Writer’s Guide

Interested in writing for The Pulpster? Here are some guidelines, including style, to keep in mind as you write your article.

Originality

If you’re thinking of writing an article on a hero-pulp character or a common pulp, please consider your topic carefully. Those articles have been a dime-a-dozen in fanzines for the past 50 years or more.

If you are going to write about them, give us a new slant or newly uncovered information. Don’t just rehash what pulp fans already know or can readily find out.

It should go without saying that you should not plagiarize. Don’t copy someone else’s work. You could land us all in trouble. Brooklyn College has a handy PDF with tips for avoiding plagiarism (see the second page).

Accuracy

If you state a fact that isn’t easily confirmed at Galactic Central or Wikipedia, back it up with at least one attribution to a source, such as a pulp reference book. If it’s a fact that you uncovered, explain where you found it (i.e., in the subject’s personal papers, a collection at a library, an interview with someone, etc.).

Please double-check yourself. In the editing process, we try to check for correct spelling, dates, and other facts, but as the author, accuracy is primarily your responsibility.

Opinions

We’re not looking for editorials on pulp topics. Reviews are welcome.

Also, it’s certainly worthwhile to discuss the quality of, say, an author’s fiction or an artist’s work in your article. That’s perfectly fine.

But refrain from discussing current politics or hot-button topics (unless it’s a pulp-related topic, such as slabbing). Discussion of how race or gender — or pulp-era issues — were depicted in the magazines is fine.

Harsh criticism of a pulp magazine, fictioneer, artist, or story is fine, but attacks on them are not. It’s a fine line that we reserve the right to draw.

Nut graph

Your article should include a one- to two-sentence paragraph that encapsulates its central point. This brief summary, or “nut graph,” not only tells the reader what your article is about but writing it also helps you focus your article.

Please don’t write “This article is about…” or “this article will focus on….” Just state your nut graph directly, and the content itself will demonstrate the article’s topic.

For example:

Rather than introduce the boundary-pushing elements of The Spider and other Popular Publications pulps in its already popular The Shadow and Doc Savage magazines, Street & Smith turned to two new hero pulps — The Whisperer and The Skipper — to ratchet things up a notch or two.

Address the topic directly; there’s no need to introduce it. The reader will understand without the unnecessary introduction.

Structure and tone

Think about the articles you read in newspapers or popular magazines.

Try not to be too academic and dry; aim for a more conversational tone.

Shorter paragraphs and sentences

We’re writing The Pulpster for readers, not academics.

Throw out what you learned in school. That academic “one thought, one paragraph” rule does not apply here.

Readers want information in smaller chunks. They want to be able to scan the page for pertinent information. Consider how this article is written, and follow its lead.

If you bury that information in paragraphs that go on, and on, and on, it will be harder for our readers to find it.

It’s simple: Shorter paragraphs are good; long ones are bad.

The same applies to sentences. (Don’t try to emulate James Joyce or William Faulkner.)

We don’t pay by word (heck, we don’t pay at all; though all contributors receive a complimentary copy of the number); so don’t pad your article with unnecessary words and phrases. For example, delete the first two words of in order to and write just to. It means the same thing, and it’s concise.

I, me, and the article

You’re contributing an article, not a column or a blog post. There is no need to refer to yourself or “this article” within the article; the reader knows who is writing the article (thanks to your byline) and that things written in the article are, well, in the article.

For example, rather than writing I found Howard’s story particularly interesting because… be straightforward: Howard’s story is particularly interesting because…

Attributions and sources

Again, The Pulpster isn’t an academic journal, so it doesn’t follow academic-journal styles.

You should incorporate attributions, or sources, directly in the article rather than in footnotes.

For example:

The chain’s pulps were “jammed with non-stop violence, like the fever dream of a homicidal maniac,” the late pulp historian Robert Sampson wrote in Deadly Excitements.

There’s no need to indicate the page number. But if information appears in one edition and not others, you should indicate which edition, such as “the second edition of The Great Pulp Heroes.”

Fictioneers and others

Please use full names on first reference. Not everyone reading your article may know which Burroughs you are referring to. Plus, if you are writing a lengthy article, it doesn’t hurt to use full names to remind the reader who’s who.

In quotes, please include the first name in parentheses on first references. For example, “Then I said to (H.P.) Lovecraft…”

Advertising

The articles aren’t for promoting or advertising your book, character, blog, or product. If you wish to advertise something, please see our advertising page.

One last thing

All articles submitted to The Pulpster go through the editor and the assistant editor. Expect your article to be edited and corrected, and in some cases, rewritten.

We will run the changes by you. If you approve of them, the article continues through the production process. If you disapprove of them, we can discuss the changes.

Please remember, we retain the right to publish or reject submissions. (Don’t make us reject yours.)

Of course, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.