Penwomanship
Submission Guidelines
Poetry,
Stories and Essays
Please
read and follow ALL guidelines carefully and check your manuscript
with the Editor's Guide. Submissions
that do not follow ALL guidelines will be rejected.
We
accept submissions of short stories, poetry and personal essays.
We pay up to five contributors' copies. We aspire to be a
paying publication and anticipate reaching that goal within
two years.
Please
follow these guidelines for submitting written material below:
Story
length is 5000 words or less. Poetry is any length within
reason. (Okay, a 100 stanza poem is a bit much but who has
that kind of ambition?) Personal essays are 750 words or less.
If
submitting electronically, DO NOT SEND ATTACHMENTS. Files
with attachments will be deleted unopened. PLEASE SUBMIT
YOUR TEXT IN THE BODY OF THE E-MAIL.
Editor's
Guide
Read
the guidelines thoroughly for each magazine or publisher.
a.
Use the font and font size specified.
b.
Make sure your manuscript is within the word counts specified.
Microsoft
Word - Tools - Word Count.
Word Perfect - Go to File, Document Information. The word
count appears.
Online Word Counter - EClaunchsite: Word Counter
c.
If the editor specifies double-spaced, format the documents
accordingly.
d.
Leave margins as specified. If margin size isn’t specified,
leave at least one-inch margins all around.
e.
Send the manuscript as specified. If it allows attachments,
send attachments. If it specifies sending by mail, then do
so with sufficient postage and a return envelope for replies.
f.
Always include a cover letter.
g.
Be on time. Better - be early.
Let
your word processor decide where the end of the line is. Don’t
hit “enter” unless you are starting a new paragraph.
Before
you submit your manuscript, check it thoroughly. Good rules
of thumb: write it, print it, read it, then revise. After
you revise, print it again and read it aloud.
Less
is more - Wordiness loses the reader. If you can say it in
five words don’t use fifteen.
Grammar:
If you’re not sure of grammar, there are free guides
online to help you. Try these two: Grammar Errors and English
Plus .
Spelling:
Never trust a spell-checker. The words “Two, too, and
to” are all correct to a word processor. Try reading
your article backward. Have someone else read your manuscript
before submitting.
Unnecessary
words: Get rid of as many unnecessary words as possible -
look for these common words. ·about ·all ·almost
·always ·anxiously ·eagerly ·even
·ever ·every ·finally ·frequently
·just ·merely ·nearly ·need ·never
·next ·not ·often ·only ·simply
·next ·not ·often ·only ·simply
·so ·than ·then ·to ·very
·well ·that
Passive
vs. Active Voice
a.
Instead of passive voice, use active voice when possible
Words
ending in “ing” are usually passive
They are, you are, we are passive
He is, she is, it is passive
I am passive
b.
Any word with the word “to” in front of it turns
into a passive word.
c.
Use active voice
Instead
of: The cyclist is moving his legs to push the pedals harder.
Use: The cyclist’s legs pushed hard on the pedals.
d.
Test for passive voice
Put the subject at the beginning of the sentence. If this
causes you to write the sentence in passive voice to keep
the meaning, then keep it passive. If the move made your
sentence active, you didn’t need the passive approach.
Molly
was killed by hunters. (If the focus is on Molly, then the
passive construction is necessary).
Hunters killed Molly. (The hunters are more important).
Adverbs
are usually unnecessary: Adverbs are unnecessary.
Don’t
overuse adjectives. Red, bloody-colored water gushed down.
We know blood is red, and red is a color. Blood-colored water
gushed out of the ground.
Make
your manuscript make sense. Pick your points and follow through
in a logical manner.
Keep
paragraphs short. Use white space and put two double spaces
between paragraphs.
Change
paragraphs when you change ideas, thoughts or go on to the
next point.
Vary
your sentence lengths: Short, long, medium then medium, long,
short.
Don’t
ramble. Keep focused on one or two main points. More points?
Write another article.
Try
to use real-life examples or anecdotes. Readers relate to
real-life and are more likely to read the whole article if
it’s relevant to their experience.
If
you use dialogue, keep it simple. Use “he said, she said”
instead of “he whispered quietly” or “she murmured”
or “they shouted.” A short speech tag like “he
said” becomes invisible and moves the story along.
Move
your characters, but don’t tell about each step: Carole
walked slowly toward the door. She opened it and smiled gently
at the man standing there. She invited him in and walked back
into the living room. Instead: Carole answered the door and
smiled at Michael. “Come in,” she said.
Ease
into the ending. Don’t leave the reader hanging with
an abrupt stop, which doesn’t tie-up loose ends.
Go
over the steps again and polish one last time.
Submit
When
submitting electronically, written material MUST BE E-MAILED
TO THE PROPER E-MAIL ADDRESS. As of Dec. 2004, written submissions
e-mailed to penspen@yahoo.com will be DELETED UNREAD. The
penspen addresss is for photos and artwork only. Thank you
for your understanding in this matter.
E-mail
addresses for written submissions are as follows: (DO NOT
SEND PHOTOS TO THESE ADDRESSES)
Include
contact information NONE OF THIS INFORMATION IS MADE AVAILABLE
TO THE PUBLIC FOR ANY REASON (with the exception of the author's
name and bio on the written material.)
Include:
-
Your
name
-
COMPLETE
mailing address
-
e-mail
address (yes, we know it is in the e-mail itself, but
please include it anyway)
-
a
contact phone number (in the event of questions, problems
or the need for clarification)
-
and
a pseudonym if you wish to publish under one.
-
A
short bio is optional. It is for the purpose of publishing
with Penwomanship ONLY. Bios are limited to 50 words.
Bios which are more than 50 words WILL BE EDITED. (Warning:
one of my favorite colors is red...)
We
do accept previously published material under the following
conditions:
-
The
author retains all rights to the work.
-
The
previous publisher has no objections to the material being
printed elsewhere, including on the website.
Art
and Photography
We
are also seeking submissions of graphic art and photography
for both the printed magazine and the website. E-mail
jpegs ONLY to penspen@yahoo.com or snail mail hard copies
or jpegs on diskettes or CDs to the address below. Pay is
five contributors' copies.
Please
keep in mind that it is our goal to offer monetary compensation
in the future to both writers and artists.
All
authors, artists and photographers published with Penwomanship
retain the rights to their work.
You
may also snail-mail your submissions to:
Penny White, Publisher
Penwomanship
P.O. Box 235
Pine Lake, GA 30072-0235
Any
further questions may be e-mailed,
snail-mailed or you may call 1/404/298-8621.
Thanks
and happy writing!
Respectfully,
Penny
White
Publisher
Penwomanship
