Submission
Guidelines for Authors
Hey,
we’re glad you’re interested!
Visionary
Entertainment Studio is always looking
for new writers and we are willing to
review your submissions even if you are
unpublished. Just keep in mind that our
production schedule for the foreseeable
future (the next year or so) has already
been fully planned out. If we like your
writing style, but we can’t use your
submission, we may contact you do
some other work for us. If we like some
of the ideas you have, but we can’t
use any work from you, we may be
interested in working your ideas into
what we are already doing. If so, we
will contact you and offer you payment
and/or give you credit for your work in
the submission.
We
thank you for your interest in writing
for VESI and hope that you are
successful; there is certainly a need
for good writers in games today. If you
are new at submitting material, keep in
mind that while we appreciate your
efforts, we will not teach you how to
write. We expect you to demonstrate
professional quality in your
submissions, so we will not provide
critiques of your work. We are
definitely seeking new talent with
innovative, exciting ideas, but you must
meet our writing standards. Just
remember that if your submission is
rejected, you can still resubmit new
work to us in the future. Work on your
writing skills, come up with new ideas,
and try and try again. Most all would-be
writers suffer plenty of rejections
before any of their work gets accepted.
The
Secret World Setting for The
Everlasting
You
should be somewhat familiar with The
Everlasting in order to work for us.
You do not have to be an expert, since
you can always use the published
material as reference books, but you
should know enough to make your
submission fit with what we publish.
The
Secret World setting is one of modern
fantasy. There are many race of eldritch
(supernatural beings), including:
angels, mythic gods, grail knights,
demons, werewolves, ghouls, revenants,
vampires, Frankenstein monster types,
golems, undead cyborgs,
gargoyles, totem spirits that possess
humans, nightmare lords that possess
humans, djinn, alien horrors, astral
spirits, dream spirits, dragons that
maintain human forms most of the time,
elves, faerie, dwarves, orcs,
halflings, azhi
dehaka (evil
eaters of dragon souls), osirians
(reincarnating mages that remember their
past lives fully), and human
adventurers. We are also working on a
few others we have not mentioned yet or
have mentioned only briefly in print,
such as the worldsingers,
the silicates, the living cities, and
some more.
The
world is one in which everything
supernatural is seldom noticed or else
rationalized away by mundane humans, yet
the eldritch and fantasts (imaginative
mortals) can see to varying degrees and
with certain features in mind (such as
gloom & doom for the un-dead or
natural & unnatural for manitou).
The eldritch now work together,
regardless of race, primarily to stop
the demons and to accomplish their own
agendas. The world is ruled and has been
shaped not by the eldritch, but by the
humans. The eldritch live on the fringes
of reality.
There
are horror, splatter, gothic,
science-fiction, mystery, action,
adventure, romance, and other features
within the Secret World setting, but
primarily it is a blending of the Real
World with the Secret World. The
eldritch that participants roleplay
must balance their real world lives with
their involvement in the supernatural.
The
Secret World features modern day
dungeons, astral realms, dreamworlds,
new Camelot, the netherworlds, the seven
heavens, castles hidden in the fringes
of reality in big cities, wizards towers
in downtown areas, the underworld,
another earth-like world that is ruled
by mages, catacomb labyrinths ruled by
ghouls, a lost city of the djinn, and
much much
more. It is up to you to build upon what
is already established.
Instructions:
Please
read and follow the following
instructions and guidelines for
submissions. If you do not follow our
submission guidelines, we will assume
that you will not be able to meet the
demands we place upon our writers and
your submission will be rejected by
being thrown away without any review
whatsoever.
You
need to send us . . . .
1.
Signed
Submission Release Agreement (We will
not look at your submission without this
signed form.)
2.
Cover
Letter (Provide all relevant information
on how to contact you, including e-mail
address, phone, fax, address, and so
on.)
3.
Complete
Synopsis (A one page or less overview of
the material presented. Do not send us a
full length manuscript.)
4.
A
submission that is no longer than seven
pages, typed. Usually 2-3 pages are
plenty.
5.
Self-Addressed,
Stamped Envelope
The
Submission Process is as follows . . .
1.
Mail
in your Submission along with a
S.A.S.E.
2.
Send
in enough return postage or money to
cover it, if you want your submission
returned
3.
Allow
plenty of time for Review
4.
Receive
a Letter of Acceptance or Rejection
Here’s
a list of things you should not do:
1.
Do
not send us a lengthy manuscript. It is
a waste of your time. Send us only a
short synopsis of what you are
interested in doing. (It could be that
the subject you have in mind has already
been taken by someone else.)
2.
Do
not e-mail VESI to hurry up or to check
on the status of the review.
3.
