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| Alternative Religions |
| Education Network |
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| "If
we suffer tamely an attack on our liberty, We encourage it
and involve others in our doom." |
| ~Samuel
Adams 1771 |
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| newWitch Contributors' Guidelines |
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| Version 1.2 |
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| March 16, 2002 |
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| Dagonet Dewr, Managing Editor |
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| newWitch is a magazine dedicated to, featuring,
and partially written by young or beginning Witches, Wiccans,
Neo-Pagans, and other earth-based, ethnic, pre-Christian, shamanic,
and magical practitioners. Everyone from Traditional Wiccans
to potion-makers to Asatruar to eco-Pagans can find something
in these pages. The one thing we all have in common is a willingness
to look at the world, our magical and spiritual paths, and ourselves
in new ways. We hope to reach not only those already involved
in what we cover, but the curious and completely new as well.
newWitch gladly accepts essays, factual articles, fiction,
poetry, column ideas, artwork, photographs, personal experiences,
and ranting feedback relevant to our subject matter, goals,
and readership. |
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| One note: if you send something to us without your
personal information (check-cashing name, pen name, postal address,
email address, phone number, and brief bio) your submission
will be recycled, pulped, and used to start our next Beltane
fire. You've been warned. |
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| General Info: |
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| newWitch is dedicated to being a source of information,
opinion, commentary, and unclassifiable neat stuff for our readership
and our community, and doing so in a manner that respects all
persons, creatures, and the Earth as much as possible while
still professing that we live in the society and world around
us, rather than bailing and setting up a hermitage on a remote
mountaintop somewhere. Folks of all paths are welcome to submit
material for us, but our focus falls on the new generation(s)
of magical, Pagan, and witchy folks as well as providing a unique,
spirituality-based take on pop culture and the world around
us. We refuse to accept material which demeans persons or practice;
if you've got a bitch, either make it constructive and intelligent
or save it for your hamster cage. newWitch is a tool
and a source, not a weapon. We also don't publish personal attacks
or unsubstantiated material; you can keep your karma, thanks,
we have our own. Cite your sources on everything; this includes
quotes, specific theories or arguments, or facts of any kind.
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| All submissions must be the original work of the author or
artist. (And no beating up your little brother and stealing
his stuff.) If you collaborate with others, we must have permission
from everyone involved or be assured you have the legal authority
to assign rights to the work. (Translation: let us publish it.)
newWitch supports, without reservation, the right of
creative people to control their own material; plagiarism or
copyright infringement will get you a visit from our pack of
Attack Death Lawyers, so don't even go there. |
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| We do not accept simultaneous submissions. This is due to
the difficulty in obtaining first rights to manuscripts that
are in what amounts to the public domain. Several times recently
we've run into problems where a work we bought or planned to
buy has appeared in another magazine in our market in advance
of our publication of the piece. Although we understand that
the policy of not accepting simultaneous submissions is new
in the Pagan/Witchcraft market, it is fairly standard practice
for professional-level magazines in other fields. It keeps magazines
from duplicating each other, and we feel that's a good idea,
so we're encouraging the trend in our market as well. |
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| We are aware that you have worked hard on your writing, that
it is personal and special to you, and contains your unique
voice. Nonetheless, we often find it necessary to edit for length,
clarity, and grammar - sometimes at the last minute before publication.
Therefore, we cannot guarantee that your article will appear
precisely as you submitted it. If you do not want your material
edited in any way, please do not submit your writing to us.
(Also, please inform us of deliberate uses of non-traditional
spelling so the tone of your work does not get accidentally
altered. Be aware of our style sheet, and follow its spelling
guidelines whenever necessary.) |
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| If you have previously contacted any newWitch staffer regarding
a particular manuscript -- i.e., sent us a query letter and
we asked to see the proposed article, or met the Managing Editor
at an event, or talked to us on the phone, or whatever -- please
reference that prior contact in the cover letter accompanying
your manuscript! We deal with a lot of people, and as much as
we'd like to be perfect, we aren't. Remind us where we talked
before, and what we said, and what you said, and we'll probably
figure it out. (If not, we're having a bad day.) |
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| And yes, da, oui, ja, we want you to send us ideas for comments
on whether we think it'd work before you write the whole damn
thing out! We both save time and sweat that way. |
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| newWitch maintains contact with a number of regular
contributors, but we're always looking for freelance submissions.
