Issue Two: Guidelines and Theme

[Shaun]

We are officially launching the new guidelines for issue two of Survival By Storytelling Magazine. Please read carefully, because some things have changed from the temporary guidelines housed here, and the guidelines originally housed on our Wordpress site (http://sbsmag.wordpress.com/).

The Theme -- Steampunk
We are looking for poems and stories that fit within the Steampunk subgenre. All forms of Steampunk are acceptable, provided that the basic Steampunk "aesthetic" exists in your poem or story. While we are perfectly fine with what might be called the "typical" Steampunk story, we are also interested in new and unique takes on the genre, whether from an aesthetic or structural viewpoint. Literary forays into this subgenre are appreciated, along with stories or poems that treat seriously the "punk" in the name. What does real "punk" Steampunk look like? Show us and impress us. So long as it's Steampunk, we're interested.

We are also interested in non-fiction dealing with some aspect of the Steampunk genre: history, literary criticism, book reviews, writing advice, etc. So long as it comments upon this genre in some way (even vaguely, even on a very curious and obscure level), we're interested.

(Note: While Steampunk is a subgenre of speculative fiction, we have no preference for the quantity of fantastic or science fictional elements present within your work. We care more about the story than how many four-legged steam crawlers you have running around in your world. That's not to say we don't like four-legged steam crawlers (we do), but we want to have a very open mind when it comes to representations of this genre; if you're never written genre fiction before, now might be a good time to give it a shot, even if you are interested in a very limited genre feel.)

General Guidelines
(Note: Submissions that do not follow basic guidelines will be deleted unread. We don't expect you to have everything down pat, but if you're not willing to follow even the most basic guidelines--such as being over our age limit or sending something irrelevant to the theme--then we're not willing to read your submission.)

–Survival By Storytelling will accept poetry, short fiction, short plays, and non-fiction dealing with the theme of the current issue.
–All submissions must be sent as .doc or .rtf files to sbsmag@(no spam)yahoo.com (remove the no spam bit). Please pay attention to the guidelines specific to your type of submission for additional formatting guidelines. Do not send your submission in the body of your email.
–You do not need to be a member of YWO to submit, however we highly encourage you to join and become a part of our community to improve your craft.
–You must be 25 years old or younger. This magazine only publishes the work of young writers unless we specifically commission work by others.
–Please provide your age in your cover letter. We’d also appreciate if you told us whether or not you are a minor in your country of residence--this will not affect our judgment on a manuscript.
– All material submitted must not be online either on YWO or any other website, nor may it have been published in any other magazine, zine, etc. You are perfectly welcome to use YWO to edit your manuscript, but upon submission your work should be removed. We recommend that any stories you are considering submitting should be put in the members only area (same for poetry). Before you submit, ask an Admin or Moderator to remove your work from the site. Additionally, if your work has been published in an exceedingly small venue, such as a school newspaper, please query before submitting. We’re mostly concerned about work previously published in larger publications.
– You may use a pen name, but we still need your real name for legal purposes. Please make sure that pen names are serious, not ridiculous.
– You may submit up to two poems at a time or one story at a time (or one play). You may not submit a poem and a story. Give us time to read your submission and give you a response before submitting something else. If we accept a story from you, you may submit poetry for our consideration, or vice versa, but you may have no more than one story and two poems in a single issue (this also depends on length).

What We Don't Want
Spelling errors, grammar errors, poorly plotted stories, excessive gore and violence, Deus ex machina, or stories that don’t go anywhere. We’re not that strict on stories, but we do want to make sure that they are entertaining in some way, or thought-provoking.
We don’t want “Roses are red” poems, or stupid poems. Humorous poetry is great, as long as it’s done well and not childishly. No knock-knock jokes.
No reprints. We only want new material.
No simultaneous submissions (meaning you can’t submit to us and someone else at the same time).

