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Ballinger Publishing

We accept submissions for Pensacola Magazine, Northwest Florida’s Business Climate, and Coming of Age. Please query by topic via email to Kelly@ballingerpublishing.com. If you do not have a specific query topic, please send a resume and three clips via email and you will be given story assignments if your writing style is acceptable. You do not have to be locally- or regionally-located to write for us.

Payment: $.10-$.15/word prose; $7.00/photo

Guidelines

Conscious Choice

Conscious Choice examines developments in alternative health care, nutrition, ecology, the environment, green businesses and sustainable development, urban planning, spirituality, personal growth, social justice, progressive politics, and renewable energy, among the many topics we have covered in our many years. The articles we publish are intended to help our readers build active, balanced, and conscious lives.

We prefer thoughtful, well-researched articles with an informed and upbeat tone. We favor a narrative approach in which “story-telling” is emphasized. We welcome investigative reports, personal interviews, and essays with a philosophical bent.

Payment: $50-$600 prose (50% kill fee)

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Renaissance Magazine
Renaissance Magazine accepts unsolicited queries and manuscripts related to the Renaissance and late Middle Periods, including but not limited to: historical articles, martial arts, travel, interviews with artisans, articles on the SCA and related re-enactment groups, and the Renaissance Faire experience. Authors are strongly advised to query the editor to ensure that your proposed topic is appropriate and has not been reserved for another writer.

Average feature article is approx. 2,000 words in length although longer work may be considered. Sidebar information is also encouraged, as well as high-resolution graphics, including copyright-free logos, illustrations, and photographs. Renaissance Magazine takes North American serial rights on all work accepted. Those interested in writing for Renaissance Magazine on a regular basis as a staff columnist must query first, and include a brief bio/resume and sample article. If accepted, a writing contract will be required and the writer will be expected to contribute articles/columns on a regular basis.

Payment: $.10/word prose; $7.50 per image (photo or illustration)

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Plenty
Plenty covers a broad range of lifestyle topics, from food, travel, and fashion to technology, business, and culture. We’re looking for creative, well-researched ideas that put a positive spin on protecting the environment. You can pitch us about any subject you’d like, but please do your homework and flesh out a few details about your proposed topic. Vague pitches like "I'd like to do a feature about hybrid cars" will not be taken seriously.

The front-of-book columns ("Forward") are more news-oriented, while back-of-book departments ("Choices") address lifestyle topics like fashion, food, and homes.

Pay: $1.00/word print prose; $150 flat rate electronic prose

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The Smart Set
The Smart Set is an online magazine covering culture and ideas, arts and science, global and national affairs — everything from literature to shopping, medicine to sports, philosophy to food. The Smart Set strives to present big ideas on the small, the not-so-small, and the everyday.

The Smart Set updates daily, Monday through Friday, with a mix of columns and features — high quality writing and photography presented in a broad range of genres including reportage, personal and critical essays, travel writing, memoirs, and stories. The Smart Set is an independent magazine, generously supported by Drexel University.

The Smart Set is published for people who enjoy reading, and enjoy thinking about what they read. The Smart Set feels that what unites its readers is their intellectual curiosity, and this cuts across age, gender, income, and education level.

Payment: Negotiable

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Gulliver's Travels (an excerpt)

Part 1. A Voyage to Lilliput

Chapter 1. The author gives some account of himself and family; his first inducements to the travel. He is shipwrecked, and swims for his life; gets safe on shore in the country of Lilliput; is made a prisoner, and carried up the country.

My father had a small estate in Nottinghamshire; I was the third of five sons. He sent me to Emanuel College in Cambridge, at fourteen years old, where I resided three years, and applied myself close to my studies: but the charge of maintaining me (although I had a very scanty allowance) being too great for a narrow fortune, I was bound apprentice to Mr. James Bates, an eminent surgeon in London, with whom I continued four years; and my father now and then sending me small sums of money, I laid them out in learning navigation, and other parts of the mathematics, useful to those who intend to travel, as I always believed it would be some time or other my fortune to do. When I left Mr. Bates, I went down to my father; where, by assistance of him and my uncle John, and some other relations, I got forty pounds, and a promise of thirty pounds a year to maintain meat Leyden: there I studied physic for two years and seven months, konwing it would be used in long voyages.

