Submit
What We Accept
We accept poetry and prose under 1,000 words, black-and-white photography, drawings, and any other reproducible literary or visual art.
Our staff has put together a tips page to give contributors an idea of what we look for. However, these tips are by no means definitive.
Who Can Submit
We accept submissions from everyone, regardless if you’re a Penn State student or not.
What to Include
In addtion to your piece, please include a cover sheet listing the following:
- your name as you wish it to appear in publication
- address
- phone number
- e-mail address
- title of your piece
- its first line (if literary) or description (if visual)
- any additional concerns, such as intentionally misspelled words or formatting that is important to the presentation of your piece
How to Submit
Send an email with your piece and the other required information to our editors at problemchild@psu.edu. If you are using a MAC, please put your submission(s) in the text of the email. Otherwise, any attachment is acceptable. Please mention Problem Child in the title of the email so we don’t miss it.
What About Art?
You can still submit art that isn’t already on a computer. Simply drop it off with your cover letter in the submission box located at 314 HUB, cubicle B-8. If this is inconvenient, you can also contact us to set up another way for us to get it.
Or, if you can, find a scanner and send it that way. It’s best to scan pictures at 300 dpi and save them as .tiff. (If you don’t know what that means, that’s ok! We’ll take whatever you got.)
Deadlines
Deadlines for submissions vary by semester, but generally fall about a month before the end of each semester. Deadline information will be announced on fliers and our web page, or it can be obtained by email.
Submissions received after a deadline will be held until staff meetings resume the following semester.
Deadline for the Fall 2006 issue is Tuesday, November 14th at midnight.
Awards
At the end of the semester, when all the submissions have been reviewed and rated, the contributors of the top three ranking pieces will receive gift certificates to Webster’s Bookstore Cafe. The highest ranking piece is awarded $25, $10 for second and $5 for third.
Publication
We publish two Problem Child issues each year, at the end of the fall and spring semesters. Copies can be obtained in the cubicle, at meetings, or requested by email. Authors and artists chosen will be notified before publication.
Contributors within a single issue that cannot pick up their own copy can request copies to be mailed to them once the issue is printed. 2 copies of the issue will be sent via media mail at the expense of the club. Any additional copies will be shipped at the contributor’s expense.
Publication Notes
We publish all pieces in a uniform font and font size and may reformat pieces unless otherwise stated on the cover page. Pictures scanned at 300 dpi and saved as .tiff files will be the most faithful to the orginal. We may resize artwork to fit our magazine’s size constraints. Submissions will not be considered for multiple semesters unless resubmitted. Submissions can be revised and resubmitted within a single semester.
Questions and Concerns
Questions may be sent to our editors at problemchild@psu.edu.
