Volunteer

Thanks for your interest in the Martlet! This page has information on comics, photos, or stories, three ways you can contribute. Or perhaps you were looking for our Help & Resources page, a collection of useful tips on writing, layout and the Martlet in general.

Stories

Deadline:
Stories are due by 5 p.m. on Friday of the week before publication. If trouble comes up, let us know. Can’t get in touch with a contact? Maybe we can help. Buried by your workload? We can assign another writer. But tell us as problems emerge, not on deadline.

Editing:
Your story will undergo two edits. You should try to arrange to meet with your section editor during the first edit, that way you can answer questions and ensure the editing is factually accurate and keeps the integrity of your writing. Please include any relevant contact information or websites for fact-checking purposes. Also hold onto your tapes and notes in case of libel. The Martlet won’t print sexist, homophobic, racist or otherwise oppressive copy. Your editor will also check for libel.

Style:
Paragraphs are not begun with a tab. Separate them with a single carriage return. There should only be one space between sentences. Be sure to include your byline: “by YOUR NAME HERE”. Writers are not responsible for writing headlines, but feel free to include any suggestions. The Martlet follows the Canadian Press (CP) style guide.

E-mail:
Submission by e-mail is preferred. Please send your copy to the appropriate section:

News: news@martlet.ca
Culture: culture@martlet.ca
Sports: sport@martlet.ca
Features: feats@martlet.ca
Opinions: oped@martlet.ca
Photos: photo@martlet.ca
Graphics: grafx@martlet.ca

Always cut-and-paste your story into the main body of the message, since file attachments are unreliable. Ideally, attach the document to the email as well. The Martlet uses MS Word. All text must be submitted in this format or in Plain Text (.txt) or Rich Text Formation (.rtf). Volunteer writers, photographers, copy editors and graphic artists are always appreciated.

Comics

Who can submit comics?
Any member of the UVic community is welcome to submit their work for publication in the Martlet. You don't need to have any drawing experience.

What are the deadlines?
Submit comics by Wednesday at noon for publication in the following week’s paper. This allows our staff to plan the comics page, select comics, and prepare them for publication. You can begin submitting any time during the year. For a weekly comic, you can submit your strip each week or submit a series of comics in advance. If you don’t have time for a weekly comic, or you just want to try your hand at it, that’s okay too. You can just submit your work occasionally.

Are there restrictions on content?
The Martlet will not print racist, sexist, or otherwise oppressive content. Libelous comics will also not be accepted.

Do all submissions get published? Our editorial and production staff review all the submissions and select comics to appear in the paper each week. Not every comic submitted will be published. If we don’t select your work, we’ll let you know why and give you the opportunity to make revisions if you want.

How do I submit my work? You can submit work by e-mail to grafx@martlet.ca, or you can submit original artwork for us to scan. If you are submitting your work digitally, please follow our file specifications below. Our production staff can help you with the technical stuff.

What size should comics be? In our paper, the printed size for comics is about 10 to 15 cm wide.

What are the file specifications?
Most comics are printed as “line art” which requires higher resolution than other types of art (like photos). If you are sending your artwork digitally, please be sure that the pixel width of your art is at least 3600 pixels (in other words, 6 inches wide at a resolution of 600 pixels per inch). Recommended file formats are tiff or jpeg (high-quality only). For help preparing your file, or if you have any other questions, contact grafx@martlet.ca.

Photos

File formats:
Please save your image as a tiff, jpeg, or Photoshop file. If saving as a jpeg, use the highest quality setting to avoid compression and loss of image data. Photoshop files, if flattened, are pretty small, so if you’ve been working on your image before sending it in, you can save it as a PSD (without layers).

File size:
For a newspaper, allow 200 pixels per inch at the final print size. If your file is at least 1600 pixels wide (8 inches wide at 200 pixels per inch), it should work for us. If your original is smaller, please don’t resample it to increase the resolution. Our production staff will do that if necessary when we know what size the photo will be running.

Color settings:
Even though most photos are printed in black and white, please submit your photos in color (RGB mode). That way the photo can be used in color on the web site or if it is used on a page where we can print in color.

If you are working with an editor on a photo assignment, you will be sending your photos to him or her. For other photo submissions, email photo@martlet.ca. If you are having trouble sending your files by email, contact the production co-ordinator (proco@martlet.ca) for FTP information.