[MR] where do I publish my article?

[Becky McEllistrem]

As an editor I obviously think my magazine is the greatest.<grin>  As an author I often find myself torn choosing between newsletters/magazines for publication. Occasionally I get asked “where should I publish this”? I thought it would be interesting to remind people that publications in SCA are not mutually exclusive.

As an author and an editor I choose not to publish articles in the Oak because I consider that too self-serving. However I often send articles to my baronial newsletter, the Windlore. I like doing that because it's one of the few ways I can support my barony right now given my current commitments.

I also don't think it's bad to publish the same article in the baronial newsletter first, then the kingdom newsletter, then the society newsletter. This is perceived as a "progressive" method of supporting multiple groups. It is also still OK to publish in a society newsletter and then local newsletters but sometimes this is perceived as a "negative" method of supporting multiple groups even though that’s not true.  It's just a perception thing.

Different publications have different “customers” or readership bases. Very often a subset of people receiving the kingdom newsletter receives the baronial newsletters.  Even though many of the baronial newsletters are online it still doesn’t mean that everybody reads them etc. The society newsletters sometimes have a wider readership than kingdom newsletters.  However they're not electronic and not automatically received thus I believe they have simply a different readership than the kingdom newsletters.

I also note that an article online is not automatically excluded from publication in an SCA magazine or newsletter as long as there is no potential plagiarism issue.  If you have any questions about this please write me and I'll help investigate.

So when choosing a newsletter or magazine for publication, please consider that publications are not mutually exclusive. It is great to support several publications and the preference is a progressive approach but that is not a requirement. Where and when to publish is strictly the author’s preference and the publications are not in competition with each other.

I would say though that from my perspective, the society publications have many kingdoms as resources for content, the kingdom newsletters have one kingdom as a resource for content, the baronial newsletters have only one barony as a resource for content etc. That’s partly why I think to publish things in the baronial newsletter first and then work my way up but again it’s the author’s choice.

I should also note that generally speaking I tend to focus on quality over quantity. One or two carefully proven ideas or messages help the credibility of a writer/researcher much more than 10 educated guesses.  Extrapolation is still OK.  The article is just "stronger" if you can prove most of your claims.

If you have any questions please feel free to write me at any time.  If you want any help with brainstorming regardless of where you publish, please feel free to write me.  I feel helping out in this way this is my responsibility to service and Atlantia.


Food for thought

Lady Rebecca the Contrary
Oak Editor