WRITER'S GUIDE
International Teletimes 3938 W. 30th Ave. Vancouver, BC V6S 1X3 Canada
Teletimes is a bi-monthly general interest and culture magazine which showcases different ideas and view points from around the world. Teletimes offers three main sections for readers and contributors. The "Features" section is devoted to articles, photographs and graphics that address the topic for the month. For those who have more to say or show, the "Departments" section provides regular monthly columns that offer our readers commentary that may or may not address the issue's central theme (it is after all, difficult to create a recipe that addresses Problems in Education!) A third or "World" section offers content defined by its focus on some part of the world or its international scope, and is independent of the issue's theme.
Even though it is electronically produced and distributed, Teletimes tries not to focus on computer-related topics.
Teletimes seeks to present informed opinion and observation drawn from the experience of living in a particular place. People tend to know very little about life in other countries and cultures (apart from what they watch on...ahem...television) and this ignorance has a profound affect on society. It is the goal of International Teletimes to promote "global awareness" and general knowledge of different lifestyles around the world.
Our contributors tend to be "ordinary" people who are willing to share a bit of their knowledge and points of views with our readers. We do not have professional journalists with expense accounts.
Teletimes is also available by mail, on diskette. You should send us a self addressed stamped envelope, a check for $5 to cover the cost of the disk and mailing charges, and a list of the back issues you would like. Our mailing address is at the beginning of this document.
Writers may also choose to write an article based on one of the existing columns (Cuisine, Films, Photo Gallery, Music Notes) or submit a proposal for their own monthly column.
Finally, writers may submit informative pieces to be included in the world section. These articles should focus on some specific area of the world, or have an independent topic of truly international scope and interest.
The first principle is to write something that will remain of interest even a year later. This applies to all articles. (Hot news items are accepted but will be channeled to a sister publication called "Teletimes Immediately" that will act as a news resource, both timely and topical.)
The article should of course seek to expand the reader's knowledge and understanding of a culture or topic, preferably offering a new viewpoint. "Local content, global audience" is our slogan. The Features articles should be rooted in personal experience of a culture, relying primarily on direct sources and not mainstream media. We want flavour, we want atmosphere, we want to know what the people in the street are saying. Don't be afraid to express an informed opinion, but try to be fair, open-minded and intelligent. Remember you have a global audience, so don't take too much for granted. A good guideline is to write about a topic as if explaining it to a foreign visitor.
The world section is the place for more factual pieces focused on a specific area of the world, or pieces that don't fit under the current issue's theme but are of international interest. Otherwise essentially the same principles apply here as expressed above: direct sources, grassroots knowledge, fresh perspective. This section is our miscellaneous file for now, but we hope it will grow into a vital aspect of the magazine.
Naturally all submissions should be proof read with religious diligence. A writer should work hard to perfect his or her work, so that the reader need not struggle through messy jungles of words (not to mention a hapless editor). Clarity and simplicity are values that are always reliable.
Writers who have not written for us before are requested to send us a 500-word test piece on any topic of local interest in your country.
We are mainly limited to publishing in English, because we only have English-speaking editors! We will, however, accept submissions in other languages, and try to find translators for them. Both an English and the original language version will then be published, if possible. Please proofread carefully!
We do not have translation software at present. Info about freeware or shareware translation packages would be welcome, as well as volunteer translators!