Short Story Guidelines
– Short stories may not exceed 20,000 words. We will consider longer lengths, but query first. We have no length preferences beyond this. Short or long, if it's good, we'll take it.
– All stories should be double-spaced, in Courier New 12 point font, with the author’s name and contact information in the top right of the first page, with a word count for stories/plays or line count for poetry. On each page following you should put in the header “your name / story or poem title / page number”. We appreciate it when authors follow the guidelines set down by SFWA which can be found here (http://www.sfwa.org/2008/11/manuscript-preparation/).
– We want well written fiction that fits within our current theme. Stories that make us think, scare us, intrigue and interest us, and otherwise entertain us are what we’re looking for.
– When submitting, make sure the subject line of your email says “Fiction Submission: Your story title." It is imperative that you do this so it ends up in the right folder.

Play Guidelines
– Plays should be no longer than 20 standard play format pages (which is different for the word count).
– Plays must be in Courier New 12 point font.
– Look at the Fiction Guidelines for more specific wants as far as genre and content.
– When submitting, make sure the subject line of your email says “Play Submission: Your play title," It is imperative that you do this so it ends up in the right folder.

Poetry Guidelines
– Poetry should be no longer than 40 lines.
– Poetry must be in Courier New 12 point font, but does not need to be double-spaced. Use standard manuscript format for every other aspect of your manuscript.
– We want thought provoking, powerful poems with good imagery. Abstract poetry is perfectly fine with us, provided it’s not too abstract. Rhyme or don’t rhyme, doesn’t matter. If the poem grips us, we’ll take it. Humorous poems work too, but they should still be intelligent.
– When submitting, make sure the subject line of your email says “Poetry Submission: Your poem title." It is imperative that you do this so it ends up in the right folder.

Non-fiction Guidelines
– We accept book reviews, articles, etc. Non-fiction must be relevant to our theme. We are interested in literary criticism, personal stories, history, current news, and a wide range of other kinds of non-fiction. We like fun articles too, particularly if you’ve got something funny to talk about.
– Articles should be no more than 3,000 words long and should conform to the same standard format as fiction.
– Payment is the same as for anything else and rules about violence are loosely applied. Language, however, should be kept PG. If you are opinionated, great, but please don’t be opinionated and filthy.

Art Guidelines
– Short comics–such as single panel or three panel works–are highly appreciated as well as potential art for the cover. We aren’t interested in particularly dirty or violent works. Artwork meant for the cover may be in color, but artwork that would show up inside the magazine, such as comics and the like, must be in black and white. Payment for artwork is the same as for everything else.

Payment (We've upped our pay rate)
Contributors will receive a token payment of $5 as an "advance," along with royalties earned from 3/4 of the profits of every issue; what this means is that you get $5 and when that $5 earns out from sales, you will begin earning royalties from future sales. The last 1/4 of all royalties goes right back to YWO to pay for hosting and other things. Payment will be made via Paypal (done quarterly after publication). You may choose not to receive payment and can instead tell us what to do with your share of the royalties.

Note: Payment guidelines may change in the future. We won’t pay less than a royalty, but we hope that we can eventually offer better payment, possibly a flat rate or even a per-word count rate.

Rights
We are purchasing first North American and foreign serial rights with an option on anthology rights. It may have other names, but to put it plainly: by allowing us to publish your work you are telling us that it is okay for us to put it in one issue of the magazine and only that issue (in print and in the PDF/ebook), which will be accessible to a worldwide audience. We are only allowed to print it in this issue. You are also granting us the right to reprint your work in a possible anthology, with an additional payment.

All accepted authors must sign a contract, with exception to authors who donate their work. The contract will state basically what is written above. Minors must have a parent or guardian sign their contract due to legal reasons. We readily accept submissions from young folks, just be warned that your parents or your guardian will have to sign before we print anything.

