The Blessed Bee Contributor Guidelines:
The Blessed Bee is a quarterly newsletter for Pagan families. Our readers are people who identify themselves as 'Pagan', or earth-centered
in their spiritual beliefs and lifestyles. Our publication is aimed at those involved in Pagan family living, and our aim is to be a place
where parents, children and other family and community members can share their ideas and experiences, as we explore the many
possibilities.
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 The Blessed Bee's existence! We welcome material on
subjects of interest and relevance to Pagan families. Our editorial staff is English-speaking only, so we ask that
written contributions and letters to us be submitted in English.
The Blessed Bee offers the following guidelines to help you in submitting your work to us.
1. Subject matter:
a. All submissions should focus on issues of concern to Pagans and applicable to family living.
We accept non-fiction prose related to personal experience, in relation to family life, raising
children, and the Wheel of the Year. We accept modest amounts of poetry and request that the poems be no longer than fifty lines.
We also accept photographs and graphic artwork (original photos only, which will be returned; black and white line illustrations) suitable for
publishing in our newsletter format. We do not accept adult fiction, screenplays, or long narrative poems.
b. The Blessed Bee is dedicated to helping Pagan families network, as there is an need to find and create appropriate material in our rapidly-growing community.
Through our pages, family members can share their views and experiences in bringing their
spiritual ideas into daily life. We are looking for articles on the following subjects: Pagan parenting,
Pagan traditions, creating community, taking care of our planet (in everyday activities or by specific social action, nature study, nature
friends, and experiences in nature), stories (myths, legends and stories appropriate for children ages 5 and up), arts and crafts, rituals,
poetry, songs, chants, dances, recipes, reviews of books, recordings, films, tools, software and websites. Pagan children can express
their opinions in our Kids' Guest column. 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 The Blessed Bee by contacting us by mail, phone or email.
2. Written Submissions
a. All written submissions should be the original work of the author. We prefer receiving material via e-mail or on computer disk if possible (it
saves us valuable typing time) accompanied by a double-spaced paper manuscript. (Please don't just send the 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 PC-based and prefer 3-1/2" floppy disks, ASCII compatible, but 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 Canadian postage with the submission (or International Reply Coupon, as our editor lives
in Canada). 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.
b. Articles should be between 100 and 1000 words in length, and written
manuscripts should contain the author's name, pen name (if appropriate), address and phone
number on each page.
c. 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
a. All graphic art submissions should be the original work of the artist.
Clear, black and white drawings are best, and in small format - nothing
larger than 5" x 7" please. Be aware that all artwork will be reproduced
in black and white only. Please send us clean photocopies of your
artwork only - we cannot be responsible for your original artwork!
b. 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. Please also include if your illustration has previously been published.
4. Photography
a. 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 - we cannot publish from negatives or slides. 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
a. Please send an International Reply Coupon, or SASE with Canadian
postage 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 your
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. If you have an email address, please include it in
your covering letter.
b. 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 publishings.
c. The Blessed Bee publishes quarterly, by the seasons. All material should be sent to the
attention of the Editor at the address (either e-mail or U.S. mail)
given below. Upcoming deadlines at the end of these guidelines.
6. Compensation and Rights
We cannot pay for articles at this time, although we hope to be able to do
so in the future as our subscription base increases. If your material is accepted, you will
receive a free copy of the issue in which your work appears; if you are a subscriber this will be in addition to the copy you receive as part of
your subscription.
The Blessed Bee must receive first North American serial rights, and
prefers to receive all rights for one year, the right to reprint in future Blessed Bee
collections and non-exclusive electronic rights (for use on the "sample" page of The Blessed Bee
Website.) All remaining rights will revert to you. When you submit work to us, we will assume
your work is available for all of the above listed uses unless you notify us otherwise. If
there are any questions which these guidelines do not answer, please feel free to e-mail, call or write to us for more
information, or simply to try out your ideas on us! Our usual office hours are 9-5 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 The Blessed Bee. We look forward to hearing from you soon. Submissions may be sent by
e-mail, fax or postal
mail to:
The Blessed Bee
P.O. Box 641
Point Arena, CA 95468 USA
Phone: 707-882-2052
Fax: 707-882-2793
email: editor@blessedbee.com
or directly to the editor by e-mail: dz031@freenet.carleton.ca
|
ISSUE DEADLINES:
Autumn issue : June 1
Winter issue : September 1
Spring issue : December 1
Summer issue : March 1 |
