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Sabledrake Magazine November, 2004
Cover Page
Feature Articles Dead Wizard Unexpected Diversions Dragon Heart From the Pits of Hell Honor by Numbers CTF 2187: End of an Era Ascension Ranala
Regular Articles Reviews Fantasy Artwork What's Your Fantasy Vecna's Eye The Play's the Thing Fantasy News
Resources Search this site Table of Contents Submissions Guidelines Previous Issues Contributors Advertising Information Discussion Room E-mail us |
SubmissionsSabledrake Magazine is always looking for submissions. So don't be shy about sending something to us. We'll read everything we receive and may even use it in the magazine. What kind of submissions are we looking for? Sabledrake Magazine is about fantasy and science fiction, both in fiction and in games. Traditionally, gaming has relied heavily on fiction for ideas and inspiration, and most gaming publications have encouraged this by printing fiction, book reviews and game adaptations of fiction. But this practice is fading quickly in print magazines, so we have decided to keep it alive in Sabledrake Magazine. We also want to see game reviews, optional rules for games, and game scenarios. We're also looking for artwork. What's a magazine without some nice, flashy artwork and some funny little cartoons? We have some regular columns that you will see each issue, and we'll also have articles that don't fit into any of the columns, or are just so exciting that they deserve to be on the front page! Each issue also has a theme. The theme of an issue is a vague concept that ties most or all of the articles together. For example, the first issue (Jan. 2000) has the theme 'beginnings' (appropriate for a first issue, isn't it?). So all of the articles will has something to do with beginnings and may include articles about starting a new RPG campaign, a story about the founding of a pseudo-Egyptian dynasty, etc. We could even have the first installment of a serial story. Who knows? Play with the theme. Twist it a little. Make things interesting. Submissions can be made in a number of ways. The most convenient way is to e-mail your submission (in .txt, .rtf, .htm(l), .doc, .jpg, .gif, .tif formats, or just as text within an e-mail) to submissions@sabledrake.com. We will accept IBM disks or CD-ROMs (sorry, no zip disks) as well as originals of artwork by snail mail. Our address is Sabledrake Enterprises PO Box 30751 Seattle, WA 98103. We cannot return anything sent to us and are not responsible for anything that doesn't arrive or arrives damaged. Fiction:Short story submissions should be between 2,000 and 7,500 words and fit with the theme of the issue. All genres are welcome. We are particularly looking for submissions that are in some way related to gaming.One thing we'd like to stay away from is the use of someone else's copyrighted characters without permission of the creator (this lets out 'fan fiction' of movies, television shows, books, etc.). Game Articles:Game Scenarios, settings and house rules are always welcome. House rules, optional rules or rules additions (and scenarios as well) should all be thoroughly playtested before submitting them to us. We are also very interested to see 'How to' articles about gaming, for our GM Tips column. Other columns that relate to gaming are People, Places & Things, Just Add Dice, and Sincerest Flattery.Game/Book Reviews:Reviewing a book or game is more than just saying you loved it or you hated it. A review should tell you something about the work, the writer's style, the layout, and the price (without giving away the ending of the book). Reviews can and should give opinion, but when they do, it should be backed up with examples and explanation. Game reviewers must have played the game before reviewing it. Reviewers are also required to disclose any information about themselves that may bias the review (ie. you own stock in the publisher, you once worked for the manufacturer, etc.). We are looking for reviews of anything right now, old or new. At some point (or if any publishers sent us a review copy, hint hint) we would like to review the newest games and provide review copies to those who have proven themselves good reviewers, but for the moment we will have to rely on volunteers to review their own games.Cover Artwork:This is the artwork that appears on the first page of Sabledrake Magazine, and contains the issue date, and links to all of the articles in the issue. Covers must be 770 pixels wide by 1000+ pixels tall. The artwork should relate to the theme of the issue. It should also have some 'empty' space scattered about the picture so that article titles can be added without obscuring the picture. Think of traditional, print magazines that often do this.Interior Artwork:Interior art may be both black & white or color and relate to the issue's theme. Artists