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CONTACT US
Henry G. Franke III
Many Bibliophile members have created regional groups. These fans get together from time to time, talk about ERB, swap tales of their collections, and even circulate newsletters. Contacting your local group might be a good way to introduce yourself. As more of these groups go online we will post their addresses here. Currently, two of our groups have Web sites: The National Capital Panthans
The Chicago Muckers
For questions or technical comments regarding this site, you may contact the Burroughs Bibliophiles webmaster Bill Hillman at: hillmans@westman.wave.ca Below are some guidelines for those who want to try their hand at writing about Edgar Rice Burroughs. We'd all love to hear from you! Burroughs Bulletin Submission Guidelines The Burroughs Bulletin is a quarterly journal devoted to studying the life and works of American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875-1950). Those who wish to submit articles for possible publication will please read the following guidelines. Content: The editors of The Burroughs Bulletin will happily review any articles that are placed before them, whether they are of a scholarly or of a more relaxed nature. (Sorry to disappoint the budding novelists out there, but we neither review nor publish pastiches.) The important criteria for ultimate acceptance are quality and originality. Even though the focus of the journal is a single author, the field in which contributors have to play is wide. Previous articles have covered such diverse topics as motion picture production, fine art, paleontology, western American history, feminism, racism, Mormonism, evolutionary theory, African wildlife, Doc Savage, two world wars, and why no one can make a decent Tarzan movie. Prospective authors may wish to query the editors first, but please bear in mind, the acceptance of an outline does not mean acceptance of the final article. If such a thing can happen to Burroughs (see what happened when he submitted The Return of Tarzan) it can happen to the rest of us. A few more helpful hints: Articles about other authors, whether predecessors or imitators of Burroughs, are welcome, but they must include a Burroughs slant. For example, an analysis of Leigh Brackett's work (and we would dearly love to see something like this) would probably compare Brackett's Martian stories with Burroughs'. A straight bibliography is an iffy matter. "A Complete Listing of All Tarzan Editions in Tagalog" wouldn't thrill the editors (or the readers) unless it were accompanied by an article detailing the history of Tarzan books in the Philippines, their popularity (or lack thereof), and examples of any unique ways in which Tarzan manifested himself in Philippine culture. See "Burroughs in Argentina" by Fernando Garcia and Hernan Ostuni (January 1994 issue of The Burroughs Bulletin) for an example. Personal reminiscences of your interest in Burroughs are welcome, but before revealing your story be honest with yourself: Is your tale really unique? "My Summer in Used Book Stores" would probably sound like everyone else's anecdotes, but "Burroughs Book Hunting in Nazi Germany" has a definite cachet about it. (Okay, we were really stretching with that one, but we exaggerate to make a point.) Please see Robert R. Barrett's "The Holy Grail: A Personal Odyssey" (Winter 1997 issue of The Burroughs Bulletin) for an example. Also, you may want to check out some of the book collecting magazines such as Biblio or Firsts to see how others have handled their personal tales. Format: All articles submitted to The Burroughs Bulletin must follow these basic format rules: typed (minimum 11-point font), double spaced on bonded paper (no onionskin!), with footnotes (if any) at the end. Do not submit hand-written articles. The editors cannot read their own handwriting, let alone yours, and these articles will not be read. Unless it's late at night and there's nothing else to read in the house. Those with word processors will please avoid any fancy layout and design. Do not continually change fonts, do not place pretty borders around every third paragraph, and do not shift from full page to columns then back again. (Hey, do you think we're making this stuff up?) Editors are notoriously feeble-minded, and if our eyes can't follow a sentence because the format keeps changing then we won't read the article. If you have something of interest to say then say it; fancy graphics will only get in the way. One more addition to the litany of "do nots": Do not submit your only copy of an article to us. Accidents happen. Editors immediately start to write on whatever is placed before them. Coffee gets spilt. Keep a copy for yourself, in one form or another. If you wish your manuscript returned, please include sufficient postage to bring your baby home. Oh, as this is the electronic age, we can accept articles as e-mail attachments -- usually. You can query us through e-mail, too. As this saves you and us money we heartily suggest those with the capability follow this route. Although we still get a thrill when we find stuff in our mailbox. And a final guideline: We do not
have a specific word limit for submitted articles, although if you've hit
page thirty of your treatise and you still have a long way to go we suggest
you start cutting. Quality is more important than quantity. We'd much rather
see a 1,000-word article chock full of info than a 5,000-word article that
says little. The readers would, too. They are the ones for whom we are
working, so if you think what you have to say will be of interest to others
-- start writing.
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