Soon after my return from Leyden, I was recommended by my goodmaster Mr. Bates, to be surgeon to the Swallow, Captain Abraham Panwell commander; with whom I continued three years and a half, making a voyage or two into the Levant and some other parts. When I came back, I resolved to settle in London, to which Mr. Bates, my master, encouraged me; and by him I was recommended to several patients. I took part of a small house in the Old Jury; and being advised to alter my condition, I married Mrs. Mary Burton, second daughter to Mr. Edmond Burton, hosier, in Newgate Street, with whom I received four hundred pounds for a portion.

But, my good master Bates dying in two years after, and I having few friends, my business began to fail; for my conscience would not suffer me to imitate the bad practice of too many among my brethren. Having therefore consulted with my wife, and some of my acquaintance, I determined to go again to sea. I was surgeon successively in two ships, and made several voyages, for six years, to the East and West Indies; by which I got some addition to my fortune. My hours of leisure I spent in reading the best authors, anicent and modern, being always provided with a good number of books; and when I was ashore, in observing the manners and disposition of the people, as well as learning their language; wherein I had a great facility by the strength of my memory.

The last of these voyages not proving very fortunate, I grew weary of the sea, and intended to stay at home with my wife and family. I removed from the Old Jury to Fetter Lane, and from thence to Wapping, hoping to get business among the sailors; but it would not turn to account. After three years' expectation that things would mend, I accepted an advantageous offer from Captain William Prichard, master of the Antelope, who was making a voyage to the South Sea. We set sail from Bristol, May 4th, 1699, and our voyage at first was very prosperous.

It would not be proper, for some reasons, to trouble the reader with the particulars of our adventures in those seas: let it suffice to inform him, that in our passage from thence to the East Indies we were driven by a violent storm to the northwest of Van Diemen's Land. By an observation, we foundourselves in the latitude of 30 degrees 2 minutes south.Twelve of our crew were dead by immoderate labor, and ill food, the rest were in a very weak condition. On the fifth of November, which was the beginning of summer in those parts, the weather being very hazy, the seamen spied a rock, within half a cable's length of the ship; but the wind was so strong, that we were driven directly upon it, and immediately split. Six of the crew, of whom I was one, having let down the boat into the sea, made a shift to get clear of theship, and the rock. We rowed by my computation about three leagues, till we were able to work no longer, being already spent with labor while we were in the ship. We therefore trusted ourselves to the mercy of the waves; and in about half an hour the boat was overset by a sudden flurry from the north. What becaome of my companions inthe boat, as well as of those who escaped on the rock, or were left in the vessel, I cannot tell; but conclude they were all lsot. For my own part, I swam as fortune directed me, and was pushed forward by wind and tide. I often let my legs drop, and could feel no bottom; but when I was almost gone, and able to struggle no longer, I found myself within my depth; and by this time the storm was much abated. The declivity was so small, that I walked near a mile before I got to the shore, which I conjectured was about eight o'clock in the evening. I then advanced forward near half a mile, but could not discover any sign of houses or inhabitants; at least I was in so weak a condition, that I did not observe them. I was extremely tired, and with that, and the heat of the weather, and about half a pint of brandy that I drank as I left the ship, I found myself much inclined to sleep. I lay down on the grass, which was very short and soft, where I slept sounder than ever I remember to have done in my life, and as I reckoned, above nine hours; for when I awaked, it was just daylight. I attempted to rise, but was not able to stir: for as I happened to lie on my back, I found my arms and legs were strongly fastened on each side to the ground; and my hair, which was long and thick, tied down in the same manner. I likewise felt several slender ligatures across my body, from my armpits to my thighs. I could only look upwards; the sun began to grow hot, and the light offended my eyes. I heard a confused noise about me, but in the posture I lay, could see nothing except the sky. In a little time I felt something alive moving on my left leg, which advancing gently forward over my breast, came almost up to my chin; when bending my eyes downwards as much as I could, I perceived it to be a human creature not six inches high, with a bow and arrow in his hands, and a quiver at his back.

