Submission Guidelines
The Submission Process
So you want to submit a piece for Cerise? Awesome! Here’s everything you need to know:
What We Want
Cerise is a magazine aimed primarily at women gamers. We are interested in work that engages with gender while addressing various facets of gaming, including the following:
- Reviews of games, systems and gaming supplements
- In-depth critiques, essays and opinion pieces about gaming
- Interviews with industry professionals
- Gamer Stories: personal narratives about gaming experiences
- Modules and mini-adventures for tabletop games
- Gamer vs. Gamer debates: short exchanges with another gamer on various hot topics (details here)
From artists:
- Interior illustrations – women playing games, female RPG characters, etc. No fanart, please.
- Short, one-page-or-smaller comics dealing in some (preferably humorous) way with gender and gaming
If you have a great idea that you think would be a good fit for the magazine, but which isn’t represented in this short list, please send a query email with a brief description of what you’d like to produce for us. Chances are good that we’ll be interested.
The Back Page:
- Game-inspired artwork and writing. No fanart or fanfic, please.
- Opinion blurbs, shout outs, thoughts on gaming, etc.
- Whatever other fun and silly things we can come up with
Unlike the regular submissions, The Back Page is where we publish the odds and ends that our readers send in and therefore doesn’t need to be polished like an article or something sent in for the interior design. If you have something you want to show off to the rest of our readers, submit it and we will publish it. This is also where we publish the winners from our LOLGAMERS Contest.
What You Get Out of it
Cerise is not at this time a paying publication (although we hope to be in the future). You won’t get any money for your submission, but you will get exposure. And massive geek cred, of course.
How to Send it
You’re welcome to query or send completed submissions. Queries may include a brief article proposal and optional clippings of your other work. Cover letters are welcome with submissions and queries.
Please email submissions to revena@theirisnetwork.org. Written pieces should be in the form of RTF or DOC attachments. Art can be in JPEG, GIF, or PNG format. Put “Submission for Cerise” in the subject of the email, along with the title of your piece, and which issue you are submitting for, if applicable. In the body of the email, please include your name and any penname or handle you would like your piece to be credited to. Please use an email address that you check frequently – it will be the method that our editors use to get in contact with you about your work.
You must tell us if your work has been published elsewhere, including online.
Themes for each issue, and the deadlines for submission to that particular issue, are listed below. Feel free to submit work written outside a particular theme for consideration at any time, however.
Issue Themes and Deadlines
August 2008 Issue
Submission deadline: July 20th, 2008
Theme: Fight Like a Girl
Violence of one kind or another is a common feature of many games, and a matter of some concern to the non-gaming population. Is it all just harmless fantasy fun, or are there lines that shouldn’t be crossed? What’s so enjoyable about fighting in games?
And what about gendered violence in gaming? Female fighters are often fetishized in a way their male counterparts aren’t, and women and girl characters are often victims of sexualized violence. What does all this mean for gaming and for gamers?
If you’re interested in topics relating to violence, fighting and sexuality in gaming, be sure to submit your work for this issue.
September 2008 Issue
Submission deadline: August 20th, 2008
Theme: The Socially Conscious Gamer
As gamers and the gaming industry matures, so does the call for greater social responsibility in games. From Jack Thompson’s uninformed crusade against video games to players’ critical analysis, the socially conscious gamer — and game company — has become part of our gaming landscape.
If you have an opinion to share regarding the state of game-related laws, want to speak up on issues like the state of copy protection and piracy, or just want to vent about not being taking seriously when you’re trying to discuss themes such as sexism, racism, and homophobia in games, this is the issue for you!
October 2008 Issue
Submission deadline: September 20th, 2008
Theme: Special Crossover Issue: Comics in Gaming
Cerise is partnering with Girl-Wonder.org for this special issue on comics in gaming. What are some of the best comics-inspired games out there, and what makes them so awesome? What about game-inspired comics? Can game designers learn anything from comics creators, and vice versa? How do comics and gaming communities overlap and interact?
If you’re interested in both gaming and comics, consider submitting your work for this issue. And keep an eye out for related content on Girl-Wonder.org in the month of October!
