Wanted: Contributors for SHOTS EZINE

[Mike Stotter]

An offer to the Crimespace community:

I am looking for willing victims ..er... reviewers, and contributors for Shots Ezine. I'll be up front about this. There is no payment for reviews but you do get to keep the books; hardbacks, ARC's (proofs) or paperbacks to do with what you will afterwards. Ideally I'm after people in the UK to do the reviewing. But I will accept stories and articles from around the world. Here are our guidelines:

Interviews, articles and commentary range between 2000 to 10,000 words. Book Reviews are encouraged and should run up to 300 words. All biographical information should be set out as its header eg A Deadly Brew, Susan Gregory (Little,Brown £16.99). The book's dénouement should not be given away. Any criticism made should be qualified. Reviewers please send a sample of reviews and what type of crime/mysteries you like.

Short Stories

1. If possible, e-mail short stories to Shots Fiction Dept at [e-mail] or send them to Shots Fiction Dept, 189 Snakes Lane East, Woodford Green, Essex IG8 7JH. Please note, e-mail is the preferred option using Word or a rich text document. Photos and no subject line will not be opened because of the risk of viruses
2. Always start with a good covering letter but don't give away the ending. We get several hundred submissions so convince us that your story is worth reading by writing a decent letter. Always date it and include your phone number and e-mail address (if applicable). A CV is not necessary but it's always useful to know if you've been published before or won any awards
3. All stories sent by post should include an SAE or International Reply Coupons. Please note that any which do not will be automatically rejected and no reply sent
4. Stories should be between 1,500-3,5000 words long
5. Shots deals in crime writing, we will only publish relevant short stories. Contemporary stories are the most popular with our readers so please don't try to be the latest Chandler or base your work in an obscure era or using famous characters such as James Bond or Sherlock Holmes. We want to relate to what we're reading and you stand a better chance of being published if we do
6. Don't forget to have a good plot, strong pace and well-developed characters. Short stories are difficult to write as you have so much to say in a limited time look at previous examples in the magazine or website for ideas of what standard we expect
7. Remember the basic rules of punctuation and grammar and use a dictionary - nothing will make us stop reading faster than too many typos, lazy or just plain bad writing
8. Don't forget to have clear paragraph breaks - it can be off-putting otherwise
9. Number pages and, if sending by post, please use a paperclip to secure them
10. All work must be typed on one side of the paper only. Or formatted as a doc or rtf file. Unfortunately, hand-written manuscripts cannot be considered
11. Simultaneous submissions will not be considered. We will try to reply within a month of receiving your work so this should not be necessary
12. Finally, whether we accept your work or not, thank you for considering writing for Shots and best of luck.

Any further information or to discuss proposed submissions please speak to the editor, Mike Stotter. Shots, Editorial Dept, 189 Snakes Lane East, Woodford Green,Essex IG8 7JH England or email: [e-mail]

[Daniel Hatadi]

Thanks very much mate. :)

[Mike Stotter]

Daniel, Not a problem. The Crime Zine blog is my next step.

Cheers
Mike

[Daniel Hatadi]

Hey there Mike,

I've removed your post from the forum, as that is for discussion only.

If you want another way to keep it on the front page, may I suggest joining the Crime Zine blog.

Cheers,
Daniel

[Mike Stotter]

If I knew how to get rid of the blue, I hate it as well.

Daniel - It's son of crimespace, aka very fast typing without checking before posting. Crimspace Rules.

[Daniel Hatadi]

Yeah, and what is this 'Crimspace' you talk about? Sounds like a cool place to hang out.

[Sandra Ruttan]

Mike, I think people are conspiring against me with these blue links - they are painful on the eyes.