Do
not call VESI to hurry up or check on
the status of the review.
4.
Do
not fax in your submission.
5.
Do
not waste your time writing up a whole
manuscript without first sending in a
brief overview for review; we don’t
have time to read entire manuscripts as
submissions.
6.
Do
not bother sending in a separate writing
sample. Your submission is
your writing sample.
7.
Do
not send in your submission by disk or
by e-mail.
8.
Do
not make yourself an exception to any of
the things we require in submissions
because you think your stuff is
exceptionally great.
What
We Are Looking For in You and Your
Submission:
1.
Good
writing skills:
Always do a spelling check on text and
use proper grammar. Remember, we expect
good writing first and foremost and if
your submission is badly written, it may
not get read beyond the first page.
2.
Creativity
and Originality:
Use your imagination. Don’t send us
more of the same stuff that we see in
games every day.
3.
Professionalism:
Be capable of handling criticism, take
the work seriously, and stay in touch
with developers as to the current status
of the project.
4.
Responsibility:
You must be capable of meeting
deadlines, completing work, and making
changes in a timely manner.
5.
Familiarity
with product line:
If you are writing for The
Everlasting, you must use the
vocabulary appropriate for the system
and for the setting. For example, never
use the word “players” or “game”,
instead use the word “participants”
and “mythic experience.” You must
know about the setting, the supernatural
races, and the system mechanics.
6.
Familiarity
with Mythology, History, and Folklore:
You don’t have to be an expert. We
just want our writers to know enough to
include references to mythology,
history, and folklore in their work.
7.
Business/Market
Awareness:
We want to publish material that will
sell well, so we need our writers to
know the game market well enough to
judge whether or not what they wish to
write about will be of any interest to
other “roleplaying
consumers.” Also, we want material
that will be useful to both the guides (gamemasters)
and all the other participants.
8.
Expansions
on Existing Material:
We are always on the look out for other
peoples’ takes on the Secret World and
we welcome you to develop anything that
already exists in print within your
submission, but keep in mind that we may
already have someone working on
something you are interested in.
9.
New
Material:
We are also always on the look out for
new races of eldritch, new villains, new
forms of magick, new setting locations,
and other details. Just remember that
whatever it is you are submitting should
dovetail nicely with the existing
material for The
Everlasting.
10.
Drama,
Complexity and Depth:
We want all of our material to have real
depth, epic drama, central themes,
complex characters, strong visual
descriptions of things, and exciting,
innovative challenges. We are not
looking for linear adventures or
villains who love being E-vil
just for the sake of being nasty.
11.
Mythological,
Historical, and Folkloric Ties:
We want all our material for the Secret
World, including races of supernatural
beings, setting locations, and events of
epic importance, to all have roots in
any of the world’s mythic or folkloric
traditions. This is not meant to limit
your creativity, but rather to give your
work more depth and realism. For
example, we do not want a race of 10’
tall, armor wearing, predatory aliens in
the Secret World unless you can justify
them by linking them to historical
events, urban legends, folk tales, or
ancient myths.
What
We Are Not Looking For in You and Your
Submission:
1.
Poor
Writing Skills:
Do not send in poorly written material
that does not even use good grammar,
correct spelling, and proper
punctuation. Also, do not send in
something typed in all capital letters
or something handwritten. Remember, even
if your ideas are good, if your writing
sucks, then you should get someone else
who can write well to help you with the
submission (and they should be credited
in the submission too.)
2.
Your
Characters:
Do not send us copies of your characters
or material from your own Odysseys
(campaigns).
3.
Generic
material:
Do not send us generic game material
that you have submitted everywhere else.
We want material that is directly
related to the Secret World setting and The
Everlasting as a whole.
4.
Crossovers
with other Games:
Do not send us ideas for books or other
products that are crossovers with other
companies’ properties. We are not
interested at this time in doing
crossover material, and even if we were,
we would need the permission of all
right-holders involved.
5.
Only
Short Stories and Poetry:
Do not send us short stories and poetry
in and of themselves (especially if they
are not related to The Everlasting),
since we are currently planning on only
releasing game material at the present
time. We might be interested in short
stories if they are very good and if you
are also willing to work on game
material.
6.
Eldritch
Responsibility for Everything:
The Secret World setting emphasizes that
humans have always controlled their own
destiny and that they are not the pawns
of supernatural beings as a race.
7.
Derivative
Material:
We do not want cliches
in adventures and stereotypes for
characters. We do not want to make The
Everlasting just like everything
else. Help us by developing new ideas.
Don’t send us more of the same old
thing.
8.
