A Writer’s Bill of Rights
Compensation
—Journals should pay writers what their budgets allow. If the journal makes money off the writing, so should the writer.
Free Submissions
—Submission fees constitute a nontrivial expense for journeyman writers. If the journal charges fees it should provide a waiver, upon request, for writers who can’t afford them.
Simultaneous Submissions
—Requiring writers to submit exclusively ties up their work and limits their opportunities. Journals should recognize that simultaneous submissions are fair, healthy, and necessary.
Prompt Response
—“No response means no” is an implicit policy of disrespect. Journals should respond to all submissions, and they should do so at earliest opportunity.
Final Approval
—The writer is the creator of, and final authority over, her writing. Journals should grant writers approval of edits prior to publication.
Retention of Rights
—Writers should own all rights to their work at all times. Journals should not restrict its placement elsewhere following publication.
It all began around a campfire…
Beautiful language
is meant to be heard as well as read, and in fact words were vocalized eons before they were ever committed to clay or parchment. Storytelling began around campfires. We seek prose and poetry that continue the tradition.
Contributor Spotlight:
You Are Leaving the American Sector
by Rebecca Foust
Open Contests
by Stephen Parrish, with the editors of The Lascaux Review
