Style Guide

We at Ray Gun Revival have created a style guide to aid our writers in complying with our format, which gives you a better chance of avoiding having your submission zapped into oblivion. This guide follows rules outlined in the Chicago Manual of Style. Clarification as well as a few exceptions and style preferences are listed below, and a section listing a few SF terms.

Please note this style guide is a work in progress and additions or further explanations made be made as we go along.

Clarifications and Style Preferences:

• 'all right' not 'alright'
• 'okay' not 'OK'
• serial comma: a, b, and c (CMOS 6.19)
• no semicolons in dialogue
• one space between sentences (CMOS 6.11)
• italics for emphasis, not ALL CAPS or underlining
• three-space ellipse - without spaces between the periods, and not Word's one-space ellipse
• straight quotes not Word's "curly" quotes
• em dash without a space before or after (Alt+0151)
• the title not CAPITALIZED or underlined or (heaven forbid!) BOTH
• the 'by' in byline not capitalized and on same line as author's name: by Johne Cook

Scientific and SF Terminology:

• 3D
• sci-fi
• A.I., A.I.s
• G-force, Gs, three-Gs

Reiteration of Formatting Guidelines:

All submissions should be in English and follow standard grammar rules as listed in the Chicago Manual of Style. Submissions with grammatical errors that detract from the enjoyment of the contribution will be rejected regardless of whether the effects were intentional or not.

Manuscripts should be in standard format. Due to the fact we publish electronically, we copy/paste your story for the magazine, and so the least amount of formatting we have to do, the happier our cranky Lord High Editor is. So we suggest (that's spelled "command") the following exceptions:

• you may use Courier or Times New Roman 12 pt font
• do NOT put your title in ALL CAPS
• do NOT double-space after each sentence
• do NOT double-space after a colon
• do NOT use underlining to indicate italics. If you want something in italics, use italics; the same rule goes for bold. Additionally, use italics for emphasis not ALL CAPS
• use the em dash character (Alt+0151) or two hyphens--just type the last word of the first section, two hyphens, and the next word--no spaces before or after the two hyphens

A few reminders (mostly to placate our grumpy Lord High Editor):

• use exactly one-inch margins all around (note: Word defaults to 1.25 inch side margins, please check)
• double space your manuscript (no additional blank line before or after the # separating scenes: hard return, #, hard return, begin typing again)
• indent your paragraphs (no additional blank line between paragraphs hard return, indent, and begin typing again)
• turn off Widows & Orphans
• turn off all the "smart" stuff: curly quotes, superscripts, fraction characters, one-space ellipses - basically anything that replaces what you type with something else

Standard Manuscript Format Exceptions:

If your word processor does not support "headers" do NOT use a running header. Microsoft Word supports headers and footers. Do NOT manually insert running headers. This messes up the process of setting the manuscript up for final publication.

If your word processor does not center-justify text, do NOT space or tab to center. Just leave the title, byline, and any scene-change lines on the left margin.

If you aren't sure about such things as how to set up a document's headers or page margins, this article entitled Formatting Submissions might help.

Please note that a properly formatted manuscript will bring happy smiles to our Slushmasters. They will think of you as a professional and begin reading your story with joy, or in the case of some, at least without grumbling.

On the other hand, a story submitted without regard to guidelines (and one with typos, spelling and grammatical errors as well) will automatically prejudice our illustrious Slushmasters against you. Why? you ask. Isn't it my most-fantastic story that counts, not how it is presented? Um. No. Not following our guidelines is the same as showing up for a job interview for a CEO position in a pretigious company wearing falling apart sneakers, torn jeans and a t-shirt, wearing three-day stubble, and obviously not having utilized a shower or deodorant for about a week. Think we're kidding? Ask our slushmasters yourself in our forums!

File Format:

We only accept text manuscript submissions in Rich Text Format (.rtf). Save As .rtf before you submit your manuscript file. Sending submissions in the wrong format may warrant the immediate and indiscriminate vaporization of your digital manuscript. You have been warned.

Do not use any punctuation or spaces in the file name, as our automated system will not accept it. Oh yes, it might tell you it's been accepted, but it lies. In truth, what the system will do is atomize your story without a blink of its eye. Again, you have been warned.