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Editorial Policy and Submissions
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EDITORIAL POLICY AND GUIDELINES FOR WRITERS
Revised December 2009
Total Theatre Magazine
The Basement
24 Kensington St
Brighton BN1 4AJ
Tel: 01273 699733
Editor’s mobile: 07752 142526
Reviews Editor’s mobile: 07977 511556
Dorothy Max Prior, Editor editorial@totaltheatre.org.uk
John Ellingsworth, Deputy Editor / News & Listings Editor listings@totaltheatre.org.uk
Beccy Smith, Reviews Editor magazine@totaltheatre.org.uk
Marie Kenny, Editorial Assistant (Reviews)
Alexander Roberts, Editorial Assistant (Features)
Total Theatre Magazine is created by and for theatre practitioners, and exists to document, celebrate and support contemporary theatre and performance. With this in mind, we aim:
- To reflect on contemporary practice from the ‘inside’ – primarily work presented in the UK and/or by UK-based artists, but also taking an international approach
- To provide an archive of current theatre and performance practice
- To give artists and theatre-makers a voice – specifically the opportunity to write about their own work and about issues that relate to their practice
- To stimulate debate about theatre and performance, reflecting on the interests and needs of artists, presenters and audiences
- To provide a valuable resource to aid the training and professional development of contemporary theatre and performance practitioners
Guidelines for Writers
Feature Articles
Total Theatre Magazine’s editor welcomes ideas and suggestions for future articles. These are usually developed by the writer working closely with the editor/features editor (or editorial assistant). We rarely publish unsolicited articles, but these may be submitted for consideration, provided that the material has not been previously published elsewhere. Total Theatre Magazine does not reprint material from other sources – all our editorial content is original material.
Total Theatre Magazine cannot offer fees for writers, but can in some cases provide travel or other expenses, as agreed by the editor.
The magazine readership is interested in, and often knowledgeable about, the 'total theatre' sector. Complex issues can and should be entered into if the writer wishes, but we aim for an intelligent and accessible tone, rather than an academic tone, in our magazine feature articles.
Total Theatre Magazine runs a number of different sorts of features including:
- Topical features that look at current or recent contemporary theatre and live performance events, shows, and presentations – or which preview coming shows or events
- Features on work by one artist or company; or one venue; or a body of work by a group of interrelated artists or companies
- Interviews, or features circling around interviews, with renowned theatre practitioners – performers, artists, presenters, producers, directors – national or international
- A focus on a geographic location – be it local, regional, national, or international
- Features on a specific strand of performance practice, e.g. site responsive work, new music theatre, aerial dance etc
- Reflections on trends or tendencies in contemporary theatre practice or in the arts generally, in relation to the wider world’s concerns, e.g. issue-based theatre, artists’ responses to war, the impact of climate change
- Overviews on a specific aspect of performance work or of contemporary hybrid practices and developments e.g. use of text in devising, sci-art collaborations, relationship between live and mediated performance
- First-person artist or company diaries, which are an opportunity for theatre-makers to reflect on their own work
- Rehearsal diaries and observations on the process of creation, written from either an ‘inside eye’ or ‘outside eye’ perspective
- Contextual pieces that look at current practice within a broader context, e.g. historical reflections, or documentation of seminal artists who have informed contemporary practice
- Reports and reflections on developments in training, conferences and symposia; professional development; education and community projects
Feature articles can be anything between 600 words and 1800 words. We rarely publish longer articles.
Please send proposals for feature articles to the editor: editorial@totaltheatre.org.uk
Proposals should include name of the writer, company name if relevant, declaration of vested interest if relevant.
All copy submitted to Total Theatre Magazine for potential publication must be the author's own original work and must be previously unpublished material. On publication, material becomes the joint copyright of the writer and of Total Theatre Magazine. Permission for subsequent publication elsewhere is usually granted as long as appropriate credits are given to Total Theatre Magazine.
We also include a number of columns, regulars and opinion pieces, currently including:
- Out & About by Pippa Bailey – an ‘industry insider’ round-up/opinion piece
- Absolute Beginners – home truths from the Canny Granny (Laura Lloyd)
- Voices – a short first-person transposed interview with a key artist, director or producer presented in short soundbites
Reviews
Reviews are an important aspect of Total Theatre Magazine’s remit to document, celebrate and support contemporary theatre and performance.
Total Theatre Magazine cannot offer fees for reviewers, but can in some cases provide travel or other expenses, as agreed by the editor.
Writers wishing to review for Total Theatre Magazine can submit a sample review (25o–350w) to the reviews editor on magazine@totaltheatre.org.uk
The magazine’s reviews editor or editorial assistant manages the flow of press releases and marketing information; compiles databases of shows-to-review which are circulated to writers; books writers in to see shows and solicits their copy (which should come in within 48 hours of seeing the show).
