| Copyright Information: In cases where we accept previously published materials, it is assumed that you retained the copyright to your work. We cannot publish material for which you are not the copyright holder. When submitting work for paying markets, you are granting us the perpetual right to publish the work in both electronic and print format as applicable in relation to the specific project the piece was submitted to For example, if you submit a poem for an anthology, we may at a later date decide to make the anthology available as an audio book. We would not be required to request your permission to do so. However, we cannot use your poem as part of a different project without your consent. Exceptions to this policy are as follows: Artwork: original artwork created for Bards and Sages projects may be used in marketing materials or promotional items outside of the original project. Examples of this would include putting a bookcover on a promotional t-shirt or creating promotional bookmarkers with an illustration. No compensation is made to artists when their work is involved in marketing or promotional materials. Occassionally, we will make such items available for sale to the general public. In such event, we pay artists a commission of 10% of the net profits on such sales. Actual copyright to the art remains with the artist. Work Made for Hire (text only): In general, RPG products commissioned by Bards and Sages, or submissions for RPGs accepted by Bards and Sages, are considered Work Made for Hire. The copyright of such products is retained by Bards and Sages, though the author shall receive credit as the author of the product. All 3.5/OGL RPG products are also subject to the terms of the Open Game License. This policy does not apply to artwork (see above). Licensing: Occassionally, Bards and Sages works in association with other publishers to cross-promote products. These agreements are worked out separately between Bards and Sages and the publisher, and are not affected by our general copyright policies. |
| Bards and Sages Submission Guidelines |
| General Information: One of the biggest reasons we reject submissions is that authors did not read the guidelines. These guidelines exist for your benefit to increase your chances of having your work accepted. If something is not clear, query for clarification before you submit for any of our projects. We may share your submissions and related correspondence with our staff and interns. We are not reading full length fiction manuscripts (novels, novellas, or story collections.) Please no not query or send pitches for full length fiction. Increase your chances of getting accepted! First Person and Present Tense narratives: We accept less than 1% of the first person or present tense narratives that are submitted to us. I've written about the problems of the First Person narrative in the past. I encourage you to read that article before submitting a first person story so that you can avoid the common reasons such stories get rejected. Vulgarities: While most of our projects are designed for a general readership, we don't have a problem with the occassional four-letter word getting batted around. Don't be afraid to drop the F-bomb if the story calls for it. That said, if your story is more than 10% vulgarities, please go expand your vocabulary a bit before submitting. In most cases, excessive use of vulgarities is nothing more than lazy writing trying to force a response. The response will be rejection. I doubt that is the response you want. Sex and Violence: We do not publish supernatural erotica. Not now, and not ever. We don't mind sexual situations per se, but if you are submitting a short story you should probably scrape the steamy sex scenes. And if it is a longer submission for a more extensive project the sex should be kept to a minimum. And while we love a little bloodletting with our horror, we don't want stories that are nothing more than laundry lists of criminal acts. On the horror scale, we are more likely to accept a story that emulates Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho than we are Saw. Vampires: We are not fans of Twilight. We do not consider paranormal romances, dark erotica, or anything involving your ridiculously emo vampire fantasies. The same goes for werewolves. Seriously. Keep your tween girl fantasies to yourself. Or post them on your blog. But don't send them to us. EVER. If you have a vampire that actually behaves like a proper monster, we'd love to see it. But if your vampire is just your immortal fantasy boyfriend, don't bother. Furries/half-breeds/cross breeds: Anthropomorphic characters and characters that read like a laundry list of hybrids (i.e. the half-vampire/half fairy or half-werewolf/half-angel or whatever combination you throw together) have a slim chance of getting accepted. Unless there is a strong reason for the existence of such hybrids or furries beyond the fact that you thought it would be cool or different, don't submit them here. Format: We often download submissions to electronic ereaders so we can read on the go. As such, excessive formatting makes it difficult to read your submission. Unless otherwise noted, all submissions should be in either Word.doc or rich text format, single space, in either Times New Roman, Garmond, or a similar standard font. Do not double space submissions. If you want a word or phrase in bold or italic, put it in bold or italics. Don't use underscores or other coding. Indent (don't tab) to show a new paragraph. Do not double space between paragraphs. Our Review Process: We read every submission in full. In some cases, we may even read a submission multiple times, and pass it around to other staff or interns for review. We take the selection process very seriously, because our goal is to present a showcase for our authors. Due to the volume of submissions we receive, unless you specifically request feedback on your work we will not provide it. If you would like a critique or detailed explanation of our decision, please express such when you submit your work. If you do not ask for a critique, you will not receive one if we decline your story. Annual Writing Competition The 2012 contest period is now opened.Complete rules for the annual writing contest can be found here. Bards and Sages Quarterly EFFECTIVE May 5, 2012 Bards and Sages Quarterly accepts short speculative fiction of up to 5,000 words. We are interested in all aspects of speculative fiction. This journal is designed for a general readership, therefore keep this audience in mind. Cover Art: Art should tell a story in its own right, and not just be a character sketch. Artwork can be either black and white or full color, and should be submitted as a jpg, png, or tiff file attachment. Art should be sized for 8" x 10" page (full bleed). While artists may submit a low resolution file for consideration, we will need a 300 dpi or better file for publication. Do not include a bio or list of publishing credits. Too many writers are putting too much effort into trying to impress us with their previous work and not enough effort into what they are actually submitting. Your background information has no bearing on our decisions. Each story must stand and fall on its own merits. We are buying FIRST TIME WORLDWIDE ELECTRONIC AND PRINT RIGHTS for fiction. Please do not submit previously published work (including work that appears online). All rights revert to creator upon publication. We pay via paypal. Art: We will consider reprints of images that have not previously appeared as cover art elsewhere. Payment: Flash Fiction (up to 500 words) $5 Short Stories (500 to 5,000 words) $15 Covert Art: $20 plus one copy of the print journal Send submissions/queries to our fiction department. Flash fiction submissions (up to 500 words) may be submitted in the body of the email. Longer fiction should be submitted either as a word.doc or rtf document. Effective May 5, 2012, you may also submit stories and potential cover art images via Google Docs. This applies ONLY to submissions made to the Bards and Sages Quarterly. We usually respond in approximately 90 days. If you have not heard from us in 90 days, please inquire. Return of the Dead Men (and Women) Walking (Horror Anthology) Complete information regarding the specific submission guidelines for this project available at the link above. Neiyar: The Demon Plague We are currently in the process of a major revision of the Neiyar campaign setting. Writers interested in working on Neiyar should visit the Neiyar page for further details. Karma Roleplaying System We are currently looking for writers to create supplemental material for the Karma Roleplaying System. A strong familiarity with the system is required. We are happy to work with first time writers. We are interested primarily in location sourcebooks and adventures, but will consider other supplemental material.. Payment is 1 cent/word, upon publication. We pay a 25% advance upon delivery of the final draft of the project. Send queries directly to Julie Ann Dawson. The subject line should read Karma Supplement Query. 3.5/OGL Projects Bards and Sages supports the 3.5/OGL game mechanic. We are currently looking for writers to create supplemental material for our Adventure Havens, Mythos, and Nemesis lines. We expect those that query to demonstrate a familiarity with the product line they are interested in exploring. Payment is 1 cent/word, upon publication. We pay a 25% advance upon delivery of the final draft of the project. Send queries directly to Julie Ann Dawson. The subject line should reference what product line are you interested in writing for. We are not considering material for other game systems at this time. |