The easiest way to get your foot in the door is to write letters
to the editor, short articles, essays, or reviews; you can work
up from there, so don't feel that you have to begin with a huge
feature piece. Don't be shy; everyone had to start somewhere,
and you may be better than you think. newWitch doesn't
exist without you, so just dive in. |
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| Compensation: |
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| (Wait, we get paid for this?) |
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| Damn straight. We're proud to be a paying market. We offer
a standard pay of $.01 per word for all written works, excepting
letters to the editor and pieces in The Rant. Occasionally we
solicit reprints, which also receive $.01 a word. We have a
$10 minimum payment per item, so short pieces such as poems,
submissions for our back page feature You, and reviews typically
get a flat fee of either $10 or a year's subscription to newWitch,
submitter's choice. Payment for artwork, photography, and other
visual works is negotiated individually; the Editor-in-Chief
makes all layout and design decisions and should be your point
of contact for questions regarding visual works. Other exchanges,
such as subscriptions or ad space, may be discussed with the
staff and may be more generous than cash payments. |
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| This pay scale does not apply to columnists, whose payments
will be handled individually on a case-by-case basis. |
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| Length: |
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| Features (articles, essays, and interviews) should be between
500 and 4000 words. We most often publish items between 700
and 1500 words; article length decision is made on a case by
case basis, though over 2000 words will generally indicate a
featured or commissioned article assigned by the Managing Editor.
Fiction can be anywhere between 250 and 1500 words; topics should
ideally relate to both young adult concerns and Pagan spirituality
or magical practice. For poetry, we suggest a maximum count
of 100 lines per poem. |
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| Submissions for You, our back page feature, should include
a digital format photo of a pagan young adult in some public
activity, along with a short description and biography (between
250-500 words). Submissions for You will only be taken by email,
and should be sent to both the Managing Editor and the Editor-In-Chief.
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| Format: |
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| Our first choice is Microsoft Word file attachments emailed
directly to the Managing Editor at dagonet_dewr@gmx.net,
carbon copied to the Editor-in-Chief at editor@newwitch.com.
Other acceptable file attachment formats include text files
and commonly used word processor programs; you may also paste
the text of your manuscript directly into an email message,
whereupon the Managing Editor shall faint with delight. Use
a plain, legible font or typeface large enough to read easily;
persons using Wingdings or Creepygirl will get smacked with
a wet fish. Alternatively, you may send clearly labeled PC or
Macintosh discs accompanied by hard copy with the contributor's
name, address, and other contact information. Clearly typed,
double-spaced manuscripts are acceptable for short pieces and
poetry. Send paper manuscripts or disks to the newWitch post
office box below. Please include SASE if you want it back. The
editor will try to respond promptly to your submission. Electronic
submissions will enjoy a modest edge over hardcopy submissions
because they're just easier to handle. |
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| Deadlines: |
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| Deadlines for nW run on a quarterly format, about three and
a half months ahead of the issue publication date. There are
two seperate deadlines for columns and features. |
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| Issue |
Column Deadline |
Feature Deadline |
Publication Date |
| Fall |
March 15 |
April 1 |
August 15 |
| Winter |
June 15 |
July 1 |
November 15 |
| Spring |
September 15 |
October 1 |
February 15 |
| Summer |
December 15 |
January 1 |
May 15 |
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| Diversity: |
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| newWitch seeks to represent the whole spectrum of humanity
as relevant to our subject matter. Therefore, we want to publish
material by members of all ethnic traditions, racial heritages,
sexes and sexual orientations, religions, ages, body shapes
and sizes, levels of physical ability, lifestyles, degrees of
experience, geographic locations, hat sizes, willingness to
have a deep personal relationship with an armadillo, and so
forth. If you belong to a minority and you'd like to tell us
about it, put that information in your biography or cover letter
when you contact us. A specific note about age; in many pre-Christian
societies, older people in the tribe or clan or extended family
gave instruction to the younger people, and in return learned
from them as well. newWitch is dedicated to that spirit, and
encourages authors from all points on the aging spectrum to
feel free to contribute material. |
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| Topics: |
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| Now this is quite a list. |
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| Wicca. Witchcraft. Paganism. Magic. Lifestyles. College.
High School. First job. Second job. Apartments. Housing. Love.
Sex. Marriage. Kids. Not having kids. Being a kid. Fun and games.
TV. Music. Movies. Shamanism. Herbalism. Activism. Other isms.
Politics. Personal development. Meditation. Recipes. Mythology.
Ritual. Practice. Arts and crafts. Humor. Profiles. Interviews.
Amusing BS. Celebrations of Nature, love, life, death, birth,
rebirth, and existence. Beer. Ethics. Morals. Fiction. Poetry.