Contracts will be sent via email and can be sent back to us by email (print it, sign it, scan it, email it) or by post (our address will be provided upon acceptance). We cannot publish your work until you have signed the contract and returned it to us.

By submitting you are agreeing to the following:
–You are the original creator of the material in question.
–You have not lied, to the best of your knowledge, about any of your information. Your name is your real name. Your email is your real email, you are the age you say you are, etc.
–You have not violated any copyrights in your work.

For Minors
We understand that for some of you who are underage it might be quite difficult to get a parent or guardian to sign a contract. With that in mind you have the option to “donate” your work to the magazine if it is accepted. This means you are not bound by a contract, but are essentially “giving away” your work to us. The editors of SBS Mag, however, will make this promise:

Your work will be treated with the same care as stories under contract.
We will still pay you if you choose to be paid, unless we go bankrupt or die, in which case you’ll have to bug someone else for money, cause we’ll be dead or living in cardboard boxes.
We’ll do whatever we can to make everything work out, whatever that might mean.

If you have any questions, feel free to email us at sbsmag@(no spam)yahoo.com (just remove the no spam bit). Please make the subject Question or Query so we know what it is and don’t mistake it for spam.



Any questions?

[Zombified]

Well, I'll be sure to sign a contract this time if I get a story chosen for the mag.

;)

I'm already running through ideas.

[Carraka]

Hurrah! Now I can submit to you guys instead of my school magazine to fulfill the semester requirement!

So ... steampunk. I've never tried it, but I will now. If I do nothing else, for the rest of the semester ...

[Jack]

Sounds good. You can count me in for something (hopefully).

[Rouge]

Yep, you already know I'm in on this. :3
Soooo excited for a second issue.

[Simmi]

I'm not completely sure what steampunk is... but I'm willing to try and write something.

[Shaun]

Google is your friend, Simmi.

[Rouge]

Google is your friend, Simmi.

I used Wiki. Lol.

[Shaun]

Yes, well evil people have a tendency to do such things, :P.

[Jack]

I've been doing quite a lot of research on this actually (it's my first time writing Steam Punk). I used wikipedia too though :P

[Shaun]

I should mention that anyone who uses wikipedia won't be accepted into the magazine. But, then, that would be really freaking mean. :P

[Jack]

Did I say I used Wikipedia? I meant...I didn't use Wikipedia, in fact I've never used it...what's Wikipedia? :P

[Shaun]

That's better, mister.

[Jack]

Did I say I used Wikipedia? I meant...I didn't use Wikipedia, in fact I've never used it...what's Wikipedia? :P

I really would have liked my 500th post to be something of use...

[Shaun]

Well, if you've learned anything from your time at YWO, it's that we're all pretty much useless in the long run...

[Rouge]

I should mention that anyone who uses wikipedia won't be accepted into the magazine. But, then, that would be really freaking mean. :P

Well, there goes my shot. Dammit.

Wiki's just the first thing that pops up on Google. Simple, easy, gives a good enough definition, I suppose.

IF YOU HAVE A BETTER SITE THEN LINK US DAMMIT.

[Shaun]

*stabs Tsuki with a samurai sword and watches her squirm on the ground before she finally kicks the bucket*

Anyone else have any complaints about the way I do things? :P

[Rouge]

*stabs Tsuki with a samurai sword and watches her squirm on the ground before she finally kicks the bucket*

Anyone else have any complaints about the way I do things? :P

Can I say that I do, or am I already too dead for that?

[Shaun]

You're dead. Now stop spamming this thread unless you have something useful to say. :P

[Lilith]

I love Steampunk so much. Tomorrow I'm going to put on my goggles, my Victorian-style skirt and my waistcoat, and I'm going to knuckle down to work on "Josie Finch and the Rain Wizard".
Must not exceed 20,000 words. I shall rejig my plot, just for you. :)

[Shaun]

Looking forward to it!

[Spacepirate]

Is there a deadline? :S

Never mind, the deadline doesn't stop until you've had enough entries?

