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Frequently Asked Questions -Do unpublished writers really stand a chance of being included in Verandah and winning a prize? -Why do you charge fees for submissions? -But current Deakin students don’t pay these fees, do they? -Shouldn’t you give us some idea of the prizes you offer? -I’m confused about submitting. Can I email you my writing and post a cheque? -Okay, I’m emailing my submission. What do I put in the cover letter/ email? -Should I put my name on every page of my submission? -If I include a SASE, will you return my entry and give me some feedback? -Do you have any advice for first-time submitters? -When can I expect a reply to my submission?
(Q) Do unpublished writers really stand a chance of being included in Verandah and winning a prize? (A) The short answer is yes. The long answer is all submissions will be judged by their content, not by their cover letters. You have little to lose by submitting; especially if you’re a current Deakin student. (Q) What’s the competition like? (A) In 2007, Verandah received over 500 submissions. 37 of these were published and eight won awards. You do the maths – but remember these are much better odds than many other publications. (Q) Why do you charge fees for submissions? (A) Producing Verandah costs thousands of dollars. We are unpaid volunteers relying on grants, donations, sales and submission fees each year. Verandah offers a number of prizes, dependent on our sponsorship, and it is customary to pay an entry fee to literary competitions. In effect, by submitting to Verandah, you are also entering a competition with multiple prizes. (Q) But current Deakin students don’t pay these fees, do they? (A) No. Their fees are subsidised by the university. (Q) But I’m a full-time student at another university/ unemployed/ retired/ destitute. Do I still have to pay? (A) Yes. It’s a few dollars, and the result is a full-colour journal we can all be proud of. (Q) Shouldn’t you give us some idea of the prizes you offer? (A) We’d love to, but we can’t commit to this until we have an idea of our funding. Imagine a basket of books and a cheque for around one hundred dollars, all wrapped up in a ribbon. We will update this as soon as we can (the middle of the year); meanwhile, think of the glory. There will be anywhere from six to eight prizes on offer, and winning a prize is a real boost for a writer’s resume. The short answer is we are entirely non-profit and we will make the prizes as worthwhile as we can afford. (Q) I’m confused about submitting. Can I email you my writing and post a cheque? (A) No. Read the guidelines carefully – you can either mail everything to us with a cheque, or email everything and pay via the PayPal link on our website. We don’t want to have to match hard copy with electronic payments and vice versa. (Q) Okay, I’m emailing my submission. What do I put in the cover letter/ email? (A) Download our cover sheet from the website to give you an idea. Really, we want a simple letter, your contact details and a fifty word bio such as:
Wally Writer 4 That Lane South Woy Woy 2256 (m) 0412 345 678 hotwally@gmail.com
Dear Verandah editors,
My name is Wally Writer, and I am submitting my short story The First and poem Twice for consideration of inclusion in Verandah 23.
My bio: “Wally Writer was previously published in the Woy Woy Gazette, and won a honourary mention in the 2006 Far Out West Short Story Competition. He currently lives in Woy Woy and likes big dogs, but not when they bite him.”
Sincerely, Etc.
(Q) But I’ve never been published or won a prize! What do I put in my bio, and why is it written in third person? (A) Tell us about yourself, your influences and your submission. Relax! Imagine we’re friends and make it interesting. Wally did okay, didn’t he? But keep it around fifty words and write it in third person, because that’s just the way it’s done. Imagine you’re the Queen; she never refers to herself in the first person. (Q) Should I put my name on every page of my submission? (A) No. Submissions have to remain anonymous for our judges. Put your name and the title of your work on the cover sheet/ email, and the title of your work and a (hopefully sequential) page number on each page. (Q) If I include a SASE, will you return my entry and give me some feedback? (A) No and no. Verandah takes months of work to put together, and we cannot commit to offering feedback for several hundred entries. Please, please don’t send us the only copy of your work. (Q) Do you have any advice for first-time submitters?
(A)
Draft, draft and redraft. Speling and grammar errors look awful.
Get the formatting right. Cut the flab from your work: that is,
unnecessary words and (Q) When can I expect a reply to my submission? (A) Around the end of June/ start of July. We will contact all submitters, successful or not. All published authors receive a complimentary copy of Verandah and prizes will be announced at the launch, which coincides with the 2008 Melbourne Writers’ Festival.
· we would prefer between 350 – 2,000 words. Stories over 2,500 words will need to be proportionally brilliant to hold out two shorter stories. Nothing over 3,000 words, please. · format as Times New Roman, 12 point, double spacing with numbered pages. · make sure only the title of your work and not your name appears on each page as a footer. · please keep your poetry under 100 lines – we can’t take epics due to space constraints. · if submitting short poems, please place as many per page as will sensibly fit, with clear titles. · format as Times New Roman, 12 point, double spacing with numbered pages. · make sure only the title of your work and not your name appears on each page as a footer. · scripts of under 5-7 pages are accepted. · please ensure that you follow a standard script format. · format as Courier New, 12 point with numbered pages. · make sure only the title of your work and not your name appears on each page as a footer. · creative non-fiction only. · we would prefer between 350 – 2,000 words. Non-fiction over 2,500 words will need to be proportionally brilliant to hold out two shorter works. Nothing over 3,000 words, please. · format as Times New Roman, 12 point, double spacing with numbered pages. · make sure only the title of your work and not your name appears on each page as a footer. · photos/ manipulation & digital artwork: please ensure that all images, textures, brushes, stock etc. belong to you, or that you can provide written permission from the creator of the images, textures, brushes, stock etc. before submitting. We are not interested in publishing work that violates copyright · comics: Please keep comics to a maximum of ONE page. · we will accept original characters; however they must not violate copyright. · we prefer electronic submissions. · if submitting electronically, please provide a large, quality scan. · we accept jpg formatting only on digital submissions. It’s lossy but we like it. · hard copy submissions should not exceed A4 size due to printing and resizing constraints. · We will not be returning works, so please send us prints instead of originals. |