Have you ever written anything about men, masculinity, or gender issues that you think is worth publishing? Perhaps you are a high school or college student with a term paper that deals with gender issues? Maybe you would just like to write about your experiences? Maybe you would like to try your hand at researching an intriguing topic? Maybe you've always thought about becoming a published author and would like to try your skill at writing? ....There is a certain stature and satisfaction in becoming a published author.

If the answer is yes to any of the questions above, then we have a forum for you. .....And, you don't have to be a member of the National Coalition of Free Men to write or submit articles on men's issues. The National Coalition of Free Men (NCFM) produces a bimonthly publication for its members, entitled, Transitions: The Journal of Men's Perspectives. It is intended to be an open educational forum for the articulation of new ideas on social issues affecting men and boys. The views expressed in Transitions do not necessarily represent the opinions of the National Coalition of Free Men, its board of Directors or Board of Advisors. In fact, the views expressed in Transitions often conflict with the views of society at large. However, we do insist that anything published in Transitions be pro male.

We at Transitions are always looking for well written pieces, ranging from original research with hard data, to opinion pieces, poetry, cartoons, movie and book reviews, and regular columns. .....We are inviting you, the visitor to our web site, to participate and share with us.

To see some samples of articles that have appeared in Transitions, visit our Reading Room. National Coalition of Free Men (publisher) and Transitons has a mandate. We are a non-profit educational organization that looks at the ways sex discrimination affects men and which is open to examining the male experience in general.

If you would like to submit one or two (or more) original pieces, scroll down further to see our editorial guidelines.

If you are looking for an idea consider this: Gender issues affecting men and boys can be broken down three ways: civil rights, health and the interpersonal. Sometimes these three broad headings overlap. Some examples are:

CIVIL RIGHTS - How you are treated at work or at school, the all male military draft, divorce and custody issues, false accusations, legal issues.	HEALTH - Prostate Cancer funding, why males commit most of the suicide, why men avoid going to doctors, taking care of one's body.
INTERPERSONAL - Making friends with other males, getting along with a female in a relationship, expressing emotions, parenting.

Our column editors welcome submissions for several categories:

• Men's Health
• Fathers' Rights
• Mythopoetic/ Men's Inner Work
• Women (relating to men's issues)
• Boys' Issues (school and sports)

EDITORILAL GUIDELINES:

MEDIA:

We prefer that all submissions be made in electronic media (either as an e-mail attachment, or a file saved on an IBM compatible three quarter inch diskette, which can be sent by snail mail). However, if you can only submit something on paper, please send a clearly typed copy. (No handwritten text, please.)

If you are submitting something in electronic form, our preference is Micosoft Word. ^TM

Feature articles (those that are especially highlighted in the publication) typically require a greater degree of sophistication than other submissions. They often consist of gender research, with data and statistics to support claims made in the article. Feature articles may be up to 4000-5000 words long.

Other types of articles can consist of personal experiences, opinion, book and movie reviews and current events.

Column submissions may consist of research, or be more along the lines of op-ed pieces, although they are also expected to be very well reasoned, and competently written. Submissions for any of the columns must be 500-2000 words in length.

Any article that states facts or figures must cite references and include a complete unabridged bibliography for each fact or figure.

We want to encourage residents outside of the USA to write about their culture. However, all submissions must be written in English.

There are no hard and fast deadlines. If the deadline for publication of one issue is missed, an approved piece will be published in the next issue. We publish for the months of: Jan/Feb, Mar/April, May/June, July/Aug, Sept/Oct, Nov/Dec. Typically, the latest material can be accepted is the month prior to publication. For example, to be in the January/February issue, we would need to have received your submission by December 1 at the very latest.

Transitions reserves the right to make typographical or grammatical corrections without consulting the author. In the case of more significant editorial changes an effort will be made to secure the author's permission. As with any publication, however, in the event of any disagreement about final publication, Transitions reserves the right to refuse publication of the submission.

Furthermore, mistakes do sometimes occur, despite our best efforts. If a mistake is made, please inform us and we will issue a correction and apology in the following issue. However, it must be agreed that neither the National Coalition of Free Men (publisher) nor the all-volunteer staff of Transitions may be held liable for mistakes.

All articles and materials appearing in Transitions and those published by National Coalition of Free Men on the internet are protected by the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reprinted works appearing in Transitions or at an internet site run by National Coalition of Free Men will be clearly identified.

As with other publications it is understood that any original work submitted to Transitions is the property of Transitions and that National Coalition of Free Men (publisher) owns the copyright. Publishers generally apply this rule in the case of any dispute, where no agreement in writing exists. Similarly, Transitions is not obligated to specify its copyright ownership in the publication. Copyright ownership is understood.

We will consider other arrangements where the author retains copyright. Under this circumstance we will do our best to print the proper copyright notice above the article when it is published. Sometimes mistakes happen. If the author's copyright notice does not appear the author is entitled to a letter certifying that National Coalition of Free Men (publisher) acknowledges their right to copyright ownership. Registration of copyright with legal entities is the responsibility of the author.

It must be understood and accepted that National Coalition of Free Men (publisher) participates in a larger community of men's and fathers' rights groups where it is generally held that whatever appears in one organization's publication may be reprinted by another. There is no agreement that permission must be requested. The general custom is that the publication of origin is given credit when something is reprinted by someone else. It must be agreed that neither, Transitions: Journal of Men's Perspectives, or the National Coalition of Free Men (publisher) will be held responsible if another publication within the community of men's organizations reproduces an article without expressed permission even where the author holds clear title. And it must be agreed that National Coalition of Free Men may grant permission to other men's organization publications to reprint any article, without the author's permission, even where the author owns the copyright as long as no money changes hands. Moreover, National Coaliton of Free Men reserves the right to republish any material in Transitions at any site it runs OR participates in on the internet (World Wide Web, FTP, Gopher, News Group, Telnet, E-Mail, etc.). Generally, this arrangement works to everyone's benefit, because most authors, especially those starting out, can only gain by any increased exposure.

If a generally recognized for-profit commercial publication reprints anything without permission and/or without proper credit and copyright notice, then damages may be sought by the author and/or by National Coalition of Free Men.

These rules are subject to change without notice.

EDITORIAL CONTACT INFORMATION
AND WHAT TO SEND WITH A SUBMISSION:

Send submissions to:


Jason Leatherman
E-Mail address: transitions@ncfm.org.


When sending in a submission be sure to include your , mailing address, e-mail address and telephone number. If you have a fax number, let us know. Inform us of the best times (specify more than one) to call you in case this becomes necessary. Please make sure to specify time in terms of Eastern Standard Time.

When sending in a submission, tell us something about yourself. In particular we would like to know about any credentials you may possess that would bolster your credibility for having written a particular piece. For example, if you are writing about a legal situation, are you an attorney or a victim? Are you a university professor or a student? Specific credentials are NOT required. Sometimes it is simply enough to know that you work or went to school and are a concerned and interested citizen. Information such as this can help to make any published piece more personable.

NOTE: As a rule, we do not return items sent to us by snail mail. So, please do not request this.

To receive a sample issue of Transitions send $2.00 if you are a resident of the USA. Send $3.00 if you live outside of the USA (this is caused by higher postage costs). To avoid excessive bank charges, residents outside of the USA must send a POSTAL MONEY ORDER, which can be obtained at any post office. Make payment to NCFM or to National Coalition of Free Men. Send your check or money order to:

NCFM
PO Box 582023
Minneapolis, MN 55458-2023
USA