Submission Rules (?)
More Fun & Less Structure
I grew up wanting to be a teacher. Teaching would be a job with both the structure and the creativity I craved. Alas, that didn’t happen. Instead, a series of unplanned events pushed me into bookkeeping — again, a profession requiring structure but, sadly, very little creativity. Seriously, you don’t want a bookkeeper or an accountant who applies much creativity to their work! Trump thinks otherwise, but I won’t go there.
With that said, Weeds & Wildflowers submissions must abide by only a few rules/suggestions:
- Keep it clean. Colorful language is one thing, but vulgarity is another. If you are fuzzy on the definition of vulgarity, look it up.
- All photos and images must be your own or uncopyrighted. Use a free photography source such as Unsplash, which is linked to Medium and very easy and legal to use. If you don’t know how to access Unsplash from Medium, ask me. All online images must have a credit that’s a clickable hyperlink to the source. Please claim your photos with a credit beneath the picture or a blanket statement of photo ownership at the beginning.
- People in photos are tricky. Except for public performers and personalities, please only use photos of yourself and a current spouse or significant other. If you want to include a photo of a friend, neighbor, or any other adult, that person must email permission for me to publish their photo. Please, no children. Anyone can steal photos from Medium. Do you want photos of your child possibly used in nefarious ways? Of course not.
- All quotes and websites must be referenced. If you don’t know how to do that, ask me.
- Although I once wanted to be an English teacher, I am too old to be a stickler for all the grammar and punctuation rules of our very confusing English language. Do the best you can. Use a site like Grammarly if you want. I may make minor adjustments to a piece for clarity, but if the grammar and punctuation are too problematic, I’ll ask you to make the changes.
- Life stories of all sorts are great. Tell us what made you who you are. I am particularly fond of the life stories of marginalized people — people who struggle to be accepted for who they are.
- Because of my strongly immigrant family, I want to feature immigrant stories — immigrants here in America or other countries — experiences in their new lands, as well as memories from their homelands. I want to learn who you are, how you think, how you got where you are, and your experiences once you arrived. Let’s embrace and learn about one another in defiance of our national prejudices.
- In the same vein as immigrant stories, travel stories also have a place here. Tell us where you went, why, and what happened there. Dazzle us with photos of places some of us may never see in person.
- Nature and animal stories are faves of mine. As this publication has a garden theme, I am all for gardening photography, stories, and advice. Thinking of Louise Peacock and nan fischer, as I write this.
- I have a passion for photography and welcome photo submissions of all sorts. Fred Shirley and Tracy Aston popped into my mind.
- Poetry — all styles. Some talented poets — Anna Rozwadowska, Tracy Aston, antoinette nevitt and Sherry Kappel, for instance— were added as contributors here — looking forward to some stellar poetry!
- Humor — not my specialty, but I love to be amused — Harper Thorpe, Mark Starlin, and Jack Herlocker immediately come to mind. Let’s laugh together!
That’s it, fellow Weeds & Wildflowers, although I reserve the right to add to this list should the need arise, and I hope it won’t!
