Writer's & Photographer's Submission Guidelines

• About our magazine
• General requirements
• Who our readers are
• Subjects of particular interest...
• Sidebars & photos
• Stipends
• Glaze recipes
• File formats & submission

Clay Times is a bimonthly magazine designed to provide pottery students, teachers, professionals, hobbyists, and studio artisans with practical hands-on information about all aspects of pottery. Regular departments are devoted to subjects relating to categories including:

• Wheel-throwing
• Handbuilding
• Glazing
• Firing
• Studio/Classroom Practices
• Kiln Building & Maintenance
• Marketing
• Health & Safety
• Step-by-Step Projects...and your other innovative ideas!

General requirements
All submissions are to be well-organized, original works targeted at clay artists of all levels. Your best articles are likely to be about subjects with which you have had first-hand experience. Please be thorough with technical information, and assume the reader has no knowledge of the topic about which you are writing. Do not hesitate to provide information on specific products, supplies, or equipment, along with a name, address, and telephone number of respective suppliers, if such information is relevant to your article. Artist profiles should feature accomplished potters and concentrate heavily on techniques which the featured potter uses in his/her studio.

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Who our readers are
Please keep in mind that all submissions should provide readers with specific information that they can apply to their own works or methods of operation. Because our readers include potters at all levels, even beginners, recommended techniques should be tried-and-true (i.e., tested in your own studio if you haven't had direct experience with such techniques). All articles should be informative and helpful, not unreliable or frustrating! The more original, the better.

Of particular interest are oxidation glazing and firing methods which yield unique results: i.e., lustres, hare's fur, layered glazing, mottling, the "reduction look." Articles on firing practices such as raku, wood firing, pit firing, gas firing, etc. should give careful consideration to explaining the complete process with its necessary equipment, supplies, and precautions in layman's terms.

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Sidebars and photos
Articles submitted with "sidebars" and high-quality artwork/photos are most desirable. How-to articles are best accompanied with photos in a series which illustrate the different steps/stages of the process. Any quoted material within an article should be appropriately credited to its original source. Photos which depict people should be submitted with signed model releases by all identifiable persons in the photos.

Stipends
Captions are required with all photos and line art. Unsolicited manuscripts are welcome, yet we prefer that you query Clay Times first with your story idea in outline form and if possible, two clips of published work; then wait for approval before writing an article. Clay Times reserves the right to edit or reject any material, queried or not. Published full-length feature articles earn $75 and a byline. Compensation for reviews and article excerpts varies according to length.

Photographers earn a photo credit and $10 per published studio shot; $5 per photo in a series. Illustrators earn artwork credit and $12 per illustration; $5 per illustration in a series. All published works are payable within 45 days following date of publication. Unless otherwise stated in writing, payment by Clay Times is for all publication rights.

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Glaze recipes
Original or modified glaze recipes accompanying articles are very desirable, especially when submitted with photos and a complete description of application, firing techniques and description of optimum results (what color, what type of surface texture, what type of pottery for which the glaze is best suited). Each glaze recipe should be submitted with firing temperature, atmosphere, and type of clay used or recommended.

File formats and submission
Clay Times is designed on Macintosh equipment via Quark XPress, using Adobe Illustrator for graphics, and Adobe Photoshop for photos. Queries, digital images (saved as TIFF files, 3.5" x 5" in size, at least 300 dpi in resolution) and submissions via CD, 3.5" floppy disk, or Zip disk (clearly labeled with file name and software/version # used to create document), printed manuscripts, slides, and photographs may be sent via U.S. mail to:

Clay Times Magazine
PO Box 365 · 15481 Second St.
Waterford, VA 20197
(540) 882-3576 · FAX (540) 882-4196

Electronic queries may be faxed or e-mailed to the Assistant Editor at: CLAYTIMES@aol.com.

PLEASE NOTE: If you are supplying your article on disk, please refrain from using tabs or any other type of formatting, other than proper capitalization/punctuation and double-spacing between paragraphs. For Macintosh formats, please use Simpletext or Teachtext to write your article. If writing on a PC, please save the final document as a "text only" or "ASCII Delimited Text" file. If you are supplying printed copy, please make sure that it is double-spaced (between lines) and easy to read. AP writing style is preferred. Photos may be supplied in black & white or color; final publication output of photos (B&W vs. color) will depend on placement within the publication.
Please include a cover letter with each submission, listing your name, address, telephone number, fax number, and/or e-mail address if applicable. A SASE (self-addressed, stamped envelope) bearing proper postage should be provided if you wish to have your manuscript, disk, or photos returned.

Click here to submit articles and/or photographs to Clay Times.

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