Writer's Guidelines

General Writing Guidelines

Prior to contacting Mystic Station Designs, LLC to submit material, please read through and observe the following suggestions:

Style of Writing:

All submitted materials should be easy to read. The average newspaper is written for a 5th grade reading level. This is the level at which we produce our projects. Thus, while a thesaurus is helpful and useful to a writer, if the players need a dictionary to read and understand the material it will not make it past the editor's desk.

The material should be organized, clearly laid out and a pleasure to read. If the material is for a game, then it should be an interesting narrative. Rules are better if they are well written and have enough adequate examples to explain the system. Please do not mistake adequate with longwinded ramblings. On the other hand, do not mistake brevity with a lack of information. If our players require tech support to understand the system, we won't publish it.

All submitted materials must be accurately researched with a proper complete bibliography and list of sources. Use proper bibliographic style when listing book and magazine references in your submission. If your manuscript quotes material verbatim from other sources, identify the sources (including page numbers) and be sure that each quote is written exactly as it appears in the original source, and is clearly identified/delineated in the text. If possible, send a photocopy/fax/scanned image of the page on which the quoted material originally appeared. Without these items, the submitted materials will end up in the trash.

The Crew of Mystic Station Designs, LLC takes pride in our work. Rule One of MSD is quality products. We want our authors to share in this pride. We expect that the author of the material (game, supplement, or source book) will at least partially playtest the material prior to its submission to MSD.

Obscenity:

At no time will any material that might be construed as obscene appear in any MSD product. The fact that a word, phrase, or description is not de facto legally obscene by current or future statute or precedent does not validate or justify its use. Please remember that our readers are of all age ranges, which includes pre-teens and young adults. Even if they do not find the use of the Obscenity upsetting to them, their parents might. It is understood by MSD that within in-character dialogue, when appropriate, stronger language is permissible; however it must serve a purpose. The use of slang and local vernacular in dialogue is perfectly acceptable. This does not mean we want to be conservative with the material. The uses of colorful writing and exciting graphics are vitally important to projects. There is however, a fine line between "colorful" or "exciting" and "tasteless", and this tends to change direction quickly and without warning. Writing responsibly means keeping that factor in mind and attempting to balance past, present, and future instances of that barrier.

Libel:

In writing, there is no reason to risk libel by needlessly mentioning, let alone insulting living individuals. As an example: if you are writing about a fictional star athlete do not give the athlete a name that is similar to a living athlete. If a living individual must be named or illustrated avoid situations that may damage the person's reputation. If you cannot prove the statements or illustrations of the individual are true do not do it.

Libel is any printed item (story, illustration, or cartoon) that may damage a person's reputation or ability to earn a living. The action of producing such material can result in a libel suit.

Plagiarism:

Mystic Station Designs, LLC has a zero-tolerance policy regarding plagiarism. We will check all submissions for previously published material to the best of our ability. If we find that material has been duplicated without permission or citation, then we will terminate the project and will reserve the right to invoke legal action to recoup any losses. We also reserve the right to notify the plagiarized party and assist them in any action they may choose to undertake.

Manuscript Guidelines

Correspondence:

The most important point is the need for you to provide a Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope (SASE) with any written communication you send us, to enable us to reply.

If you do not provide a SASE, your submission will be filed in the circular file.

If you send in a manuscript and you want it returned if it is not accepted for publication, your SASE must be large enough to hold the manuscript, with enough postage affixed to carry the submission back to you. If you do not want the manuscript pages back, you still need to provide us with a letter-sized SASE so that we can send our response back to you.

For the protection of all parties involved, all correspondence with us must be by mail or e-mail.

Submissions and Disclosure:

A copy of our Standard Disclosure Form will be sent to you after you contact us. Please print it out and ensure that a completed disclosure form is included with each and every manuscript or outline that you send us.

If you have an idea for a manuscript, please submit a one-page outline before you actually start writing. This is a quick and easy way to describe the material you wish to write and enables us to assess its cohesion with other products both already in existence and those planned for the future. We will then respond and let you know whether to continue with the manuscript in its present form or whether amendments to you idea could included at this stage to ensure it fits with the C&S Family of products.

