WRITERS’ GUIDELINES
Editor: Don Corathers, dcorathers@edta.org
The magazine and its readers
Dramatics is an educational theatre magazine published since 1929 by the International Thespian Society, and its parent organization, the Educational Theatre Association. Dramatics is published nine times a year, September through May. It has a circulation of about 40,000. Approximately 80 percent of its readers are high school theatre students; about 10 percent are high school theatre teachers. Other subscribers include libraries, college theatre students and teachers, and others interested in educational theatre.
The primary editorial objectives of the magazine are: to provide serious, committed young theatre students and their teachers with the skills and knowledge they need to make better theatre; to be a resource that will help high school juniors and seniors make an informed decision about whether to pursue a career in theatre, and about how to do so; and to prepare high school students to be knowledgeable, appreciative audience members for the rest of their lives.
Opportunities for contributors
We buy four to eight articles for each issue, ranging in length from 800 to 4,000 words. Articles are accepted on any area of the performing arts, including film, video, and dance. A typical issue might include an interview with someone who has made a significant contribution to the theatre; an article describing some innovative approach to blocking, costume design, or set construction; a survey of leading theatre schools describing what they look for in students; and a photo spread, with copy, on some ground-breaking performer or theatre group. Short news items, book reviews, and humor pieces (provided they’re actually funny) are also part of the mix.
The test we apply, in deciding whether to accept an article, is whether it would engage an above-average high school theatre student and deepen his or her understanding and appreciation of the performing arts. We also look for pieces a theatre teacher might use in the classroom, studio, or rehearsal hall, although articles of this kind are more likely to be published in our quarterly journal Teaching Theatre.
Plays
We print seven one-act and full-length plays a year. We occasionally reprint plays, but prefer that they be unpublished. Plays should be performable in high schools, which places some restrictions on language and subject matter; however, we tend not to publish children’s theatre pieces, teen angst dramas, and overtly didactic “message” plays.
We buy one-time, non-exclusive publication rights to plays. The playwright retains all other rights.
Graphics
Photos and illustrations to accompany articles are welcomed, and when available, should be submitted at the same time as the manuscript. Acceptable forms: color transparencies, 35mm or larger; color or black and white prints, 5 × 7 or larger; line art (generally used to illustrate technical articles); JPEG and TIFF files of high-quality scans. Unless other arrangements are made, payment for articles includes payment for photos and illustrations. We occasionally buy photo essays.
Rights and returns
We buy first publication rights (unless we make other arrangements with an author), pay on acceptance, report in six weeks (or notify authors if a longer period is needed for review), and return all material that is accompanied by a self-addressed stamped envelope.
Queries and sample copies
We prefer to see a finished manuscript but will respond to queries by letter or e-mail. Phone queries are discouraged. For a sample copy of the magazine, send a 9 × 12 SASE with four ounces of first class postage (or the equivalent in international reply coupons, if you’re outside the United States.) Subscriptions cost $27 a year.
Payment
Honorariums of $25 to $400 are paid for accepted work. Payment is based on quality of work, amount of editing or rewriting needed, length of piece, and inclusion of photos or graphics. Contributors also receive five free copies of the issue in which their piece appears and may obtain additional copies at a minimal charge.
MS specifications
We prefer hard copy submissions, particularly from writers who are new to the magazine. We’ll request an electronic version of the article upon acceptance. Photocopied submissions are acceptable as long as they are clearly legible. Contributors should keep an exact copy of any manuscript submitted.
We edit manuscripts to conform to the Chicago Manual of Style. We work on Windows-based computers; MS Word is the text program of choice.
All submissions are subject to editing, and we try to involve authors in that process as much as possible. Whenever time allows, we send galley proofs to authors for review—usually by fax.
How to submit an article
Submissions should be addressed to Dramatics, 2343 Auburn Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45219.
A contributor’s cheat sheet: what makes us cranky
• Writers who are too lazy or careless to do basic reporting and research. Very few articles are complete with only one quoted source.
• Writers who represent themselves as experts when they’re not.
• Writers who are not up front about if and where a piece has been previously published.
• Submissions that ignore or misunderstand our audience; articles that either talk down to our readers or are way over their heads. (If a piece has footnotes, it’s probably too academic for us.)
• Contributors who create an impression of conflict of interest by writing about an organization in which they themselves are involved (although we do sometimes publish first-person accounts).
• Would-be playwrights who do not understand the basic conventions of the stage.
• Writers who are impossible to get ahold of, or who do not return messages.
What makes us happy
• Writers who really understand our audience.
• Writers who bring lots of strong, specific article ideas to the table, and keep abreast of topics recently covered by the magazine.
• Contributors who submit written queries or complete articles, rather than interrupting our work to make a sales pitch by phone.
• Writers who understand the need for editorial input, and can make and/or accept necessary changes gracefully.
• Writers who can provide good quality photography to go along with their pieces (snapshots are not publishable). Illustration ideas are also appreciated.
• Writers who include student voices in their pieces when appropriate, as well as a variety of other sources.
• Writers whose work is well organized, factual, and clean.
• Writers who are willing to work cheerfully for what we can afford to pay.
More information here.
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