~Jonathan Swift

Opening Lines

The whistles always woke Mazie. They pierced into her sleep like some guttural-voiced metal beast, tearing at her; breathing a terror. During the day if the whistle blew, she knew it meant death--somebody's poppa or brother, perhaps her own--in that fearsome place below the ground, the mine.

Yonnondio: From the Thirties by Tillie Olsen

AW is up

AW is up again.

ETA (1145, 18JAN09): Or not.

More on AW

Report is that the refugee camp is now open. AW addicts may get their fix there.

I know I haven't sent out e-mails, but I'm pretty certain my e-mail list is mostly out-of-date. I need to get it updated and will do so as soon as we get back. However, blogs -- presuming you read and follow them -- are also a great way to spread the word and reach more people.

Last report I had, direct from Medievalist, is that it appears to be a problem with the ISP. The techies are continuing to work diligently on getting AW back up.

Be calm. Be safe. This is only temporary and merely "one of those things" that sometimes happen with technology.


ETA (approxim 2:15PM Central 17JAN09): Message from Mac -

Yep. AW is down, right now. The tech line has a minimum 4 hour wait, the last time we tried to call, or sometimes it's just busy. The story seems to be that they're having problems with at least one major switch being down BUT there have also been repeated brown-outs in the city where the server is located.

We're working on it, as much as we actually can. But most of this is out of our hands.

AW Status

The techies are working on it. Now, go write, the lot of you.

Eighteen Sixty-One

Arm’d year—year of the struggle,

No dainty rhymes or sentimental love verses for you,

terrible year,

Not you as some pale poetling seated at a desk

lisping cadenzas piano,

But as a strong man erect, clothed in blue clothes,

advancing carrying a rifle on your shoulder,

With well-gristled body and sunburnt face and hands,

with a knife in the belt at your side,

As I heard you shouting loud, your sonorous voice

ringing across the continent,

Your masculine voice, O year, as rising amid

the great cities,

Amid the men of Manhattan I saw you as one

of the workmen, the dwellers in Manhattan,

Or with large steps crossing the prairies out

of Illinois and Indiana,

Rapidly crossing the West with springy gait

and descending the Alleghanies,

Or down from the great lakes or in Pennsylvania,

or on deck along the Ohio river,

Or southward along the Tennessee or Cumberland rivers,

or at Chattanooga on the mountain top,

Saw I your gain and saw I your sinewy limbs

clothed in blue, bearing weapons, robust year,

Heard your determin’d voice launch’d forth

again and again,

Year that suddenly sang by the mouths of the

round-lipp’d cannon,

I repeat you, hurrying, crashing, sad, distracted

year.

~Walt Whitman

Job Description

You might find this interesting:

Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2008-09 Edition, Writers and Editors

Illinois Politics: The End of Business as Usual?

The Illinois House voted to impeach Governor Rod Blagojevich on Friday.

For those of you who do not know, I live in Illinois. My mailing address, and my current part-time job, are in Springfield, the state capital, so all of this drama currently coming out of the 21^st state is very local news for me.

I find much of it funny in an absurd rather than humorous sense of the word, which is not a good way to feel about one’s government because that’s just a step removed from rebellion. When one is revolted about one’s government, revolutions will and do happen. It’s one thing to make jokes about the people in office. It’s quite another to feel that the government itself is a joke. In Illinois, we’re pretty much at the latter point.

