Perspectives: An Introduction for Readers and Writers

     “Perspectives” is a monthly online journal whose goal is to provide new and emerging writers a format to present their works of historical fiction; and to provide all readers, both those who enjoy history and those who have yet to discover historical writing, access to material that may pique their interest in historical characters or periods which may have been obscured or overlooked by mainstream understanding and study of history.

Historical Fiction will represent the bulk (approximately 70%) of the material we accept for publication. “Historical Fiction” is defined as works of fiction whose central characters, while they may interact with genuine historical figures or whose actions may be grounded in actual places or events, are invented. Work that will be accepted for publication will express the flavor of an era and provide to the reader an added, often overlooked, perspective on life in those times. The purpose of each story should be to entertain and to enlighten but must not be overly didactic in tone. Our goal is to make history accessible to the average reader by publishing works based in history. 

• “Perspectives” will consider and publish creative non-fiction which meets three criterion: it should be entertaining, it should be accessible to the average reader, and it should shine a light on a certain era or event which has been ignored or obscured by a traditional study of history.
• Book reviews are welcome, but the book should be, again, accessible. A good example of books that would be suitable to review would be John McCollough’s John Adams or Edward Rutherfurd’s London. In juvenile literature, a review of  Johnny Tremain would fit our publishing goals. In other words, all submissions will be considered in the light of how the work gives a new historical perspective to the reader.
•  Finally, we will happily publish poetry whose focus meets the above criteria. Poems may be fictional in nature or may be based on historical characters or events. A good example of an historical poem would be "Bannockburn" by Robert Burns based on the Battle of Bannockburn (on which the book and Oscar-winning film Braveheart was based). The actual percentage of creative non-fiction or poetry that will be included in the journal will be left to the discretion of the publisher and may fluctuate from issue to issue depending on submissions and space availability.

          Our readers are readers who are already fond of historical fiction; readers who read a variety of genres but who may not have read much historical fiction; new readers who have yet to discover the joy of historical fiction; readers who were not well-taught and who sadly believe that they ‘hate’ history.

        Our writers are creative people who seek to express themselves by inserting their characters into situations and eras from bygone eras. The era itself serves as both a literary device and as a character of the story. The complexities of human interaction are changed, and perhaps in some ways simplified, but are complicated nonetheless. ”Perspectives” particularly welcomes new, unpublished authors to submit material for publication.

Disclaimer: This journal is being created as a graduate project for a Creative Writing Workshop whose focus is an exploraition of the busines of publishing. No submissions are being solicited outside the parameters of the university course as established by the professor. All material published on this blog is the sole property of the authors who indiviually retain the ownership of their intellectual property. All material contained herein is governed by laws established under U.S. Copyright. All general blog contents are copyrighted 2011 by the editor, Beth Rodgers.