Submission Guidelines for Theaker's Quarterly Fiction
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Submission Guidelines for Theaker's Quarterly Fiction
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If for some reason that hasn't put you off, read on! We are at least honest about our failings, and will deal honestly with your submissions. And although print sales are poor, we recorded over 4,000 downloads in total of the various issues on the site during 2007, so you're not throwing your work into a black hole. Submissions Read the guidelines below on Content and Style to find out what we are looking for. Then consider the Background of the magazine and the Terms of Publication to make sure you will be happy to be published in this funny little periodical. Then send your submission, preferably as a Word attachment, to silveragebooks@blueyonder.co.uk. You should include a biography (as long or as short as you like) that we can use on the website's Other Contributors page, and work into the editorial, if the story is accepted for publication. Let us know if you would like to receive Feedback in the event that we reject your story. The editors are Stephen Theaker and John Greenwood. We want:
We do not want:
If you would like to receive feedback on your work, in the event that we turn it down, let us know in your email. Remember, though, that we're still finding our way with this magazine, and there's no reason for you to think our opinion counts for anything! With that in mind, unless we think we have something constructive to say, we'll probably say as little as possible. Don't take that as a sign that we didn't read your work more as a sign that we don't want to risk offending or discouraging you. The reason we rejected your story might be the exact reason it will be accepted by another magazine! We've stolen one excellent idea from another magazine (I'll give credit once I remember which it was) - we'll include the words [Rejected] or [Accepted] in the subject line of our reply. That way, if you don't want to read our comments on a rejected story, you can delete the email unread and protect your feelings. Contributors will receive no payment, we're afraid, not even a free copy of the magazine. We realise that's a bit rubbish, but our philosophy is to keep it cheap to keep it going. We want it to keep going for a long time, so we are keeping it very, very cheap. The only exception is that we will provide a free copy of the magazine to the cover artist and to the author of any printed contribution of over 15,000 words, as long as they are resident within the United Kingdom. (No free copies will be supplied of any bound volumes, though.) Contributors retain all rights to their work, allowing us only the right to distribute (a) paper copies of the magazine in which it appears (or bound volumes of such) (b) pdf copies of the magazine in which it appears (or bound volumes of such), and (c) other (probably unencrypted) ebook versions of the magazine, which may be made available online. Basically, you are agreeing to publication in the issue, and reprinting of your story along with the rest of the issue in which it appears. However, you are not granting us any rights to re-publish the story in any other publication or arrangement - if we were producing, for example, a "best of" anthology of the magazine, we would have to contact you to agree new terms. If you submit multiple stories to us over the years, we will not have the right to publish a collection of those stories. By submitting a story the author assumes all responsibility with regard to potential copyright, libel, trade mark infringement or any other legal proceedings which might stem from its publication. With that in mind, please do not submit any stories featuring characters from films, tv shows, other peoples novels (unless the author died in the nineteenth century or earlier), etc. If at a later date your story is reprinted elsewhere, we would be grateful if a notice could be appended regarding its original publication in Theaker's Quarterly Fiction. If your submission is accepted, the acceptance email will contain a copy of these terms for you to acknowledge, establishing the nature of the contract between us. Terms last amended: 4 February 2008. Alternatives If you have written something brilliant that you don't think fits well with TQF, or if for some crazy reason you would prefer to be paid for all your hard work, take a look at www.ralan.com, www.duotrope.com and the AA Independent Press Guide, three superb listings of markets available to the aspiring writer. You can also report to Duotrope on how long it takes us to respond to submissions.
Please provide postal and email addresses (email only for non-UK authors) to which proofs can be sent (which one we use will probably depend on the length of the story and the number of suggested changes). Proofs should then be returned to us within two weeks of receipt, although if the issue is running late a shorter period may be specified. We expect all authors to deal with proofs in a professional manner. In particular, all queries raised on the proofs should be dealt with carefully. A writer's work is not done once the story has been accepted you have to shepherd it through to its eventual publication. If we have queried your word choice, please consult a dictionary to check that the word means what you think it does. If you don't address a query, the editors will have to resolve it as best they can without further reference to you in order to make the story publishable. In extreme circumstances, we may withdraw our acceptance of a story if the author fails to deal with queries properly. In any case, we will look much less favourably on future submissions by authors who don't check their proofs. If proofs are not returned on time we may have to go to press without the corrections of the author, and without the author's approval of our suggested changes. While we respect the authors right to the integrity of the text, as guaranteed by the Berne Convention, there is an exception for magazine publication sometimes the publication deadline has to come first. Part of the supposed charm of TQF is its homespun art, often quickly scribbled in the midst of proofreading the text, but submissions of artwork are still welcome. Again, that is as long as you are happy with the fact that you will be holding back my own artistic development... The terms of publication are the same as those outlined above for fiction, so again no payment will be offered, but we will link to your home page, both in the issue itself, and on our news page, in the item announcing publication of the new issue. The one difference is that cover artists will receive a copy of the magazine (as long as they are resident within the United Kingdom). Please do not send original art in the post, unless requested, because of the awkwardness of returning it. In the first instance please email us a photo, scan or other sample. If you are wondering what to draw, we will always find a use for things like spaceships, alien planetscapes and the like. There seems to be at least one robot in every issue, for example, so that might be a good place to start. However, only original artwork will appear in the magazine, as commissioned by the editors in relation to the text. PLANNED PUBLICATION DATES 2008/9 We're happy to receive submissions at any time. We usually lock down the contents of each issue about a month before its publication date, but sometimes we'll be able to sneak something short in at the last minute. These are the dates when we aim to have each issue available online and on Lulu. Printing usually takes a week or two more. Theaker's Quarterly Fiction #23 (Summer) Publication due: 4/6/8 Theaker's Quarterly Fiction #24 (Bank Holiday) Publication due: 4/8/8 Theaker's Quarterly Fiction #25 (Autumn) Publication due: 4/10/8 Theaker's Quarterly Fiction #26 (Winter) Publication due: 4/12/8 Theaker's Quarterly Fiction #27 (Spring) Publication due: 4/2/9 Theaker's Quarterly Fiction #28 (Easter) Publication due: 4/4/9 Theaker's Quarterly Fiction #29 (Summer) Publication due: 4/6/9 Theaker's Quarterly Fiction #30 (Bank Holiday) Publication due: 4/8/9 Theaker's Quarterly Fiction #31 (Autumn) Publication due: 4/10/9 Theaker's Quarterly Fiction #32 (Winter) Publication due: 4/12/9 I originally started this magazine to encourage me to write on a regular basis. I love to write, and, though I can knock out a short novel in a week or two, Fanthorpe-style, Badger Books aren't around to publish them, and no one else would want to. So the title was intended to be literal this was to be a quarterly magazine of Theaker's fiction, good or bad, rushed and scrappy. With each issue I've received better and better submissions by other hands, and the magazine has edged towards respectability (though it still has a long way to go). After only a handful of issues I had to adjust to its contents being filled out by the work of other writers from the SAB family, such as Steven Gilligan, Howard Phillips and John Greenwood (who eventually had to be made co-editor in recognition of his extensive contributions it was either that or change the magazine's name). As the page count has expanded, we've begun to search out new contributors, exemplified by Michael Wyndham Thomas, Wayne Summers and Richard K Lyon. With every contribution received, there has been less and less writing for me to do, probably to the benefit of the magazine! The TQF Manifesto can be found in TQF#17, setting out the magazine's goals. A lengthy discussion of the issues surrounding amateur magazines and money that is to say, a series of excuses as to why we don't pay contributors! will appear in TQF#23. Stephen Theaker, 28/4/8 |
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