I, personally, reached that point when Roland Burris showed up at the US Congress and was turned away because his credentials weren’t in order and then threatened to sue over that fact. He threatened to sue Illinois Secretary of State White for refusing to sign the documents supporting his appointment as an Illinois Senator to the US Congress and he threatened to sue the US Congress for failing to seat him. And then… and THEN his supporters played the race card.

What did Mr. Burris expect? First, one should not be able to sue another public servant for performing their duties according to their conscience and the will of the people they were elected to do. The Illinois people, the man on the street, the old men gathered together in gas stations, co-workers talking at the water cooler, friends and families conversing over lunch and dinner, have made it abundantly clear: We do not trust anyone appointed by Governor Blagojevich to represent us in the US Senate. By refusing to sign the paperwork supporting Burris’ appointment, Secretary of State White was acting according to our will.

Second, this is not a matter of race. This is about politics, pure and simple. While it is true that Roland Burris would be the only African American senator if he is seated, just as President-elect Obama was, that does not make his rejection a racial issue. The average Illinois person said, long before Burris’ appointment, that they could not imagine anyone accepting an appointment from Blagojevich at this point, just because of the suspicion that would go along with such an action. The average Illinois citizen also expected Blagojevich to pull something like this and to find someone to go along with it. Burris has chosen his path and it is the path the voters trust least. That has nothing to do with race; it has everything to do with politics and those the politicians are supposedly elected to serve.

Keep in mind that Burris has been involved in Illinois politics since the 1970’s. He is known to the state’s citizens as a public official in his own right. He has also long desired a position with more authority than the ones to which he was elected. In the 1980’s, he campaigned for the Democratic nomination for the US Senate then and lost to the bowtied Paul Simon, who went on to win the election and become a very recognized figure within and without Illinois. Later, Burris campaigned to be the Democrat’s candidate for the Illinois Governor, not once but twice. He has also played the race card multiple times as part of his political strategy, regardless of whether or not it was a appropriate.

In between his vying for a chance to be elected to the US senate and the Illinois gubernatorial office, Burris has not been without controversy. In the 1980’s and 1990’s, when he was Attorney General, Burris was accused of ignoring evidence in the Rolando Cruz case, in which Cruz and a co-defendant were convicted and sentenced to death for the kidnapping, rape, and murder of a 10-year old child. A heinous crime, yes, but the assistant attorney general assigned to fight the appeal uncovered several inconsistencies in the evidence to the point where she felt she was being asked to convict an innocent man. When Burris ignored her concerns, she resigned in protest. DNA evidence later exonerated Cruz and his co-defendant. The Cruz case was one of the reasons that a moratorium was declared on executions in the State of Illinois because the system was “fraught with error.”

Also in the 1990’s, Roland Burris, who has advocated for a national handgun ban, organized Chicago’s first Gun Turn-in Day. Only problem was he “forgot” to turn in his own handgun. You know the old saying, when guns are illegal, only criminals will have guns. Illinois politics, with its “business as usual,” under the table, tit-for-tat mentally, is a good argument for keeping and supporting the Second Amendment. Our state leaders are not to be trusted.

Because of this, because the Illinois population is not as stupid or naïve as our leaders might believe, we do not truly believe Blagojevich when he says that he is innocent – although many of us do think there is probably something to his assertion that those who wield the power behind-the-office choose whose skeletons are revealed and whose are not – Illinois politicians are well-known for their connections with organized crime after all – nor do we truly believe Burris when he swears that he did not offer any legal, personal, or professional considerations to gain the Senate seat. And that is why, regardless of whether or not the Senate seats Burris now, we are very unlikely to elect him the next time his seat is up for the vote.

Roland Burris days in the US Senate will be short, just like Blagojevich’s days remaining as the Illinois governor are.

Quote

Unprovided with original learning, unformed in the habits of thinking, unskilled in the arts of composition, I resolved to write a book.

~Edward Gibbon