Pornographic
(or Otherwise
Offensive) Material:
Visionary Entertainment does not want to
promote an “adults only” image for
its products, so keep your submissions
PG or PG-13 at worst. We do not allow
profanity and descriptions of sexual
acts to appear in our material. This
does not mean you cannot provide
controversial, intelligent, satirical,
and irreverent (to a point) themes and
elements within your work. In fact, we
welcome such things. We simply do not
wish to alienate anyone interested in The
Everlasting.
9.
Talking
Down in Your Audience:
We do not want overwhelming humor or
sarcasm. We also do not want a dumbing
down of the material for the audience,
but we do not want you to talk above the
reader’s head. You can have complex
material, but it must be explained well.
Manuscript
Form:
1.
Any
Logical Format:
We are not sticklers on formatting of
submissions, so as long as they are
coherent. Present the material in a
logical order that allows us to read it
easily. However, if you are assigned a
project, you we will send you formatting
instructions.
2.
Hard
Copy, Not Disk Copy:
We do expect you to send us your
submission on paper. If assigned a
project, you will be given instructions
as to the format your computer files
must take. All our writers must have a
computer to work on,
we do not accept finished manuscripts in
only a hardcopy form.
3.
Typed
Submissions Only:
You may fill out the Submissions Form by
hand, but send your cover letter and
other submission materials to us typed,
not hand written. Do not use flowery
fonts or fancy layout design. We expect
the material to “sing” without any
of these things. You are free to include
diagrams, maps, charts, pictures or
whatever else is necessary for making
your point, but these things are neither
required nor desired.
Basic
Style Guidelines:
We
cannot make you a good writer,
we have a hard enough time working on
making ourselves good writers. So
please, look over the following style
guidelines and apply them to your work.
We will provide a more detailed set of
guidelines at a later date (when we
recognize the most common mistakes made,
after collecting enough submissions.)
Correct
Spelling
Make
sure you spellcheck
your document. This is a top priority.
Proofreading
You
can proofread your own material, but it
is more helpful if you get someone else
with a fair sense of grammar and a
little knowledge of what you are writing
about to proofread your material for
you.
Passive
Sentences
Use
active, direct sentences and avoid
passive sentences. This mistake occurs
way too often.
Passive:
John’s mind was shattered when the
monster appeared.
Active:
The appearance of the monster shattered
John’s mind.
Use
of “That”
Avoid
using the word “that” in sentences
unless absolutely necessary.
Wrong:
John recuperated in the mental hospital
that the other adventurers had stayed in
weeks earlier.
Right:
John recuperated in the mental hospital
the other adventurers had stayed in
weeks earlier.
Use
the Present Tense
Use
the present tense instead of the future
or past tense whenever appropriate.
Wrong:
John’s adventuring buddies will visit
John as soon as they find out he is in
the hospital.
Right:
John’s adventuring buddies visit John
as soon as they find out he is in the
hospital.
Use
the correct Terminology
The
Everlasting
uses lots of jargon and terminology both
in the setting and in the guidelines.
Use the correct words, do not use terms
that are not used within The
Everlasting. For instance, “player”,
“game”, “gamemaster”,
“rules”, “story” and “player
characters” are not used. The
Everlasting uses “participant”,
“mythic experience”, “guide”,
“guidelines”, “adventure” and
“protagonists” instead.
Wrong:
This story is part of a long campaign
set within The Everlasting’s
setting.
Right:
This adventure is part of a long
odyssey set within the Secret World.
Use
the correct formatting for Terminology
Capitalize
those words which should be capitalized
and do not capitalize those which should
not be capitalized. A
list of formatting for terms is
provided, but look in the
published books themselves if you are
not sure about the formatting.
Wrong:
The wer has a
strength of 7 and an intellect of
5.
Right:
The wer has
Strength 7 and Intellect 5.
Submission
Guidelines for Artists
We’re
Always On the
Lookout for Artists
We
at Visionary Entertainment Studio are
always looking for new artists who
possess professional skills and
responsibility in meeting deadlines. If
we like your style, we may commission
you as a freelancer; we are just as
willing to use new artists as we are to
use established professionals. We wish
you the best of luck and hope you make
it as an artist, but remember that we
cannot critique your work for you or
teach you the skills you need. We expect
you to demonstrate a professional
quality within your submissions.
Instructions:
Please
read and follow the following
instructions and guidelines for
submissions. If you do not follow our
submission guidelines, we will assume
that you will not be able to meet the
demands we place upon our artists and
your submission will be rejected by
being thrown away without any review
whatsoever.
You
need to send us . . . .
1.
Signed
Submission Release Agreement (We will
not look at your submission without this
signed form.)
2.
Cover
Letter (Provide all relevant information
on how to contact you, including e-mail
address, phone, fax, address, and so on.
E-mail and fax capablility
are very important.)
3.