From December 2009, most single short-length (250-350w) reviews will be published on the Total Theatre website.
Total Theatre Magazine will from Vol 22, 2010 focus on:
- Fuller reviews of one show or artist’s work
- Reviews, reports or reflections on work seen at a festival or event
- Comparative reviews e.g. of two pieces of work created independently but using similar starting points, or two different pieces of work made by the same company
- Reviews/reflections on a body of work seen in a dedicated season
- Reviews/reflections on work seen from a particular strand of practice, e.g. circus, street arts, puppetry
- Multi-voiced reviews / reflections – and specifically, the three-way Being There ‘review’ of a recent show or event
Although the use of the website in tandem with the print magazine will mean more reviews made public, we cannot guarantee to publish all the reviews received, and decisions to publish are taken by the editor / reviews editor.
Total Theatre Magazine or its website rarely publish unsolicited reviews, but we will consider unsolicited copy in some circumstances, particularly if it is a review of a show or event that is outside of London / South East England, or of a one-off, non-touring show or event (e.g. a site-specific piece).
Specific guidelines for reviewers:
- Key information:
Make sure you are given a programme for free when you go to see a show. If there isn’t a programme available, or if the programme doesn’t contain the key facts that you need, look up the company/show website afterwards, so you start writing with the key info to hand.
- Wordcount:
Keep to the word count. Reviews have to be between 250w minimum and 350w maximum unless otherwise agreed.
- Get the key facts in:
At the top of your copy, put your name, the name of the presenting company/artist, the show title, the venue, the town/city and the exact date seen, not the run (e.g. 23 November 2009). Place this info at the top of the review. Other information to add in if relevant includes: the names of any co-producers/co-presenters; if the show was presented in a festival or season (e.g. Barbican Pit / bite); the dates of a show’s run, if relevant (i.e. if the show is on for more than the one night that it was seen by the reviewer). If for any reason you are unsure on any of this key information, please let us know when you submit your copy.
- Names, spellings & general fact checking:
Before you submit your review, check all facts. Use your programme notes and/or Google to check all names and factual references to ensure that:
- Artists’ names or references to this show or previous shows, or references to other artists’ work, are all spelt correctly!
- Contextual information given, such as the place of the work in the company’s canon (‘the third show by…’), or the when the work was created (‘a new show by…’), is actually correct! Differentiate between newly-created shows and UK premieres – this is especially important with overseas companies. For example – do not put ‘Derevo’s latest show…’ unless you know for sure it is their latest!
- Formatting:
Do not format your copy beyond the absolutely necessary – i.e. don’t use bold, justified text, para indents etc. Use a serif font (such as Times New Roman or Georgia). Italicise show titles.
- Submitting your copy:
- Send as a Word attachment or pasted into the body of the email (but we’d prefer it as an attachment).
- Send copy within 48hrs of seeing the show.
- Send to magazine@totaltheatre.org.uk
News and Listings
Total Theatre Magazine welcomes news and listings items.
Categories include:
- Performer and company updates
- News from venues/festivals/other arts organisationsInformation on training/professional development, conferences, symposia
- Information on education and community arts initiatives
- Information on funding, bursaries and grants
- Information on publications, educational resources, websites and other media
- Opportunities and resources offered
NB we are quarterly so make sure that items sent will still be current on publication date.
News and listings items go to the news editor: listings@totaltheatre.org.uk
Please keep items to around 100w. Include a jpeg or two. These should be print resolution.
The editor and news editor reserve the right to decide what items to include.
Books & Other Media
Total Theatre Magazine runs short book reviews, and information on other media, e.g. DVD releases, exhibitions/websites etc
Send information to: magazine@totaltheatre.org.uk
Please send review copies of books/DVDs to our Brighton office:
Total Theatre Magazine
The Basement
24 Kensington St
Brighton BN1 4AJ
Deadlines and Publication Dates
- Vol 22 Issue 1 Spring 2010 published 5th March 2010
External copy/ads booking deadline 18th January; ads artwork deadline 1st February
- Vol 22 Issue 2 Summer 2010 published 4 th June 2010
External copy/ads booking deadline 19th April; ads artwork deadline 3rd May
- Vol 22 Issue 3 Autumn 2010 published 30 th September 2010
External copy/ads booking deadline 20th August; ads artwork deadline 1st September
- Vol 22 Issue 4 Winter 2010 published 10 th December 2010
External copy/ads booking deadline 25th October; ads artwork deadline 8th November
If you are interest in advertising or booking an insert with the magazine mailout, please see Magazine Advertising
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