[Stylist] Final Reminder: Time to Submit

Thu Feb 8 16:54:54 UTC 2024

It's time to get your work ready to submit for the Spring/Summer edition of
Magnets and Ladders. 

Beginning with the Fall/Winter 2022-2023 edition of Magnets and Ladders we
have invited a guest judge to work with us for two editions in a specific
genre. The guest will judge the submissions selected as finalists for the
contest in one genre. 

We are honored to announce that our second guest judge is Nolan Crabb. Nolan
was our  judge for the nonfiction finalists for the Fall/Winter 2023/2024
edition and he will be with us for the Spring/Summer 2024 edition. Read
about Nolan and his extensive experience and background below.

Nolan Crabb is a native of Ogden, Utah, where he attended the Utah School
for the Blind and graduated from Weber High School. Nolan holds a bachelor's
degree in communications from Brigham Young University. He also holds a
certification as an assistive technology trainer from the Accessible
Technology Institute in Tucson, Arizona.

Nolan spent much of his working life as a writer and editor.  He was a
general assignment reporter for the Ogden Standard-Examiner, and he worked
briefly for what is now the Deseret Morning News in Salt Lake City.  He has
held editing jobs in northern California and Chicago and was, for nine
years, the editor of The Braille Forum, published by the American Council of
the Blind in Washington, D.C.  He also worked as the assistant editor of
Dialogue Magazine, published by Blindskills, Inc. of Salem, Oregon.

Nolan was first introduced to computers in the winter of 1977 and has been
working with them steadily since.  In the late 1980s, when he was serving as
the director of an independent living center, he began providing computer
training to many of the center's consumers.  In 1999, when the opportunity
became available to provide computer instruction to the staff at
Rehabilitation Services for the Blind in Missouri, he was eager to once
again enjoy the benefits that come with offering computer training to
others.

In June, 2007, Nolan was hired at The Ohio State University as its Director
of Assistive Technology-a position in which he provides training and
software to disabled staff members and university faculty.

Nolan has been a member of the Missouri Assistive Technology Advisory
Council.  He served as a member of the advisory council for Oregon's Talking
Book and Braille Services, and he has been a member of the Oregon State
Library Board of Trustees.  He represented the American Council of the Blind
as a member of the National Association of Radio Reading Services board of
directors. In 2023, he signed on as a co-host of Legend Book Talk, a weekly
podcast dedicated to reviewing and recommending books to podcast listeners.

Nolan describes himself as a voracious reader.  In his spare time, he
continues to do some freelance writing and dabbles in the field of audio
book narration and digital audio production.  In early 2008, he created an
Internet mailing list dedicated to the writing and distribution of book
reviews focusing on books from the National Library Service for the Blind
and Physically Handicapped.  Known as DB-Review, The list specifically
focuses on digital talking books, and its members are encouraged to share
reviews and comments regarding books they have read.  From an initial
membership of some 50 people, the list has grown to include more than 300
members, most of whom post their reviews and thoughts on books.

He and his wife, the former Valerie Hekking of Benyon, Utah, are the parents
of four daughters and the grandparents of ten grandchildren.

Please read our submission guidelines below. They can also be found on our
website at:

http://www.magnetsandladders.org.

The deadline for submissions is February 15. Be sure to read the guidelines
carefully.

Submission Guidelines

Writers with disabilities may submit up to three selections per issue.
Deadlines are February 15 for the Spring/Summer issue, and August 15 for the
Fall/winter issue. Writers must disclose their disability in their biography
or in their work. Biographies may be up to 100 words in length, and should
be written in third-person.

Do not submit until your piece is ready to be considered for publication.
Rewrites, additions, deletions, or corrections are part of the editorial
process, and will be suggested or initiated by the editor.

Poetry maximum length is 50 lines. Memoir, fiction, and nonfiction maximum
length is 2500 words. In all instances, our preference is for shorter
lengths than the maximum allowed. Please single-space all submissions, and
use a blank line to separate paragraphs and stanzas. It is important to
spell check and proofread all entries. Previously published material and
simultaneous submissions are permitted provided you own the copyright to the
work. Please cite previous publisher and/or notify if work is accepted
elsewhere.

We do not feature advocacy, activist, "how-to," or "what's new" articles
regarding disabilities. Innovative techniques for better writing as well as
publication success stories are welcome. Content will include many genres,
with limited attention to the disability theme. Announcements of writing
contests with deadlines beyond April 1 and October 1 respectively are
welcome.

All work submitted must be original. We do not accept work written by an AI
or any form of plagiarism.

Have You Published a book? If you would like to have an excerpt of your book
published in an issue of "Magnets and Ladders," please submit a chapter or
section of your book to submissions at magnetsandladders.org
<mailto:submissions at magnetsandladders.org> . The word count for fiction and
nonfiction book excerpt submissions should not exceed twenty-five hundred
words. Poetry book excerpts should be limited to five poems. Please include
information about where your book is available in an accessible format,
either an eBook or audio format. We will publish up to one book excerpt per
issue.

Authors under age 18: Please include a statement from a parent or guardian
that indicates awareness of your submission of literary work to "Magnets and
Ladders."

Do you have a skill, service, or product valued by writers? For a minimum
contribution of $25.00 we will announce it in the next two issues of
"Magnets and Ladders". All verifications of products or services provided
are the responsibility of our readers. Book cover design? Copyediting?
Critiques? Formatting for publication? Internet access or web design?
Marketing assistance? Special equipment? Make your donation through PayPal
(see magnetsandladders.org) or by check by March/September 1. 100-word
promotional information is due by February/August 15. Not sure about
something? Email submissions at magnetsandladders.org
<mailto:submissions at magnetsandladders.org> . All donations support Magnets
and Ladders.

Please email all submissions to submissions at magnetsandladders.org
<mailto:submissions at magnetsandladders.org> . Paste your submission and bio
into the body of your email or attach in Microsoft Word format. If
submitting Word documents, please put your name and the name of your piece
at or near the top of the document. When possible, please send your
submissions as a Word or txt attachment as many email programs have been
reformatting poetry and putting unwanted line breaks in stories and essays.
Submissions will be acknowledged within two weeks. You will be notified if
your piece is selected for publication.

Final author approval and review is necessary if changes are needed beyond
punctuation, grammar, and sentence or paragraph structure. We will not
change titles, beginnings, endings, dialog, poetic lines, the writer's
voice, or the general tone without writer collaboration. If your work is
selected for inclusion in a future "Behind Our Eyes" project, you will be
notified; your approval and final review will be required. To insure we can
contact you regarding future projects, please keep us updated if your Email
address changes.

Remember, the deadline for submissions is February 15, so be sure to get
your entries in on time.

Have a safe and happy new year.

Mary-Jo Lord

mjfingerprints at comcast.net <mailto:mjfingerprints at comcast.net> 

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