GUIDELINES


 
All written submissions sent by regular mail should be typewritten and double-spaced.   Request our address. Otherwise, send them via e-mail.   To e-mail, please send submissions pasted in the body of the e-mail.  Please don't send any attachments. 

Articles should be no less than 4 typewritten pages.  Reviews should be no less than 3 paragraphs.
NOTE:  Multiple (several) submissions preferred.
Interviews must be approved first.                                
Commentary should be no less than 2 pages.
Essays should be no less than 4 pages.          
Poetry has no style or length requirements.  (Multiple submissions preferred.)                     
Fiction should be no less than 7 pages.

Acceptable genres:  gothic/vampire, all other horror, Sherlock Holmes, Jack the Ripper, all other mystery, occult & paranormal, and scifi/fantasy.                         


Artwork must be black pen & ink unless sent via e-mail (computer generated art in color is acceptable).  No size requirements.


Photographs--black & white preferred but color is acceptable.  No size requirements.  If sent via e-mail it must be .gifs or .jpegs.

Anyone is welcome to send submissions anytime.  Generally, we prefer to review what comes in and if accepted for publication we will find suitable space for it.  Sometimes we give specific assignments--not for poetry or fiction.

We reserve the right to edit submissions (usually grammatical errors or revising a few sentences)  but prefer for the contributor to make any major revisions.

We buy 1st Time--One Time Rights.  We also buy 2nd Time Reprint Rights.  All rights revert to the contributor upon publication.

The following payment information applies only to the printed versions of our publications:  For the on-line versions we accept submissions as donations only.  No payment is involved. For printed publications we currently pay 1 cent per 1200 words for non-fiction, 1/2 cent up to 1500 words and 1/4 cent thereafter plus free copy.  Payment for artwork varies depending on the project or size & detail of submissions (generally between $1-12 for interior or $15-25 for cover art) plus free copy.  Payment for photographs varies also.  Free copies only for poetry and fiction.  Remember we are a small press publisher.  All such publishers maintain a small budget.  Fees are subject to change if & when our new presence on the WWW allows an increase in our budget.


NOTICE:  Until sometime in 2004 we are only paying by free copy for submissions published in the print zines, and consider publication in the online zines as payment in itself.

E-mail us for further information or to send submissions at:   zinester@zworg.com  or  zinester@buzzle.com






                             USEFUL INFORMATION REGARDING SMALL PRESS



Small press includes a variety of zines (small/alternative/underground)--anything from comics to fanzines (various genres, etc.) or literary zines/journals to poetry chapbooks.  Contributors are sometimes paid a small fee and/or free copy/ies.  The main thing  about small press that makes it what it is is that there generally is not a large readership (unlike big press), the publications are often only available through mail-order or from only comix or speciality shops, the contributors are rarely paid but small fees plus free copies.  However, some of that has changed over the past several years with the advent of more reviews and other media exposure.  Small press publications are beginning to be sold in bookstores nation-wide and some have gone on the Internet with on-line versions.  Small press is definitely finally being put on the map.  Unfortunately, once it becomes more popular it could lose its uniqueness and turn into something commonplace.  Small press has always existed as something for the creative individualist who has his or her own particular vision about what a publication should be.

Fanzines are created by fans and for fans of whatever (movies, t.v. shows, fictional characters, etc.). Contributors generally aren't paid except in copies, if they are lucky.

Zines cover a huge range of subjects, poetry, fiction, artwork, etc.  Some literary or poetry only zines/journals are classified as academic if published by universities.  However, those same publications are sometimes classified as part of small press since the majority of them also don't have a large readership.

E-zines are the on-line versions of printed zines or sometimes exist only on the Internet.  They sometimes only include excerpts of the printed versions.  That is to encourage readers to order printed copies.  Some of these zines are moving away from the image of a typically amateur small press zine.  Desk-top publishing and other computer software give the printed zine an increasingly professional look.  Of course, an on-line zine doesn't appear on-screen exactly the way a printed zine is made but the content, the graphics, and the over-all layout (as it currently exists on the net) looks attractive and professional.  It could possibly replace the small press zine as we know it with something new and totally different.  It has its good and bad points--more about that at a future date.

Alternative press started, for the most part, in opposition to mainstream press in the 1960's.  It offered alternative viewpoints on politics, religion, health, lifestyles, New Age, and more.  It started out as less slick or commercial than mainstream press but what remains has increasingly moved toward commercialization . 

Underground press also started back in the 1960's and is similar to alternative press but with a few key ingredients added to the mix--more emphasis on radical politics (leftist or anarchist); adult-oriented comics/zines/books; tolerance of the drug-culture; various sub-cultures ( s&m, gothic, etc.); alternative lifestyles; and alternative religions.  Nothing remains of the original underground press but it has developed into a new form.

More information will be added soon.

     Thanks for stopping by!