[Shaun]

Exactly. When it's full, we stop.

[Spacepirate]

Exactly. When it's full, we stop.

Is it nearly full?

[Shaun]

Nope. You've got time to submit.

[Lilith]

How much time???

[organicmetal]

Ya i seriously need time a date. How many pages should it be? or whats the limit? how many submissions can we do? one for each type?

i AM SO STARTING ON TODAY!

[Mercy]

Ya i seriously need time a date. How many pages should it be? or whats the limit? how many submissions can we do? one for each type?

i AM SO STARTING ON TODAY!
Please use proper grammar and spelling. Also, the rules are on the first page of this thread, as well as on the magazine's blog.

[Shaun]

What Mercy said. Deadline is open-ended.

[organicmetal]

OK I read everything. It says one story or up to 2 poems. May I submit one story, one book review and one piece of art? How many submissions have you accepted and how many are you looking for?

[Shaun]

One story or two poems. You may submit a non-fiction piece and a piece of art as well, but they each must be as separate submissions. So, if you submit a story, a non-fiction piece, and a piece of art, that's three separate emails. That way they can all go to the appropriate folders.

We're looking for around 90 6x9 Trade Paperback pages (that may be 50 or so in magazine). I can't say how many submissions that will come to. It could be 3 pieces of fiction or 30...just, write something and submit. There's plenty of time. We'll be open to subs for a while.

And if we close before you can submit, send me a PM and I can suggest a place for you to submit!

[Diocletian]

I use Uncyclopedia for my sources. Is that okay?

[Shaun]

No. If you need sources for something, you need to use reliable ones.

[Diocletian]

...

I was kidding.

Do you actually think I'd use Uncyclopedia?

[Shaun]

Oh, whoops. I didn't realize that you posted that on the 1st. Ha! And...honestly, I'm not surprised anymore. I found out that a number of my colleagues regularly use wiki...so...yeah.

[Queen Kanen]

So, this might sound really stupid, but I'm considering joining in on this, and I have a question. Is the use of foul language allowed in the story? This might already have been mentioned, but I'm lazy. I never realized it, but it's hard to characterize my MC without it.

[Shaun]

Yes, it is, provided there's a good reason for it. If you're just saying the f-word for shock value, then no. But, if it has a good reason to be there...then go for it.

[Queen Kanen]

Well, the story is written in first person POV and it helps with his thoughts. And I've only used the f-word... twice?

[Shaun]

Sounds good to me.

[yes]

So what exactly is Steampunk. Sounds both awsome and like soul train lol.

[Spacepirate]

So what exactly is Steampunk. Sounds both awsome and like soul train lol.

Froths at teeth. (http://lmgtfy.com/?q=steam+punk)

:mellow:

[yes]

Froths at teeth. (http://lmgtfy.com/?q=steam+punk)

:mellow:

Two things

1. HOW DID YOU DO THAT!!!!!

2. Oh, so its like science fiction about steam?

[Shaun]

There's a thread in this section on Steampunk. Read it :P

[Lilith]

Are you still looking for submissions? I wrote something last week and it's probably good enough (after another edit-through of course) but I'm about to have an internet drop out for a week.

[Lilith]

Froths at teeth. (http://lmgtfy.com/?q=steam+punk)

:mellow:

Agreed. (With the frothing at teeth part.) I love Steampunk.

[Shaun]

Unfortunately, the magazine is closed. Whether it will come back, I can't say. Time requirements and a number of other issues led to the cessation of publication. For now...

[Lilith]

Oh, grr. Do you know of any other online magazines that would buy 2,000 words about one man's run in with a steampunk time traveller?

[Shaun]

Check Duotrope. Search in Fantasy.

[Weirdside]

Search in SF. As much as Shaun (and I agree with him on this point) may disagree about the genres of both Alt. History and Steampunk, they are still considered SF.:pirate: