EXPRESS MEDIA | Voiceworks

VOICEWORKS CONTRIBUTION GUIDELINES.

Voiceworks is a national, quarterly magazine that features exciting new writing. It is a unique opportunity for young writers and artists (under 25) to publish their poetry, short stories, articles and comics, illustrations, drawings and photos. It is produced entirely by young people and relies totally on contributions from the readers to make up the content. You are the driving force behind the magazine.

CONTRIBUTORS GUIDELINES

Be under 25 years of age (this means you are too old if you have turned 25 when you submit)
Read the magazine
Send us previously unpublished work:
- poems
- short stories
- interviews
- feature articles
- comics
- graphic fiction
- cartoons
- photos
- drawings
- illustrations
Prose:
- maximum of two pieces
- no more than 3000 words
Poems:
- maximum of three pieces
- no more than 70 lines
DO NOT send us a selection of your recent work, or samples of previously published work – unless this is requested for a pitch
Visual art must be:
- supplied at actual size
- in black and white or greyscale
- at 300dpi
Page dimensions are not quite A4 – 210mm x 270mm
If emailing your submission (address below), use the body of the email to include:
- full name (we need your real name to write out your cheque if your contribution is accepted)
- pseudonym (optional)
- email address
- postal address (we need this to send you a copy of the mag if your contribution is accepted)
- phone number
- age (very important)
- 25-word biography
If posting your submission (address below), include in the envelope:
- a stamped, self-addressed envelope
- a cover sheet with all the information you would include in the body of an email
DO NOT include your contact details in the manuscript
DO NOT paste your submission in the body of the email – it usually turns into an incomprehensible mass of obscure punctuation by the time all of Word's junky formatting reaches us
Electronic and printed submissions should be:
- double spaced
- in a serif font (like Times New Roman or Times)
If there is a specific way you would like your words to be designed, or if you have visual elements to go with your words, give us design instructions – we can't guarantee to reproduce them that way, but we'll try
DO NOT send us your only copy – we can't guarantee that our dog won't eat it
Be patient: we have a small staff and are always doing our best to keep you in the loop about your submission – if you want to send your work elsewhere, please let us know
Keep submitting, even if we send you a 'no' letter: many factors influence our selection of each piece for the magazine, including space, theme and the overall balance of each issue – you're work is probably good, but might not be suitable at the time of submission
We do hold over submissions if we think they'll be more suitable for a future issue – this may be why you haven't heard from us
If you haven't heard from us within 3 months, please contact us – something grievous might have happened, we might have died! We don't want to wind up one of those people who stink up their apartment because they died and no one thought it was strange to not hear from them for 3 whole months!
Note: Since Voiceworks is funded by the Australian government, we have a policy of publishing only one international submission per issue.

If you have an idea for an article or a story, see Regular non-fiction opportunities for how to submit a pitch to the Editor. Or just send us the completed article as an unsolicited manuscript.

UPCOMING THEME

#78: FLUID (Spring 2009)
NONFICTION PITCHES DUE: Sunday 5 July
SUBMISSIONS CLOSE: Sunday 26 July
Wake from the dream-haze and spit blood into the sink. Wipe mouth on threadbare T-shirt and apply lipstick. Stand in line for flu jab while T-shirt disintegrates in the rain. If the mind is a machine, then the body is a container overflowing with liquids of varying colour and viscosity. An inkpot fills and spills across the desk. There is something beautiful in mutability, in flux, as we all try to avoid the parching decomposition of death. You're a regular watercolour, with holes in your hands from pressing too hard. Dab favourite childhood antiseptic on those leaking sores and try to ignore the mysterious stains on the upholstery. The Cheshire cat watches, evanescing into foliage, milk curdling in the heat.

... but theme isn’t everything – the theme blurbs are just a starting point. Think laterally about them, experiment, have fun. Tell us your thoughts, philosophies and stories. Remember the Voiceworks motto:

themed work: good
good work: better
good themed work: BEST

If any of the deadlines fall on a weekend or a public holiday, submissions will be accepted on the following working day.

RATES OF PAY

Short stories, non-fiction & columns: $100
Poems: $60
Graphics, photos, drawings & illustrations: $50
Comics (one page or less): $50
Comics (two or more pages): $100

ADDRESSES
Email submissions to:
editor(at)expressmedia(dot)org(dot)au

Post submissions to:
Voiceworks submissions
Express Media
247 Flinders Lane
Melbourne VIC 3000

QUARTERLY DEADLINES
Regular contributors please note: these have changed from previous guidelines – who's thinking about submitting fiction to a literary journal on 1 January anyway! The deadlines for 2009 are:

#79: CLASSIC (Summer 2009/10)
NONFICTION PITCHES DUE: Sunday 13 September
SUBMISSIONS CLOSE: Sunday 11 October