If you have not previously sent an outline to us, then please send a covering letter with each full submission. Include in the letter a brief description of the manuscript submitted and any other information you feel is relevant.

Always keep at least one hard (paper) copy and one electronic copy of each of your manuscripts.

Electronic Submissions: If it is possible for you to provide us with a copy of your manuscript on a computer diskette or flash/thumb drive (assuming the submission is accepted, of course), please let us know that in your cover letter when you send in the submission. We prefer submissions to be in MS Word 97 format or RTF, however this is not exclusive. If we want to publish your manuscript, we will ask you to send us a diskette (which we will not return) and we will discuss file format of the document at this time. Always send your manuscript in printed form (hard copy) initially - DO NOT send submissions via the e-mail unless requested in writing by Mystic Station Designs, LLC.

What we want:

C&S materials and system generic materials

What we do not want:

• If you are proposing any kind of licensed product, which is a product based on an existing material, and do not own the license to the product - do not propose it. Mystic Station Designs, LLC does not have the time or resources to pursue expensive licensing arrangements.
• D20 - Mystic Station Design, LLC is not supporting the OGL or any type of D20 project. Save your postage. Don't send it to us.
• If you wish to receive a confirmation of our receipt of your manuscript, then we suggest that you either use a method where the delivery is signed for or enclose a stamped, addressed postcard with your submission. We can then send this back to you when your submission arrives thus confirming receipt. However, we cannot assume any responsibility for the transit and safekeeping of manuscripts and other materials sent to us.

Time Needed For Evaluation of Material Submitted:

We may need as long as sixteen weeks to make our evaluation of your submission. If you have not heard from us after this much time, feel free to contact by mail or email about the status of your material.

Required Reading:

If you are writing material (Game, Supplement, or source book) for one of our existing games, please make sure you are familiar with the game prior to writing the material. A working knowledge of the core rules for the system in question is assumed; e.g., Chivalry & Sorcery© The Rebirth or GURPS Traveller or any of the others. If your material is not able to stand alone, please include a list of which rulebook sources are required to use it properly.

Working Title:

The use of Working Title: The working title of the book. Every project has a name that in some way describes something about the project, or an aspect of the project. A working title is only a title that is used during the development of the project. Very few working titles ever become the final title of the project. MSD may ask for a new title for a variety of reasons.

Submission Document Format:

Tables are not words that are separated by spaces. Please separate table data by at least one tab stop. If you intend to send documents with tables in them, please contact the Senior Project Manager.

How we will accept submissions:

Electronic Format:

PC format only: Microsoft Word, or Word Perfect

Non- Electronic format:

1. Manuscripts should address all facets of the subject at hand. They should not pose questions that are not answered in the text, nor should they contain flat statements that are not explained and not justified with sound reasoning or deduction.
2. Keep an eye for detail and pay close attention to specifics. Lack of clarity occurs when an author assumes knowledge or understanding on the part of the reader that the reader may not have. Someone exposed to an author's ideas for the first time needs to have all relevant facts explained in detail and in order of significance.
3. Drawings and sketches may accompany your manuscript if they are necessary to illustrate important points. Such pictures need not be for publication as drawn but should still be clearly and neatly rendered. Sketches and artwork should be done in ink, not pencil, and if appropriate should include a scale grid (square or hexagonal pattern) or size scale. Legibility of maps and drawings is critical. If some of your illustrations are publishable, we will make a separate contract and payment arrangements for that part of the submission.

Rights and Payment:

If your manuscript is suitable for publication, we will provide a Writer's Contract that you will be asked to sign. Prior to this point, we may ask you to sign a Confidentiality Agreement - please note the signing of a confidentiality agreement does NOT guarantee that your manuscript will be published. It is merely to safeguard our product range and the rights of our licensors and ourselves. It is also to allow the writer access to material that may be needed to complete the manuscript but is yet unpublished.