AREN, Inc
Alternative Religions Education Network
Alternative Religions
Education Network
 
"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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Contributor Guidelines for SageWoman Magazine
 
 
SageWoman is a quarterly magazine of women's spirituality. Our readers are people who identify positively with the term "e;Goddess."e; Our readership includes women of a variety of religious faiths, ranging from Roman Catholic to Lesbian Separatist Witch and everywhere in between. What our readers have in common is summed up in the statement "e;Celebrating the Goddess in every woman."e; If you feel a connection with our subject matter, we welcome your contributions to our pages.
 
The majority of every issue is created from the contributions of our readers, so your creativity and willingness to share is vital to SageWoman's existence! We welcome material from women of all races, ages, sexual orientations, and socio-economic backgrounds. Our editorial staff is English-speaking only, so we ask that written contributions and letters to us be submitted in English, but we encourage submissions from non-American women and women for whom English may be a second language. We also strongly encourage contributions from women of color. SageWoman offers the following guidelines to help you in submitting your work to us.
 
  1. Subject matter:


    1. All submissions should focus on issues of concern to Pagan and other Goddess-friendly women. We accept non-fiction prose related to women's spiritual experience. We accept very modest amounts of poetry and receive far more poetry than we can publish. We also accept photographs and graphic artwork (drawings, painting, prints, etc.) suitable for publishing in a magazine format. We do not accept fiction, screenplays, long narrative poems, erotica, or press releases/advertorial.

    2. SageWoman is dedicated to helping women explore their spiritual, emotional, and mundane lives in a way that respects all persons, creatures, and the Earth. We encourage women of all spiritual paths to send writings and artwork, but our focus is on material, which expresses an Earth-centered spirituality. Our editorial style focuses on personal experience; please write in the first person! Please don't limit yourself because you aren't a "professional" writer or artist - most of our published material is from previously unpublished writers. If you haven't seen a copy of SageWoman, please send for a sample copy ($7) or look at our sample articles at our website before submitting material; this will enable you to understand the kind of material we publish and will save both you and us a lot of time!

    3. SageWoman accepts material created by women only. (Male contributors are encouraged to contact our co-ed publications PanGaia, The Blessed Bee, or newWitch, at the same address; these titles accept submissions from both men and women.)


  2. Written Submissions:


    1. All written submissions should be the original work of the author. We prefer receiving submissions via email sent to editor@sagewoman.com or on computer disk accompanied by a double-spaced paper manuscript. (Please don't just send a disk - sometimes compatibility problems prevent us from reading disks which are submitted to us, and without a manuscript, we won't be able to evaluate your submission!) We are Windows based and prefer ASCII compatible or Word files attached to your email or if email is not an option by 3.5" or Zip disks. We may be able to translate Macintosh based disks as well. Disks sent to us will not be returned unless you send an SASE with adequate postage with the submission. If computer-based submission is not possible, typed, double-spaced manuscripts are also acceptable, as well as neatly handwritten pieces if no other method is possible. Please do not send us your only copy of your manuscript; accidents can happen and material sent to us is occasionally lost or damaged

    2. Articles should be between 800 and 5000 words in length, and written manuscripts should contain the author's name, pen name (if appropriate), address and phone number on each page.

    3. We are aware that you have worked hard on your writing, 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 will not be accidentally altered.)


  3. Graphic Art


    1. All graphic art submissions should be the original work of the artist. Clear, black and white drawings are best, but penciled or colored works may be acceptable in some cases. Please be aware that all artwork will be reproduced inblack and white only, except for pieces used on our outside covers. Our covers are usually commissioned works, but you may feel free to submit color photocopies or slides of your color work for possible use on the cover. Please send us clean copies of your artwork only - we cannot be responsible for your original artwork! We encourage the submission of artwork which celebrates the Goddess and women in all of our many guises; different skin colors, cultures, ages, sexual orientations, body types, sizes, and shapes, and levels of ableness.

    2. We are always looking for new artists to share their creativity in our pages. If you have a portfolio of your work, feel free to send it; when sending a body of work, please inform us if any of the pieces have been previously published or are not available for publication. We do commission special pieces of artwork for the magazine; however, the majority of artwork we publish has been sent by artists on spec. We keep files of artwork, by artist, and when an issue is in production we find the pieces of artwork on file that fit each article, and then inform the artist in question that we have decided to publish their work. For this reason, your artwork may be on file for months, or years, without being used - if this is a problem for you, please inform us so we can work out other arrangements with you.


  4. Photography:


    1. All photographic submissions should be the original work of the photographer. If persons other than the photographer are shown, a signed release from said person(s) must be included in order for us to publish the photo. Please send standard black and white or color prints, negatives or slides.

    2. All photographs will be reproduced in black and white only. Our use of photography is similar to that of graphic art; please see guidelines above.


  5. General Information:


    1. Please send a self-addressed, stamped envelope with your submission. If you wish for us to return your submission, please ensure that the SASE has adequate postage to return your manuscript, artwork, or other submission. If you do not wish for our submission to be returned, please write "Do not return" on it, and simply send an SASE or stamped postcard for us to respond to your submission. Please put your name, address and phone number with area code on each page of your manuscript.

    2. Your submission will be acknowledged when we receive your material; we cannot guarantee exact publishing dates but will attempt to keep you up-to-date on the status of your work. We prefer to accept material which has not been previously seen or published - please inform us of multiple submissions or previous publications.

    3. SageWoman publishes quarterly. All material should be sent to the attention of the Editor at the address (either e-mail or U.S. mail) given below. Upcoming issue themes appear and deadlines at the end of these guidelines.


  6. Compensation and Rights


    1. SageWoman offers modest cash payments for unsolicited artwork, photography, and articles. Articles are compensated at approximately $.01 per word for unsolicited material, with a minimum of $10. (No payment is made for Rattle letters or networking information printed in Weaving the Web.) Artwork and photography are compensated on a piece-by-piece basis, depending on the size, complexity and usefulness of the piece. Artists and photographers are paid a minimum of $15 per piece for their work. We are often able to pay more in cases where the article, artwork, illustration or photograph is commissioned especially for SageWoman; please contact us if you are interested in working with us on commission. We realize how very modest these payments are; we offer them not as full compensation for your creativity, but as a "thank you" for sharing your gifts with us. If you are a business or craftsperson who would benefit from advertising in our pages, please inform us that you are interested in trading advertising for your contributions; we are able to be substantially more generous in trading for advertising space than we can be in our cash payments!

    2. If your material is accepted, you will also receive a free copy of the issue in which your work appears. Payment will be sent to you within 30 days of your return of our contributor's form, which is sent out to all contributors shortly after an issue goes to press. SageWoman requires first worldwide serial rights, and prefers (but does not require) all rights for one year, and the right to reprint in future SageWoman collections as well as non-exclusive electronic rights (for use on the "sample" page of the SageWoman Website.) All remaining rights will revert to you. When you submit work to us, we will assume your work is available for the purchase of these rights at the compensation level specified above, unless you state otherwise.
 
If there are any questions that these guidelines do not answer, please feel free e-mail, call or write to us for more information, or simply to try out your ideas on us! Our usual office hours are 9-4 Pacific Time, Monday- Friday, but feel free to leave a message if you don't reach us. We will return your call! Thanks again for your interest in SageWoman. We look forward to hearing from you soon.
 
Submissions may be sent by e-mail, fax or postal mail to:
 
SageWoman
P.O. Box 641
Point Arena, CA 95468 USA
 
editor@sagewoman.com
fax 707-882-2793
 
An FTP site is available for graphics files call for details, 707-882-2052.