[Sdpg] PC Activist Magazine Writers' Guidelines for Upcoming Issues

Tue Jan 24 20:13:13 PST 2006

Dear Friends of the Permaculture Activist:

I am writing to provide you with our updated writers' guidelines because 
you have either submitted materials to us or expressed interest in doing 
so. We are interested in receiving articles from you for coming 
issues.  The guidelines are attached and pasted below.

Upcoming themes and deadlines include:

#60 May "Land Use Past & Present"  Deadline March 1
#61  August "Unseen Kin-doms"  Deadline June 1
#62 November "The Art of Permaculture" Deadline September 1

Please keep in touch, and many thanks for your interest in the Permaculture 
Activist.

Best wishes,

Scott Horton
Editor

Permaculture Activist Writers' Guidelines

Thank you for you interest in writing for the Permaculture Activist, the
oldest journal on permaculture and related subjects. The following 
guidelines will help you prepare and submit materials for publication 
consideration.

SUBMITTING WRITTEN MATERIALS
The Activist accepts feature articles; book, video, and film reviews; 
reports on conferences, convergences, and gatherings of interest; brief 
news items, "From the Regions"; "Movement Musings"; letters to the editor, 
and other materials.

- Feature articles should be 1,500-3,000 words in length and on topics of
the widest possible interest that address the theme of the particular issue 
(Upcoming deadlines and future issue themes are published in each issue).
We want experienced permaculturists to write about what they know but if 
you write about your site, project, course, etc., it must be of general 
interest and
application, not simply to promote yourself or your work. Whenever 
possible, cite examples from other projects or permaculturists with which 
you are familiar and give practical details so that readers not only 
understand your project but
can cull and use information and techniques you have used and perfected. 
Important questions to consider and answer in your article include: How did 
you do it? What was the design process? Who participated? How long did it 
take?  At what stage is the project?  What was learned from successes and 
mistakes?  How does the project embody specific permaculture ethics and 
principles?  What are the plans for the future?

- Reviews of books, video, or film should be from 500 to 1,200 words in length.

- "From the Regions" items are brief reports about news and happenings
of interest in the writer's area and may be submitted as news releases or 
short features of between 800 and 1,000 words. These items need not relate 
directly to the theme of an issue. Items that relate to date-specific 
events, courses, etc., should be submitted as calendar or events listings.

- Reports on convergences, conferences, and gatherings of interest may be
submitted as features or as items for "From the Regions" if they reflect a 
regional focus. These items need not relate directly to the theme of an issue.

- "Movement Musings" are akin to editorials or they may report on aspects 
of permaculture education, organization, or social and political impacts. 
They should reflect the writer's views and experiences on topics of 
interest in permaculture (1,000-1,500 words). These items do not need to 
relate directly to the theme of an issue.

Submission of materials to the Activist is not a guarantee of publication.
We use many criteria to select items to publish including, but not limited
to: relevance to the issue's theme, general interest to readers, good
writing and clear communication of the subject, balance of subjects and
geographic focus or origin of articles in each issue, use of photos and
illustrations, and other considerations. We read all submissions received 
by deadline but may decline to publish any item or may hold a story for 
publication in a future issue. We will notify writers of our decision in 
advance of publication. We cannot be responsible to return unsolicited items.

ADVANCE NOTICE OF YOUR SUBMISSION
If you wish to submit an article, it is very important that you let us know
what you are thinking before the deadline. A short e-mail or phone call 
outlining your story idea is sufficient and helps us plan the content of an
issue in advance. We may ask you to include a specific focus in your 
article. Advising us of your intentions and ideas in advance will enhance 
your chances of being published. Write to editor at permacultureactivist.net 
or call Scott Horton at (951) 659-5362.

DEADLINES
The Permaculture Activist is a quarterly published in February, May, August 
and November. Deadline for submitting materials is the first of the month 
two months prior to publication (e.g. December 1 is the deadline for 
February, March 1 for May, June 1 for August, and September 1 for 
November). Materials submitted after deadlines will not be considered for 
publication in the upcoming issue.

WRITING STYLE
If you have questions about style, grammar, punctuation, etc. please 
consult The Chicago Manual of Style (University of Chicago Press). We 
really appreciate writers' submitting materials in the style of the magazine.

EDITING YOUR WORK
We reserve the right to edit all materials submitted for content, grammar, 
punctuation, length, clarity, and accuracy. We may ask writers to fact 
check and provide additional documentation and references of factual 
material included in their work. If substantial edits are made, we will 
make every effort to send the writer the edited version in advance of 
publication for comments or may ask the writer to revise or re-write. We 
will not contact writers regarding edits for grammar, style, or punctuation.

PHOTOS AND GRAPHICS
If you are submitting photos, they should be in digital format at 150 dpi, 
no smaller than 5"x7" format, no larger than 8"x10", and saved as .tif or 
.jpg files. All photos must be accompanied by captions identifying the 
subject of the photo, location, and all people pictured. If you have hard 
copy photos or slides you wish to submit, please make arrangements with the 
editor well in advance. Graphics should be as simple as possible with 
clear, bold lines, good contract, and as little screening as possible. We 
prefer to receive graphics as .tif files.

PERMISSIONS
Writers are solely responsible for obtaining permissions for copyrighted or
protected materials they submit to the Activist.  This includes quotes, 
lyrics, excerpts from others' works, releases from people in photos, 
original and protected artwork, etc. You must obtain all necessary 
permissions before you submit your materials and submission of them to the 
Activist constitutes the writer's guarantee that all permissions have been 
granted. Writers are responsible for supplying the Activist with all 
credits for use of others' work (e.g. "photo courtesy of _______" or 
"excerpt used with permission of the author").

Upon publication, the Permaculture Activist owns first North American 
publishing rights to your materials unless other arrangements have been 
made with us in writing in advance. This means that if you wish to have 
your material published elsewhere, you must request permission from the 
Activist (which we almost always grant) and your materials when published 
elsewhere must include the credit "Originally published in the Permaculture 
Activist."

While we prefer to publish original, previously unpublished work, we do 
consider
materials that have been published elsewhere, but you must disclose this 
upon submission of your work and have secured permission for republication 
in the Activist.

OTHER QUESTIONS
Please feel free to contact us if you have other questions or thoughts at
editor at permacultureactivist.net or by calling editor Scott Horton at 
(951)659-5362.

Many thanks for your interest.  We look forward to hearing from you.

12/05