I recently submitted a few dungeons and dragons creatures to Dragon Magazine (in case you're wondering, they included some oceanic undead, good aligned undead, and an assortment of turkeys with wild turkey, dire turkey, and a turkey with fire-magic). I recieved a polite refusal saying the creatures where not what dragon magazine wanted at this time, and directing me to this website.
What does Dragon Magazine want at this time, and how can I go about discovering this?
Hmmmm.....Wild Turkey....(salivating)...on the rocks....
I really think it's a trial and error thing gathering from what I've learned on these boards. Most people submit dozens if not hundreds of queries before they finally happen to send something in at a time when it's needed or wanted. From what I've gathered, persistence and a thick skin are the key.
the turkeys were probably too silly, unless you were trying to get them into an April issue. ;)
as far as the undead... well, undead are a very popular topic, and lots of people probably send in stuff about undead. therefore, the editors can only use so many pieces about them.
Dire Turkeys would certainly make Thanksgiving a bit more interesting...and would be great in the April issue, I think!
Were-Turkeys, Fiendish Turkeys, Half troll-turkeys....oh boy, I'm sorry, I'll stop.
one thing I can add is that the editors prefer that the creatures be linked by some sort of a theme... whether something like geogpraphical location (ei. Jungle monsters) or something else, some sort of link should exist... I have trouble seeing a link between good aligned undead, aquatic undead and turkies, perhaps the editor had a similar lack of vision?
one thing I can add is that the editors prefer that the creatures be linked by some sort of a theme... whether something like geogpraphical location (ei. Jungle monsters) or something else, some sort of link should exist... I have trouble seeing a link between good aligned undead, aquatic undead and turkies, perhaps the editor had a similar lack of vision?
I should back up and explain that each of these were submitted as a seperate thing. The Oceanic Undead where the bloated drounth, skeletal drounth, and drounth lord, all in one document. The good aligned undead had three different undeads, one for each good alignment, and a template. The turkies was a november-timed document with a normal wild turkey, a dire turkey, and the magical firefall turkey.
Dire Turkeys would certainly make Thanksgiving a bit more interesting...and would be great in the April issue, I think!
Were-Turkeys, Fiendish Turkeys, Half troll-turkeys....oh boy, I'm sorry, I'll stop.
The turkeys were aimed for maybe a thanksgiving article. I also must assure you that I'm a guy who takes things seriously. I made a thread of giant animated militant donuts and I took them seriously.
The turkeys were aimed for maybe a thanksgiving article. I also must assure you that I'm a guy who takes things seriously. I made a thread of giant animated militant donuts and I took them seriously.Dire Turkeys would certainly make Thanksgiving a bit more interesting...and would be great in the April issue, I think!
Were-Turkeys, Fiendish Turkeys, Half troll-turkeys....oh boy, I'm sorry, I'll stop.
Sweet jelly-filled terror. . . . (homer simpson *drool*)
Alright, here's a question for you Fuzzy. Did you send the articles in unsolicited, or did you go through the query process first? If it's the former, that very well could be what the editor you spoke with had problems with. The general process is:
1) send in a query
2) wait for approval on the query
3) write the article and send it in
4) wait some more
5) receive a contract, sign it, and send it back
6) gloat because your name is in print
7) receive a check for your hard work
When you submit your article, you also need to make sure you include the disclosure form. The form and all the info you need can be found in the submission guidelines document on the webpage.
and i might add, that process can take 6 months to a year (or more) from start to finish. so be patient. ;)