What will paperplates publish?
How do I submit my work to paperplates?
What is paperplates? Available for downloading directly from www.paperplates.org, paperplates is a literary quarterly published in Toronto.
Who writes for paperplates? We make no distinction between veterans and beginners. (Nor, you should note, do we pay them.) Some of our contributors have published several books; some have never before published a single line.
What will paperplates publish? Like most magazines, paperplates has a front, a middle, and a back section.In the front section ("homeplate") we put short personal essays, reminiscences, and travel accounts. The tone expected is that of an informal letter, although the subject itself need not be light. The average length is 2,500 words.
In the middle section we put short stories, one-act plays, musical scores, poems short and long, extended travel pieces, formal essays, interviews, and reminiscences. (These categories are not exclusive.) The maximum length for the prose works is 7,500 words, for the poems 1,500 words (give or take a few couplets). We prefer not to serialize, particularly when the subsequent parts have yet to be written.
In the back section we put reviews, mostly of books. The average length is 2,500 words. We have some fine regular reviewers, but no one holds tenure here. We welcome opinionated writing.
How do I submit my work to paperplates? By surface mail to paperplates, 19 Kenwood Ave, Toronto, Ontario M6C 2R8. We encourage you to provide an e-mail address and forgo return of the manuscript. If, however, you do wish the manuscript returned, you must include a stamped self-addressed envelope. Canadian postage only, please. We no longer accept International Reply Coupons.Or by e-mail to magazine@paperplates.org. (If you're attaching your submission – see below – describe in your message the contents and the format of the attachment. Preferable formats are .txt, .doc [not .docx], and .rtf.)
Do not send fiction as an e-mail attachment. Copy the first 300 words or so into the body of your message. If we like what we read, we'll ask for the rest. If you prefer not to send a fragment, you have the option of using surface mail.
Send no more than five poems or one prose piece per submission.
Include a short bio with your submission. If we accept the latter, make sure to update the former.
Expect to wait at least 4 to 6 months for a reply. (Simultaneous submissions are fine. Just let us know.)
Who has copyright to my work? You do. We receive permission from you to publish your work this once in this issue, which itself is copyright paperplates. You are granting us "first North American serial rights." All further rights belong to you – you may publish the same work afterwards elsewhere.We do not accept previously published work nor work already optioned by another publisher.
If you have other questions, write to us.Send all correspondence to magazine@paperplates.org or
paperplates, 19 Kenwood Ave, Toronto, Ontario M6C 2R8.Bernard Kelly
publisher