willing to take 'assignments' to illustrate articles and stories should contact the editors and state how much advance notice they'll need to produce a pictureAuthor/Artist Biographies:All first-time submissions should include a short (one paragraph) biography of the writer or artist and can include such things as e-mail address, web site address, or other modes of getting in contact with the artist. Biographies can be as humorous or as serious as the author wishes, but they should be informative and interesting to the reader. A small photograph or sketch can also be included. Authors of reviews must also include any facts about themselves that may bias them for or against the product they are reviewing (such as being an ex-employee for the manufacturer, or a stockholder, etc).A bit more about us:What we areWe are an online magazine devoted to Science Fiction and Fantasy, both in fiction and in gaming. The trend in gaming magazines is to phase out fiction and even book reviews and fill up with advertising space. We think that's a mistake. We want to have fiction that gamers will love, but that will also appeal to the more general Sci-fi/Fantasy reader. And if we can get them to read some of the gaming article and hook them on that as well . . . so much the better. And we also want to have gaming articles. Articles about ALL games. Not just about the games that are owned by the magazine owners, another trend in current magazines. We want to provide a service for people and print reviews of all sorts of games and books we think will appeal to our readers. And, of course, we'll have artwork. Beautiful artwork by talented artists. Most of all, we want to have fun and put together a magazine that we'd like to read ourselves. And, while the magazine will be linked to, and sponsored by Sabledrake Games, an online game store, it's intrusions here will be minor, it's banners few and small, and will only serve to provide more service to our readers by allowing them one stop shopping for anything they read about here. What we aren'tWe are not a professional magazine. While we will try to be as professional as possible, we're not getting paid for this, and everyone involved has other things going on in their lives. While this should not affect our meeting deadlines, we will have a casual attitude and we might not be as quick as you'd like returning you e-mail. Be patient. We'll get to it. We aren't a springboard to getting professionally published. There are not a throng of professional scouts reading this magazine looking for new talent. A submission here today is not going to get you a publishing contract tomorrow. It is, however, a good stepping off point. The best way to improve your writing is to write! And it always helps to have people read your writing and like it. That's where we can help. We will put your work out where others can see it, and even direct them back to your site so they can see more of your work. We aren't going to accept every submission we get. The only way we can keep people reading our magazine is to provide quality content, and that means having to turn down some submissions. But just because we turn down one piece, give us a try with your next. You never know, it might be just what we're looking for. While we are a Sci-fi/Fantasy and gaming magazine, it should be pointed out that our editors are biased more towards Fantasy than Sci-fi. We like Sci-fi, don't get us wrong, but we really like fantasy.
What we're looking for:To start things out we're looking for everything. We need cover artists, game articles, fiction. We could also use some brave souls willing to write regular columns. We need reviewers, both of books and of games. We'd also like to see a regular comic strip or funny cartoon about gamers, sci-fi/fantasy, or fans. And since we have all of our themes laid out a year in advance, with 'Beginnings' first and 'Endings' last, I think it'd be a great idea to have a 12 part serial . . . either fiction, or a roleplaying adventure or setting. A few legal notes:All submissions remain the copyright of the author or artist, but permission is granted to Sabledrake Enterprises to print them in their online magazine, Sabledrake Magazine. The original author or artist will always be credited for the work. No payment is to be paid by Sabledrake Enterprises for this right, but all artist and authors will be given the ability to link their article or artwork to a web site(s) of their choice. By making a submission, the artist or author guarantees that the work is original and does not infringe on anyone else's copyrights or trademarks. Some referencing of other works is of course acceptable, but should be kept to a minimum. The author or artist of the work, not Sabledrake Enterprises, is responsible for any legal repercussions that occur for copyright or trademark infringement. |