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Submission Guidelines

Features and Articles

All submissions must conform to standard grammatical practices.  We can provide basic editing in preparation for publication but writers are expected to employ sound writing conventions for online submissions.

1. Use capital letters, periods, commas and the occasional semi-colon where appropriate.
2. Use spell-check.
3. Avoid long sentences or paragraphs.
4. Use subtitles where possible for long articles.
5. Illustrate submissions with links to photographs or other graphic elements
6. Do NOT include actual images; instead provide links to the images.
7. If there is an order that you prefer, to flow with your text, please indicate this.
8. Please look at existing articles on Utata.org for examples of what is acceptable.  Submissions and queries should be sent to the Managing Editor..

Flash Fiction Guidelines

Flash Fiction is the fusion of photography and the short story. The story and the image work in conjunction, each supporting the other. Please see previously published stories for examples.

1. Stories should be no longer than 500 words. Yes, we'll count them.
2. Submissions should include a link to the photograph (on Flickr) that accompanies the story.
3. The photograph can be your own or that of another Utatan. If you use a photograph by another member, YOU are responsible for obtaining permission for its use. The photographer must e-mail the fiction editor with permission before it can be considered for publication.
4. When you write your story, try to let the photograph be a jumping-off point into the fiction, meaning that the story shouldn't be about the photograph itself (or how it came into being), but rather, let the image support your imagined story.
5. Please submit only one story at a time. Once a new Flash Fiction is published, you can submit another story. All stories must be original and not previously published.
6. Utata does not publish poetry. Poetry submissions will not be considered.
7. Submit your work to the fiction editor. Include the text of your story and the link to the photo you intend to use in the body of the e-mail. DO NOT send the story as an attachment. Attachments will be ignored.
8. If you do not have a rich text editor in your e-mail program, please note the formatting in brackets in the text. For example:
   
   [italics]I'd like this part to be in italics.[end italics]
9. If your story is accepted for publication, the fiction editor will work with you to prepare it to appear on the site. Please send queries her way too. She loves those.

Publication Guidelines

All submissions of any type or category, must follow the basic submission guidelines as noted above. In addition to these guidelines it should be noted that:

1. utata.org reserves the right to NOT publish any submitted material
2. utata.org reserves the right to edit and/or otherwise prepare submitted material for publication: all significant edits/alerations to be approved by the writer prior to publication
3. utata.org will not publsh previously published material except as noted below in the Fair Use Policy statement  All material submitted must be original and unpublished, including (but not limited to) on personal blogs, flickr streams, public sites or boards.
4. utata.org reserves full and exclusive web publishing rights of all submitted material for a period of thirty (30) days from the date of publication. Thereafter, the author may reprint or republish the material in any format or venue s/he chooses. utata.org reserves the right to keep all published material online as part of its permanent archives.
5. utata.org reserves the right to verify facts and ownership of all submitted materials before publication.

Fair Use Policy

Utata.org may occasionally excerpt content or use small reproductions of protected images for the purposes of comment, criticism, or education. This use falls under the “fair use” guidelines in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107. We evaluate all fair-use situations on a case-by-case basis. For more information go to: The Stanford University Librairies.

Copyright

Submitting photographs to Utata.org does NOT cause you to relinquish any rights or control over your photographs.  They are still displayed under whatever license you have set up at flickr.  By using your photographs, Utata .org is neither licensing them nor buying them; we are simply helping you promote them.

Using Your Photographs On Utata.org

In order to use your photograph(s) on Utata.org, we rely on the process of "hotlinking" from flickr.  This is how flickr was designed to be used. We pull the picture from flickr's servers and display it on our page. If your photograph is protected or private, we cannot use it.

It is YOUR responsibility to ensure the photographs you submit for the blog or in projects are accessible by Utata.org.  We will not send reminder emails about photographs that are protected and unavailable.