Submission Guidlines for The Balefire

A Magical Magazine for the Midwest

The Balefire is a semi-annual publication featuring magical voices and perspectives from throughout the Midwest.

Beltane issue: Deadline: March 15
     Light half of the year, Beltane, Midsummer, Lammas, Mabon.

Regular Sections:

The following sections regularly appear in THE BALFEIRE Magazine. Please send in material for these sections as well as for the Sabbats and related to each issue. Often, the material included in these sections relates to the Sabbats or seasonal discussions, but this is not necessary. Also, please send photographs and artwork for each section.

Community Services: profile of a Pagan/Occult charitable organization

Festival Forum: reviews & previews of area festivals and campouts

Fireside Chat: feedback from readers about articles, stories, etc.

Group Guide: Highlights working covens, hearths, circles, groves or other bodies (or groups of related bodies).

Red Straps: discussions related to Fire Tribe (the woodbusters, firetenders, fire performers, water bearers and energy workers that maintain the bonfires at many Pagan gatherings)

Rites of Passage: announcement related to individual & group Rites of Passage

Teen Retreat: teen reflections & contributions related to magic and spirituality

Vendor’s View: profile of a festival, online, or brick & mortar vendor

Feature Articles

Our topics cover the broad range of magical and spiritual experience within the Pagan and Occult communities, while retaining a clear focus on the manifestations of those communities in the Midwest. Topics might include:

magical practices * spells * magical and spiritual traditions * ritual texts * reviews of rituals, events, and festivals * group profiles * Pagan children, teens, and families * polyamory * sacred sexuality * spiritual ecstasy * pantheons and Deity profiles * music and book reviews * sustainable living * eco-magic * community service * and so much more

Submission Guidelines:

Please comply with the following guidelines in submitting material for possible publication in THE BALFEIRE Magazine.

Identification of your material:

Include your legal name, address, phone, and email for our records on all material you submit. If you wish to be published under a different name, clearly indicate that on your material, too. Also let us know which of your contact information we can publish, otherwise, we will just list your city and state. Submission of a brief biographical paragraph is optional.

Deadlines:

Deadlines are published at the top of this page, as well as in the current issue of THE BALFEIRE Magazine.

Text Submissions

Send us articles that are 500 -3000 words (approximately 2-10 typed, double-spaced pages). Longer articles are also accepted, depending on the content. Please do not send handwritten material. We encourage submissions via email to balefire@asteriabooks.com. The preferred format for submissions is: Microsoft Word, single-spaced, 11-point Times New Roman. Please send any images or clip-art in the highest resolution you can manage, in the form of .GIF, .TIF, .PNG or .JPG files - - but not embedded within the Word document. (If you do not have word, please send your written work as a rich text file, RTF.)

Articles appearing in our magazine may also be posted to our website. We will assume we have your permission to do this, unless you inform us otherwise at the time of submission.

Image Submissions

Artwork should be black and white, or gray scale images. Color art or photos will be scanned as gray scale images. Originals may be submitted, as well as high-quality reproductions. All photographs should be good contrast color, or black and white. If submitting as computer files, be sure they are in the form of .GIF, .TIF, .PNG or .JPG files, and as large as you can manage. Send to balefire@asteriabooks.com.

Cover Art

Cover art should relate to the themes of the Sabbat for the issue in which it is included. If you wish color art to be considered for an upcoming cover, please send a reproduction of the art and a description of the original so that we can determine its potential as a cover.

References

Provide references for all material that is not your own thinking, or for any material that is quoted or referred to in your article. Be sure to include the author's full name, title, year published, page numbers, publisher, and publisher's city.

Editing

We reserve the right to edit and/or crop all material submitted to us. Usually we edit for length, clarity, and errors in spelling or grammar. We will never knowingly change your meaning.

Philosophy

Our aim is to be a resource to Pagans and Magicians who either live in the Midwest or have deep roots in the area. For this reason, it is important to us that the majority of our contributors and content emerge from this area and/or relate back to it in some manner.

Publication Rights

Rights to all material submitted to us return to the creator automatically after publication in our magazine. However, THE BALFEIRE retains the right to re-publish material in electronic form in the future. If material you are submitting to us has been published before, you must indicate where, when, and the status of publication rights when submitting it to us. Also, please provide similar information if your submission is being considered for publication elsewhere. We prefer to include material never before published and not being considered for publication elsewhere.

Acknowledgment of Submissions

Upon receipt of your submission, you will receive acknowledgment that your material has been accepted for consideration. Due to the demands upon staff time, you will not receive further acknowledgment regarding the publication status of your material. You will be contacted if any special considerations need to be dealt with before an article or artwork can be published. Some fine articles and artwork remain in the files for a while awaiting the opportune time for publishing. While we do not publish all material we receive, we do carefully review all contributions and appreciate your support. If you have questions concerning the publication status of your material, feel free to contact us.

Payment

You will receive one complimentary .pdf copy of the THE BALFEIRE Magazine that your material was included in. THE BALFEIRE does not provide cash payments or barter arrangements for articles or artwork.