Non-returnable
Artwork Samples (Send us anywhere from 4
to 10 sample pieces of artwork. Make
sure you put your name, address, phone
number, and other points of contact on
back of each sample.)
4.
Self-Addressed,
Stamped Envelope
5.
We
also accept online portfolio
submissions.
The
Submission Process is as follows . . .
1.
Mail
in your Submission along with a
S.A.S.E.
2.
Allow
plenty of time for Review
3.
Receive
a Letter of Acceptance or Rejection
Here’s
a list of things you should not do:
1.
Do
not e-mail VESI to hurry up or to check
on the status of the review.
2.
Do
not call VESI to hurry up or to check on
the status of the review.
3.
Do
not fax in your submission.
4.
Do
not send in your submission by disk or
by e-mail.
5.
Do
not make yourself an exception to any of
the things we require in submissions
because you think your stuff is
exceptionally great.
What
We Are Looking For in You and Your
Submission:
1.
Artistic
skills:
First and foremost, we want great
artwork. You must have the technical
skills involved. You should also be
capable of illustrating people, animals,
and setting locations. You should be
capable of conveying different moods and
genres (modern fantasy primarily, though
horror and science-fiction are
welcomed.)
2.
Variety
of Illustrations:
Send us maybe one or two portrait-type
shots and one or two action shots. Send
us illustrations of humans, animals,
cityscapes, landscapes, and so on.
Provide examples of your talent with
both realistic and fantasy elements. Mix
things up with long range, medium range,
short range, and close up illustrations.
Also, send illustrations featuring
points of view from more interesting
angles than that of flat and straight
ahead. We’re not asking for all of
these different things, but we
definitely do want to see some variety
to express your versitility
along with your various strengths and
weaknesses.
3.
Variety
of Mediums:
You do not have to provide sample
illustrations within lots of different
mediums, but you should let us know
which mediums you can work in and
provides some samples of those mediums.
4.
Professionalism:
Be capable of handling criticism, take
the work seriously, and stay in touch
with developers as to the current status
of the project.
5.
Responsibility:
You must be capable of meeting
deadlines, completing work, and making
changes in a timely manner.
6.
Familiarity
with product line:
If you are providing artwork for The
Everlasting, you must be familiar
with the setting. In other words, do not
send us illustrations that do not fit in
with what is being illustrated, such as
a grail knights riding around on horses
and in armor in modern times or angels
all flying around with flaming swords .
. . most of the time they look and dress
like normal people.
7.
Familiarity
with Mythology, History, and Folklore:
You don’t have to be an expert; this
just relates to knowing the subject
matter that you are illustrating. We are
definitely interested in artists who can
capture the artistic styles of various
cultures, such as Asian, Celtic, and
Arabic, in their work.
What
We Are Not Looking For in You and Your
Submission:
1.
Poor
Artistic Skills:
Do not send in work that you would not
want to see in print.
2.
Derivative
Material:
We do not want to see more stereotypical
portraits of leather clad bikers, cool
dudes in shades and armed with shotguns,
trenchcoat-wearing
immortals, scantily clad (or nude)
vixens, and so on.
3.
Plagiarized
Images:
We do not want to see your
tracing of photos or your direct copying
of Spawn or Batman from a comic book
cover.
4.
Unrelated
Topics:
We do not want to see your illustrations
of Gillian Anderson or Bill Shatner.
We also do not want to see your comic
book work-in-progress. However, this
does not mean we will reject your work
due to content. In fact, if your best
samples are of such unrelated things,
send them anyway just to provide a fair
example of your skills, but keep in mind
that your best chances are by sending
illustrations relevant to The
Everlasting.
5.
Pornographic
(or Otherwise
Offensive) Material:
Visionary Entertainment does not want to
promote an “adults only” image for
its products, so keep your submissions
PG or PG-13 at worst. We will not
publish illustrations with nudity or
lots of blood and gore.
6.
Oversized
Dimensions:
Do not send us anything larger than
8.5” wide or 13” tall.
7.
Tiny
pictures:
Send us full size images or as close to
full size as acceptable dimensions
allow. Do not send us a bunch of
shrunken down illustrations on a single
page.
8.
Cartoons:
We do not publish any material that
could make use of cartoons.
9.
Original
Work:
Do not send us your original work, even
if you are creating it specifically for
the submission. Send us photocopies or
printer copies. We do not want to be
responsible for your originals and do
not want to hassle with having to send
them back to you. We need copies of your
illustrations so that we can keep them
on file if we are interested.
Send
Your Submissions to us at:
Visionary
Entertainment Studio, Inc.
3705
New Macland Road Suite 200-314
Powder
Springs, Ga.30127
Attn:
Submissions
