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From:	Luke Kendall <luke@********.CANON.OZ.AU>
Subject:	FASA submission guidelines?
Date:	Mon, 10 Jan 1994 09:18:16 +1100

Message no. 1 Has anyone on this list asked for and received submission
guidelines from FASA (for Shadowrun)? Does anyone have
guidelines for novels? Or the name of the person at FASA
that deals with such request?

luke

From:	Jak Koke <jkoke@****.EDU>
Subject:	FASA submission guidelines
Date:	Fri, 4 Apr 1997 09:39:31 -0800

Message no. 2 I agree that not accepting electronic submissions is harsh and unfairly
hurts non-US residents. I also think that FASA's submission guidelines are
worded in such a way as to deter even the most stalwart of would-be
novelists, sourcebook or adventure writers.

However, I don't think that FASA stands alone in this regard. Publishing, in
my experience, is a very old industry and is embracing the information age
very slowly. No major book publishers, AFAIK, accept electronic submissions.
I do know that some game companies do, Steve Jackson Games comes to mind,
and several magazines. I am speaking mainly of unsolicited submissions. Once
an author has established communication with an editor, ideas and partial
proposals are often discussed via email before a full-blown proposal is
submitted (which then is sent via snail mail). (funny, neh?)

I don't want turn into a defender of all that is FASA. I never meant to
imply that the list members should refrain from criticizing products or
voicing their opinions. Hell, FASA has held onto a novel of mine for three
years without publishing it; I have ample reason to bitch. My last post was
merely an attempt to give people some more information about submissions,
Calfree and the Australian book. I did not mean it to be construed as an
attempt to quash constructive criticism.

However, with that said, I know why publisher's guidelines (and I assume
FASA's reasoning follows) are so harsh. Firstly, to reduce the number of
non-serious submissions. Publishers get literally hundreds of submissions a
day. Think about that. I don't know how many FASA gets for Shadowrun
products, but a conservative guess would be fifteen or twenty a day. By
returning any who don't follow the guidelines, they can weed out the
non-serious writers, and perhaps actually have time to read the rest.

Second, editors and game developers usually read submissions in their spare
time. Each one works differently, I presume, but many who I know, don't have
time at the office to read submissions. They spend that time working on
material that has already been contracted, and read submissions at home or
on the commute. Because of this, they need a hardcopy. Which leads to the
"no electronic submissions" part of the guidelines. Someone has to print out
a copy, either the writer or the publisher. If the writer does it, and mails
it, the writer foots the bill. If the publisher had to do it, printing out
twenty submissions a day would add up to a drek-load of paper and money,
especially since they can't accept very many of these.

Some editors have computers at home and could read electronic submissions
that way, but publishers can't force them to do so without footing the bill
for the home computer. Which they either won't do or can't afford.

Now, I have no idea why FASA hasn't linked to web pages, though I may know
more about this soon (a month or so) as I get my web page up and running.
I'll find out from Mike what their policy is about linking to other pages,
and I can post what I learn if anyone's interested. My guess is that it's a
time/man hours problem more than a copyrite infringment/litigation problem.
Lou Prosperi is the only person who updates their web site, and that is in
addition to his main job as Earthdawn developer. He just may not have time
to devote to it.

Anyhow, this has gotten long. I'll be out of town for a few days so you'll
all have a short respite from my posts.

Best,

--Jak

Jak Koke | "Though I am not naturally honest,
jkoke@****.edu | I am so sometimes by chance."
La Jolla, CA | --Shakespeare (The Winter's Tale)

From:	"Paul J. Adam" <shadowrn@********.DEMON.CO.UK>
Subject:	Re: FASA submission guidelines
Date:	Fri, 4 Apr 1997 19:06:33 +0100

Message no. 3 In message <2.2.32.19970404173931.006ab034@*******.ucsd.edu>, Jak Koke
<jkoke@****.EDU> writes
>I agree that not accepting electronic submissions is harsh and unfairly
>hurts non-US residents. I also think that FASA's submission guidelines are
>worded in such a way as to deter even the most stalwart of would-be
>novelists, sourcebook or adventure writers.

<Excellent explanation of why this is so snipped>

Thanks, Jak.

Gives me some hope for the military sourcebook I've been contemplating
off and on :)

--
There are four kinds of homicide: felonious, excusable, justifiable and
praiseworthy...

Paul J. Adam paul@********.demon.co.uk

From:	GRANITE <granite@**.NET>
Subject:	Re: FASA submission guidelines
Date:	Sun, 6 Apr 1997 21:43:25 -0700

Message no. 4 >Lou Prosperi is the only person who updates their web site, and that
>is in addition to his main job as Earthdawn developer. He just may
>not have time to devote to it.

Part of the prob according to Lou is he is still learning about web
page maintainance and all..another reason ED has a better page as
well...

--------------------------------GRANITE
=================================================================
Lord, Grant Me The Serenity To Accept The Things I Cannot Change,
The Courage To Change The Things I Can,
And The Wisdom To Hide The Bodies Of Those People I Had To Kill
Because They Pissed Me Off.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ShadowRunner's Serenity Prayer

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