Send us your story
Members' articles, memories and photographs are what Nongqai is made of. Sending yours takes three steps, and an editor reads every one before it is published.
Your article is ready
Email it to the submissions desk
submissions@nongqai.org
An editor reads every email that arrives.
Not sure yet?
Write to the editor first
editor@nongqai.org
For ideas, questions, or a story you would like help writing.
- 1Write your articleBest in Word, or straight into the email
- 2Add your photographsThe biggest copies you have, with captions
- 3Send the emailTitle in the subject, document attached
1Write your article
A Word documentBest
Your headings, lists, photographs and footnotes arrive in order, so the editor has far less to redo and your article reaches the website sooner.
Typed in the emailAlso fine
No Word? Write the article straight into the email and attach the photographs. It still reaches us, it just needs more tidying by hand.
The rest of this step is about Word. The same ideas apply to whatever your email program offers.
Write it in one language, English or Afrikaans: the title, any summary and the text. Would you like it in both? Send each language in its own email, and we link the two.
Download an example
Open one in Word to see how a finished article is laid out. Our notes in the margin explain each part. Write over it, or use it as a guide for your own.
Headings: use the Styles buttons
Word only knows a line is a heading if you pick a heading style. Text you simply made big and bold arrives as an ordinary sentence. Click in the line, then pick a heading on the Home tab:
Home tab → Styles → Heading 1.
Making the line 18pt, bold and centred.
Watch outWord's Title style sits first in the box but is not a heading. Put your article's title in the email subject line instead.
Bold and italic come through. Underline does not.
Your font, size, colour and highlighting are replaced by the magazine's own.
Watch outYellow highlighting to say “check this date” never reaches the editor. Write notes like that in the email instead.
Lists and web links
Use the bullet and numbering buttons for lists, not typed dashes. For a link, select the words, press Ctrl + K and paste the web address. Choose words that say where the link goes, like “the unit history page”, not “click here”.
What gets lost, and what doesn't
- Text boxes and WordArtThe words inside vanish. Move them into the page.
- TablesBecome one line per row. Fine for a short list of names.
- Centring, fonts and sizesThe magazine lays out the page for you.
- Comments and tracked changesAccept or remove them before you send.
- FootnotesListed under the article as References.
- Afrikaans lettersê, ë and curly quotes arrive safely.
2Add your photographs
Put them in the Word document, or attach them to the email as separate photo files. Both work. Send the biggest copy you have: we can make a photo smaller, never sharper.
Photographs land at the end of the draft, and an editor moves them into place. Show them where by typing a line like this where each photo belongs:
[Photo 1 goes here: Capt. Botha at Ondangwa, 1975. SADF archive.]
If a photo is not your own, say where it came from. We need that to publish it. A picture copied from a web page may not travel with the document, so save it to your computer and attach it.
iPhone photosiPhones save photos in a format we cannot open. Before taking photos, set Settings → Camera → Formats → Most Compatible.
3Send the email
This is what a good email looks like. The numbers explain each part.
Good day,
Please find my article attached, with two photographs of our patrol base. 2
Regards,
John Doe
- 1
The subject line becomes the headline, so write the real title, not “Article”.
- 2
A line or two for the editor. Sending someone else's story? Say who wrote it, so they get the credit.
- 3
A .docx file and any photos, under 25 MB together. Old .doc files from Word 2003 cannot be read. A PDF works, but only send one if you have no choice.
Before you press Send
After you send it
First time sending to us? An editor reads your email and will contact you if there are any issues.
Sent to us before? Within a few minutes you get a short reply saying your email arrived. If something could not be read, such as a file that is too big, the reply says what. Fix it and send it again under the same subject, and the editor will see it as the newer copy.
Nothing here is a hard rule. An editor reads every submission, and following these steps just means less of your work has to be redone by hand. Stuck? Write to editor@nongqai.org.
© nongqai.org