Folklore Magazine Writer Guide

Submissions should fall into one of the following categories:

• “People stories” – this includes stories of events, daily life, family, humour, or personal/lived experiences that share what it is like to be in Saskatchewan

• Researched historical articles with references

• Poetry or songs

• Book reviews

• Feature photographs – send in a photo you would like to share with a few lines providing some background

• Oral histories

• Any other creative work – if it can appropriately be represented in magazine format

Submissions should:

• Be proofread: Proofreading is important! Often, it can be helpful to have someone else proofread your work as well. It is fine if there are grammatical errors in your work, but we ask that you consider this step to help us out with our editing process.

• Directly mention Saskatchewan history: The best Folklore Magazine submissions are specific to your lived experiences with Saskatchewan history. This includes time frame, location, and names.

  • Time frame – Always specify what time period you are writing about.

    • OK: “When I was a teenager…”

    • Good: “In 1939, when I was 14 years old…”

  • Location – Always specify the municipality you are writing about.

    • OK: “We moved into the city from the farm in 1932…”

    • Good: “We moved into Moose Jaw from our farm near Mossbank in 1932…”

  • Names of people and places – Provide specifics when appropriate.

    • OK: Instead of “I ended up at a rooming house on High  Street…”

    • Better: “I ended up staying at Mrs. Johnson’s rooming house on High Street…”

    • Best: “I ended up staying at Mrs. Agnes Johnson’s rooming house on High Street in Moose Jaw…”.

There is no minimum length for submissions. The maximum length is 2000 words.

Folklore sometimes publishes submissions over 2000 words, but first please contact us to discuss your submission.

You do not need to reference anything you experienced personally, as in these cases, you are the source. The idea behind references is to allow historians of the future to trace back where this information came from! So, just make sure you are leaving as many detailed clues on your sources as possible. If you're not sure, please contact us and we'd be happy to advise you.

You need to include references when:

• You are writing about something experienced by someone close to you: If a family member or someone in your community tells you a story, they are the source. You might reference them by saying "This is the story as it was told to me by my Auntie, Mary Johnstone" or "The story, as it is told in the village of Silcott, goes like this..."

• You are writing about something you didn't experience personally: If your sources are not close first-hand accounts or information passed down in your community, you will need a reference. This may include books, websites, or any other research you have done. Any direct quotes must be referenced.

  • References in these cases should follow the Chicago Manual of Style Notes-Bibliography conventions. For more guidance on this style, visit this guide or this guide.

  • Researched articles may include footnotes or a reference list, although footnotes are preferred.

Folklore Magazine understands that the written magazine format may not be ideal for some people wanting to share their stories. For example, you may:

• Feel uncomfortable or be unable to tell your story in English (Folklore’s main publication language)

• Prefer or need to tell your story orally instead of in written form

• Feel constrained by the types of formats that Folklore typically publishes

• Not feel comfortable or be unable to write your story down (for various reasons)

• Not have access to a computer or other relevant technology

• And many more!

However, we do not want this to stop you from sharing your stories. If you need other ways to share your stories, please contact us so that we can set up an alternate way for you to share your work.

Some options include, but are not limited to:

• Oral histories: If you are comfortable speaking with someone about your story, you may orally narrate a story in a conversation to someone at Folklore Magazine, who will then work with you to put your story into written format afterward. The audio recording of your oral history can also be preserved.

• Interviews: If you have a story to share but prefer that someone else take charge of structuring it, someone from Folklore Magazine can interview you about your experiences and transcribe it to written form.

• Translation: If your story is in a different language, Folklore Magazine can try to work with translators to adapt your story to English for our readers. The story can also be preserved and published in its original language alongside the translation.

Folklore Magazine attempts to work with all contributors to elevate their pieces to an appropriate level for publication, regardless of the contributor’s level of writing ability. However, final acceptance/rejection decisions are made by the Editor at their discrepancy.

Although Folklore Magazine attempts to accommodate most pieces, we will reject a piece if:

• The piece is not related to Saskatchewan and/or features no relevant Saskatchewan content: It is not enough for the author to simply be from Saskatchewan. The connection to Saskatchewan history and/or lived experience must be made clear.

• The language or themes are divisive or discriminatory: The language used should respect all cultures, genders, and other societal identities. If a piece contains outdated language, Folklore Magazine can work with the author to update this language, so you don’t need to be too worried. However, intentionally discriminatory language will lead to rejection. “Othering” language, intentional or not, will also lead to rejection if it cannot be fixed without significantly changing the meaning of the text.