Research. History. Where we are and what the hell we're doing.
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| In short, anything that is about, of interest to, or concerns
young Pagans and magical folks. In even more short, almost anything.
You know, neat stuff. Surprise us. Blow us away. Show us what
you can do. |
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| "But", you say, "what really fits the magazine?"
Easy. Any article that tells us how as well as why will get
you bonus points. Remember, the "new" in
newWitch isn't just about age; it's also about experience,
and articles written for beginner witches, Wiccans, and pagans,
with practical how-to information, will really fit our audience.
Lists of do-it-yourself hints, such as "10 Ways To Make
Your Workplace Witchier", are really good as well, and
make it easy to promote the magazine as well, so we like those
a lot. |
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| Also remember that we don't limit ourselves to just Pagan
or witchy topics. Articles dealing with popular culture, social
movements, or lifestyle issues are encouraged as long as they
view the world through a witchy or Pagan lens. |
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| Finally, newWitch as a magazine espouses reasonable, responsible
ethics in a world too often devoid of them. Please be sure your
spellwork and hints-n-tips follow some sort of ethically accountable
system, whether it be the Rede, Nine Noble Virtues, or what
have you. In the real world, your karma can, indeed, be a bitch.
Articles espousing hexes or other non-consensual magick usage
can and will be refused. All targets of spellwork should be
willing. |
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| Fiction and Poetry: |
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| Exercise your imagination. Show us the kind of world you
would love to live in, or the kind that you'd never want to
be anywhere near. Stories can deal with anything of interest
to magical people, given the guidelines above. They can take
place in normal reality, or you can get really really weird.
(Please, however, play in your own universe, not someone else's
copyrighted one.) We're always looking for upbeat, well-written
work that shows people using their magical or spiritual practices
or beliefs to effect change in the world and in themselves.
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| Things to avoid: being gooey when you're being optimistic.
Gratuitous erotic content -- you're welcome to try to write
soft, well-written sexually-themed work, but bear in mind Dag's
Rule #413: "Ninety-eight percent of all erotica sucks." Work
that espouses intolerance of other beliefs or ideals. Poor grammar.
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| We accept poetry in a wide range of forms and styles. The
Managing Editor has definite ideas about poetry, however, and
is picky. If you use forms, rhymes, or meter, use them right.
Submit 2-4 poems at a time, unless you've been smitten by the
Muse of Poetry and want to submit that one perfect poem. |
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| Reviews: |
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| newWitch prints reviews of books, music, movies, videos,
and other relevant products. We do accept unsolicited reviews
and a copy of our reviewing policies is available upon request.
However, a substantial portion of our reviews come from a group
of regular reviewers organized by the Managing Editor; if you
would like to join this group, please send an email message
(or a snailmail letter with SASE) to the editor outlining your
interests. If you are a writer, musician, artist, producer,
publisher, etc. and would like us to review your product(s),
then you may also contact the Managing Editor for arrangements.
All materials submitted become the property of newWitch, and
will not be returned. |
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| More in-depth reviewer guidelines can be requested from the
Managing Editor. |
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| Art/Photography: |
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| We seek portfolios from artists/photographers who wish to
place their work in newWitch. We commission most of the visual
art featured in our pages. Please send a hardcopy portfolio
that we can keep on file for you; it does not need to be of
reproduction quality, but should give a substantial indication
of the subject matter and style in which you work and should
be on white paper. Size is not crucial here; in general, images
should be large enough to see clearly (preferably at least snapshot
size instead of thumbnails) but not so large as to cause storage
problems (8" x 10" is a good upper limit). You may
submit material in color, black-and-white, or a combination
but we only use color work on the cover. It is much easier to
get published with B/W work in the interior. Do not send originals!
Indicate availability of works in your portfolio; if we decide
to use anything we will contact you for a better copy/original.
If we ask you to send us an electronic image, the preferred
format is .JPG but .TIF or .PDF are also acceptable. |
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| newWitch has a distinct style and tone that is not
always easy to grasp. We like fresh, crisp images that convey
a funky sense of play and magic without coming across as hopelessly
trend-of-the-week. Aim to instill a sense of reverence, or whimsy,
or joy - you want to pull viewers into the world you depict.
Certain types of written material (interviews, event reports,
travelogues, how-to articles, etc.) have a better chance of
acceptance if you can provide high-quality photographs or artwork
to match the text. We do pay extra for such visual aids if the
writer can provide them. Questions regarding artwork or photographs
should be directed to the Editor-in-Chief, who also handles
design/layout work for our magazine. |
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