Guidelines for Contributors

Articles

Maximum 700 words, preferable around 500 words with minimum of 2 high quality pictures, 300 dpi, colour JPG format.

Songs, Tunes, Poems, Dances

We would also strongly like to have a song(s), tunes, poem, dance related to the article (very much like the American Sing-Out and the previous Australian Stringybark and Greenhide magazines).

Features and Teach-Ins

We would also like to encourage features on instruments, music, dance styles from around Australia and the world.

News

Latest news about events, festivals, performers tours, concerts with photographs.

Calendar of events details

Name of event, dates, location, organising body, contact, telephone, facsimile, email and web-page details.

Reviews

Reviews of recent events, concerts, festivals with photographs.

Photographs

We want to encourage as many pictures in the magazine as possible. We would like as a minimum like 2 photographs. Photos should be credited to the photographer, but shouldn't be submitted without his/her consent. We always like accompanying photos in black and white or colour. They can be sent by post or by e-mail. They have to be reproduction quality. We don't return photos unless asked.

Format to be sent:

Electronic - 300 dpi in colour, JPG format, scanned at 10cm wide if possible.

Email to Cec Bucello, info@tradandnow.com

Hard Copy: - send to Cec Bucello, PO Box 532, Woy Woy, NSW, 2256.

Music, Songs Features

We would like to publish as many tunes and songs as possible and related to the articles. They will outputted as graphic files via Finale Music Software.

They can be submitted in a number of ways - HIGHLY PREFERRED item transcribed transcribed on to music paper or inputted into Finale Music Software. Midi files from other software should also be OK.

Recording sent in for transcription. More work for us but possible.

Articles

Before starting on an article, it's best to contact us to see if we're interested: it could be a great idea, except that something similar has been done lately. Or, it might be fine in principle but somehow just doesn't feel right for us.

We don't like turning people down, but we have to hold to our vision of what T&N is about - and we hope that if anybody's knocked back, it won't stop them trying again!

As for style, we want clear, accessible writing which is informative but not ponderous. For that reason, we don't need academic-style footnotes or references.

Some other guidelines

We want to enthuse and inform people about folk and traditional art, performers, events as they have been and are now. We also want to provide a resource for interested performers to broaden their repertoires.

We don't want the articles to preach to the converted and we certainly don't want a magazine that's full of in references and folkie-talk that would baffle somebody new to the scene. Trad & Now is inclusive, and that has to be reflected in how it's written.

We want articles about Australian places and people and their stories, songs, songs, music, tunes, poems. Example articles - Interview with a performer, preferably in a question-and-answer format - an historical piece - an analysis of a player's style (favourite guitar tunings etc) - an issue (lack of teaching of traditional music in schools etc) - or whatever!

News items

We want information on: festivals, concerts, births/marriages/deaths, workshops, folk music on air/on the electronic media, Folk Club and House Concert circuit, new publications (with ISBN numbers if possible),
instrument makers and their creations, innovations in instrument manufacture/amplification systems, and so on.

We won't guarantee to use everything and we may have to edit (news items are very short, perhaps barely 150 words).

Reviews - recordings

These should be: around 250 words maximum, include the name of the recording company, catalogue number, where to get it - web-page, stores etc.

We don't want track-by-track accounts, although mention of the odd very good (or very bad) track is fine, provided there's an explanation of why it's good or bad. We want to hear overall impressions of the recording, including things like the quality of the album notes.

We need the album put in context, too, but that shouldn't involve being told more about the artist than about the actual work itself.

Lastly, if fulsome praise is deserved it should obviously be given - although outright condemnation is a bit more dodgy...

Reviews - live events

We'd like to hear unusual and major events - an exotic mix of performers, the unexpected venue, Benefit Nights and so on. We'll still do the Ordinary' gigs when we can, though).

Scene-setting is vital for keeping up the interest - what sort of a crowd was there, the atmosphere, the organisation, the highs and lows - all the elements, in short, that make for something truly memorable. Around 500 words would be the maximum.

Getting material to us

The easiest way to do this is e-mail, which saves us time. Equally, we can accept floppy discs and are able to open most Word Processing programs, whether on PC or Mac, but need hard copy to accompany them.

This helps us make sure nothing is lost in translation, like accents and so on. We take typed and word-processed text but not, please, manuscript.

Payment

In general there is no payment for individual articles. We will certainly provide issues of the magazine as requested.

Making contact with us

We strongly suggest contacting us before submitting something, because we hate to disappoint. Even when we accept work, we reserve the right to edit it for space reasons, or to improve it a bit. We'll always try to respect the work's integrity and the writer's clear intentions, though.

Contact details

Last but not least, please send your full contact details, (address, phone, fax, email) when submitting anything, including details of anyone else connected with the piece (band, artist, photographer, etc), especially if it
the first time you have contributed.

If you don't, you will not automatically be sent a magazine when it is published.