ADVICE FOR CONTRIBUTORS

Bonzer! is a free, monthly on-line journal aimed primarily at seniors. It's published in Australia and additionally has readers in Canada, France, Holland, India, Indonesia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and USA. Now well-established, it's been running since 2001.
You can find Bonzer! at http://www.bonzer.org.au

Bonzer! aims to inform, stimulate, empower and entertain. Its readers are lively, cosmopolitan, concerned, involved, interested in a variety of issues and subjects.

Bonzer! is run by a number of volunteer editors and staff writers. Its webmaster, John Stevens, from Adelaide, is also a volunteer. The Managing Editor, Alan Wheatley, lives in Melbourne, but page-editors come from other parts of Australia, Canada, Great Britain, New Zealand and the USA. There is one sub-editor, Gloria MacKay, from Redmond in Washington State, USA. The checking of links is carried out by John Powell, who also keeps records up to date, while Wendy Ogbourne welcomes new members.

No-one is paid for working for Bonzer! And there is no subscription fee. This means that we have no money to pay writers.

Although contributors are not paid, Bonzer! is never short of writers and artists, many of whom are published elsewhere as well. Award-winning short story writers, children's story writers, photographers and visual artists all contribute regularly.

The reasons for this are not hard to understand. By having your story, cartoon, comment, humour, or article published in Bonzer! you reach a mature, informed audience, one that has lived long enough to be able to tell the difference between quality and dross. You will know that your work is being appreciated and enjoyed.

At the same time, by writing for a specific audience and to strict guidelines you will be honing your craft and applying some necessary discipline that you as a writer need if you're going to succeed in the commercial arena.

Bonzer! contains a variety of types of writing, fiction and non-fiction. Many pages, such as the following, are open to freelancers.

There's a page called Theme Stories, with a theme that changes each month. Examples of previous themes are Hardship, What Do I Long For, Magic Moments, Turning Points, Foolishness, Pride. Another page, Feature Stories, is open to any theme. Here you can let go!

Reflection offers the opportunity to pause, slow down and think about a topic or event.

P.O.V., (Point of View) speaks for itself. Apart from party-political comment, which is discouraged, this page is open to anyone with an axe to grind.

Changing Times offers the chance for you to re-tell an episode in your (or someone else's) life that has had an impact.

Letters to the Editor encourages readers to express an opinion about anything that has appeared in Bonzer! or to make suggestions for improvement.

We no longer accept poetry for publication. However, this can be posted on our sister publication, Bonzer Plus, which can be found at BONZER PLUS
The editor of this blog magazine is Gloria MacKay, and its webmaster is Nick Ogbourne.

Because this is an online journal, it is truly international.

That means contributors will bring with them their own nation's spelling, usage and grammatical conventions.

Nevertheless, Bonzer! has now introduced a standard for the use of quotation, or 'speech' marks. Direct speech is enclosed in single quotation marks. 'Come over here and sit by me,' she said. Double marks are used for quotes within quotes.

Check out the Style Manual for authors, editors and printers, published by John Wiley & Sons Australia Ltd. This is the writers' 'bible' and should be consulted if you have any queries about the construction of your writing.

Bonzer! will always be carefully sub-edited to make sure that, as far as possible, it will readily be understood by most English speakers from whatever country they come. However, you may find that the spelling of some words is not quite what you are familiar with, or that the way words are put together doesn't quite gel with your experience. Please try to understand that American, Australian, British, Canadian, Indian, Pakistani, South African, West Indian and New Zealand English (to name but a few) have all developed independently and now have their own ways of doing things. Let's celebrate that difference, for it adds diversity and richness to our common language.

If you're in doubt, or truly don't understand something in Bonzer! a quick e-mail to the editor will bring clarification.

Most people who write for Bonzer! will probably not be too upset if their work is reproduced elsewhere, provided that due recognition is given to the original author and that the work is reproduced with integrity.

However, to prevent its further, unauthorised reproduction on the Internet is problematic, since there is no generally recognised international body set up to regulate copyright, to which an author might appeal. But to show your copyright in a work you can insert the internationally recognised symbol ©, which will at least make sure that readers know where you stand. Add © just before your name at the conclusion of your work. The editor of Bonzer! will reproduce it in the journal, like this © 2004 Erica Summers.

• We've found that many of our readers prefer short stories, because reading long ones on the computer screen is tiring and often stressful.
  So we've decided to restrict the length of all contributions to 750 words or fewer. This rule will be strictly observed.

• We have also had to introduce a monthly deadline. Please make sure that your contribution reaches the editor by the 15th of each month. That way, you're more likely to have your piece published in the following month.

• Compose material, preferably in 12pt Verdana font, and send it as a Word document to the editor, Alan Wheatley, at
  edbonzer@bonzerplus.org.au

• Readers like to see who the author is, so it's good to have a photograph and a short bio of yourself to accompany your story.

• Photographs should be in JPEG format, size no larger than 90 pixels wide and 140 pixels in length.

• Please note that once Bonzer! is published, no changes will be made, unless absolutely necessary.

The editor reserves the right to cut overlong pieces, but will try to discuss it with you first. You may find, too, that your work appears in the journal slightly differently from the document you sent. This will be because it has been edited to conform to Bonzer!'s style guide. All editors have their own way of doing things, and 'im at Bonzer! is no exception.

Alan Wheatley
Managing Editor, Bonzer!