoo if you need one. http://www.yahoo.com
  
  
• What do you want in the Email title: department name, column name etc.? Email programs like Eudora can provide automatic folders. http://www.eudora.com/
  
  
• Byline. Tell me if you do not give a byline.
  
  
• Lead Time. What's the average time to publication?
  
  
• Seasonal Lead Time. What's the lead time for seasonal items?
  
  
• Review Time. How long before I start bugging you?
  
  
• Kill Fee. How much do I get if you change your mind?
  
  
• Freelance Percentage. How much is written by freelancers?
  
  
• Circulation. How many do you distribute and where?
  
  
• This is important when planning reprints.
  
  
• For an ezine say how many hits per issue.
  
  
• Cover Letter: do you want one? What should it say?
  
  
• Author's bio. Do you want one? How big? Do you want a photograph?
  
  
• Published clips. Do you want them?
  
  

Non-Fiction.

• Minimum and maximum number of words
• Rate if different to overview.
• Number of articles bought per issue
• Topics allowed in addition to main topic
• Type of article: how-to, humor, inspirational, etc.
• What not to send.
• Do you give assignments?
• Do you pay expenses?
• Are queries required?

Fiction.

• Minimum and maximum number of words
• Rate if different to overview.
• Number of stories bought per issue.
• opics allowed in addition to main topic.
• Genre: fantasy, romance, mystery, science fiction, etc.
• What not to send.
• Are queries required?

Poetry.

• Minimum and maximum number of lines
• Rate if different to overview (Poetry is usually different.)
• Number of poems bought per issue
• Topics allowed in addition to main topic
• Format of poems: Free verse, light verse, haiku, etc.
• What not to send.
• How many poems can I submit in a batch?

Columns. For each column you should state:

• Name of column.
• Minimum and maximum number of words
• Rate if different to overview.
• Number of items per issue
• Description of column

Filler.

• Minimum and maximum number of words
• Rate if different to overview.
• Number of fillers bought per issue.
• Topics allowed in addition to main topic.
• Type of article: anecdote, short humor, etc.

Photographs or Artwork.

• Description. What do you want? What don't you want?
• Color. BW or Color?
• Format. Transparencies, prints or computer graphics?
• Format for Email or floppy: BMP, JPG or GIF, etc.?
• Size: 3.5x5", 8x10", 800x600 pixels, etc.?
• Type: 35 mm, Digital, 16 color bitmap, etc.?
• Model releases required?
• Captions required?
• Rate?
• Rights. Usually One Time Rights for photographs.
• Send graphics only with articles?
• How many items allowed per submission?
• Always include a reminder not to send originals.

Contact Information

• Staff. List the publisher, managing editor, submissions editor and section editors if appropriate.
• Address. Ezines should give a postal address but usually don't. If the page disappears while owing you money, how are you supposed to contact them?
• Phone.
• Fax.
• Email address. You may mention Email submissions here.
• URL.

Printed Manuscript Format.

• Many people think that standard format is 12 pt courier double spaced (poetry single spaced), single sided and underline for italics. Legal name, address, phone number and Email address go at top left of first page. Word count (line count for poetry), rights offered, copyright and "disposable" go at top right of first page. Title, "by" and pen name take up 3 lines centered 1/3 of the way down the first page. Name, abbreviated title and page count go at top of each page after first.
  
  
• Don't change this format without a good reason. If you do, spell it out explicitly.
  
  
• If you expect a lot of bibliographic or reference material you may want to indicate the style you prefer. You may refer to books like The Chicago Manual of Style (available from http://www.amazon.com) or style websites like: http: //succeed.che.ufl.edu/help/style/style_abstract.html http://www.lehi gh.edu/~inhelp/footnote/apa.html
  
  

Email Format.

• How do I send you my document? You should accept major word processing files as attachments: it's more convenient for everyone. The other two common methods -- ASCII attachments and pasting into the Email -- both lose formatting information. If you must use these methods, publish standards for how to indicate bold, italic, etc.
  
  
• What should I put in the heading? (See prior note on automating your Email.)
  
  
• If you want HTML coding embedded in documents then you should provide an example or refer to style guides like: http://www.ability.org/hstyl e.html http://www.fairfield.edu/ ourstyle.htm