• The content and themes of the article may be offensive or discriminatory toward target demographics: Racism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, and other forms of xenophobia are not tolerated in Folklore Magazine.

• The grammatical and/or written conventions are so inconsistent that they cannot be edited without significantly changing the meaning of the text: Folklore Magazine is committed to sharing stories from diverse peoples, but in very extreme cases, the issues with a piece may be too significant for us to handle without further consultation with you. If you are concerned that this may happen to you, please read our “What can I do if I have a story to tell but cannot or do not want to write it down?” section or contact us for more information.

Contributors are welcome to submit as many pieces as they would like. However, as Folklore Magazine is attempting to accommodate a large number of submissions, we place the following limitations on publication. We ask that contributors keep this in mind as they submit their work.

Across each year (4 issues), contributors can publish up to:

• Two long-form articles (i.e., people stories, researched articles, etc.)

• 2 feature photographs

• 4 book reviews

• 4 poems

You can submit to Folklore Magazine through one of three ways:

• By online form here

• By email: submissions@shfs.ca

• By mail to our office:

  Saskatchewan History & Folklore Society
  243 Robin Crescent
  Saskatoon, SK
  S7L 6M8

Please use this section as your submission checklist. If you submit via online form, you will be prompted to include the following.

All submissions must include:

• Indication that you are offering First North American Serial Publication Rights – FNSPR means that you are offering Folklore Magazine the right to be the first place to publish the piece (after it’s published, the copyright reverts back to you, the author). For the most part, Folklore declines previously published material.

• Author’s name

• Current full mailing address – We need a place to send any payment cheques!

• Phone number

• Email – Not mandatory but be aware that providing an email will speed up the processing of your submission, especially if we have to contact you with questions or edits.

• A short bio – 250 words maximum

• A photo of the author – A head-and-shoulders picture

For text submissions, please include:

• A Word document or hard copy – We prefer digital submissions if possible. Please attach a Word document (.doc or .docx) and not a PDF. We do accept handwritten submissions but note that these take longer for us to process.

• References – These can appear in the same document as your piece.

When attaching photographs or illustrations, please include:

• The images – For digital images, scan these with high resolution (300 dpi minimum). Alternatively, you can mail in hard copies.

• Captions and image credit – Please indicate these for each image.

For mailed submissions, please include:

• A self-addressed, stamped envelope – This is only required if you want your hard copy manuscript or photos returned. If this is not sent, we will assume you don’t want these back.

Folklore Magazine accepts submissions on a rolling basis — contributors are welcome to submit at any time during the year. However, we suggest that contributors are mindful of seasonality, as we tend to publish works that correspond to the appropriate season.

For example, a Christmas story will likely be published in a Winter issue. If you submit a Christmas story after the Winter issue passes, it likely will not be published until the following year.

The general deadlines for Folklore submissions are:

• Winter issue – September 15

• Spring issue – December 15

• Summer issue – March 15

• Autumn issue – June 15

After you have submitted your piece, someone from Folklore Magazine will be in touch with you to let you know that we have received your piece. As we move forward with your work, your piece will be moved along the stages, and someone will continue to be in touch. Please note that our editorial process can be quite slow to accommodate all of the submissions we receive.

Folklore Magazine’s editorial stages are:

1)     Received – When you send in your work, you will receive confirmation that we have received your piece. At this point, the Editor will read your piece to assess what stage it should be sent to next.

2)     Rejected – This is the most unlikely case for your piece, but if the Editor finds significant issues (as outlined in our editorial process above), then your piece may be moved to the rejected stage.

3)     Sent Back to the Author – This is a much more likely outcome. If the Editor finds larger revision suggestions in your piece that require your input, they will send you back your piece with their suggested edits. These may include larger content-related edits that would affect the overall structure, tone, or organization of the piece. Not all pieces will be sent back to the author, so you may skip this stage.

4)     Accepted – At this stage, your piece has been selected for publication in an upcoming issue of Folklore Magazine! Your submission may move to the Accepted stage straight from the Received stage if it is in good condition. It may also move to this stage from the Sent to the Author stage. After your piece has been accepted, the Editor will edit your piece for minor grammar, punctuation, spelling, and referencing errors.

5)     Ready for Publication – Once the Editor is finished editing your piece, it is now ready for publication! It may sit here for a bit of time until it is time to publish another issue of Folklore Magazine.

6)     Published – At the final stage, your piece will be put into layout and published! You will receive your payment and a complimentary copy of the issue shortly thereafter.