Razor Wire Submissions, Suggestions
And Requirements
By Chuck Armsbury, Senior Editor
We are
looking for special observations about the drug war, small stories,
and interesting incidents or anecdotes. We don't publish emotional
'rants' because our purpose is to promote constructive communication
and educate our readers. Remember, the Coalition's primary mission
is to expose and end the failed drug war; we welcome interesting
letters from prisoners and citizens on any topic thought to be
linked to our strategic mission.
Prisoners send letters by traditional postal mail, but those
online can e-mail submissions. We publish photos or drawings
that can accompany your article.
We look for written themes that describe how and what ordinary
citizens do to convince government officials, associates and
friends to think critically about the drug war. You can inspire
us with a drug war story about your success teaching someone
in your family, office, church, community group. You might also
tell how you first learned about the abuses and failure of the
drug war, and what action you have taken to encourage drug law
reform.
Write your letter or article as best you can. Our editors
will correct spelling and glaring grammatical errors. Generally
speaking, shorter writing submissions get our attention. Please
don't send us a lengthy manuscript or essay without contacting
us first; chances are we will not have staff time available to
read it.
The Mail Call letters printed in the Razor Wire range from
200 to 400 words. A feature article or guest column should be
no more than 1200 words. Submitted items should be typed, double
spaced, or neatly printed by hand if you don't have access to
a typewriter.
If you are sending a submission by e-mail, save the documents
as RTF (Rich Text Format) if possible, or plain text and attach
to an e-mail communication. If you are sending a photograph or
other "scanned" material, save as a JPEG and attach
to the e-mail. If text or JPEG, please include a brief summary
of your submission in the body of the e-mail. In the subject
line, type: Razor Wire Submission. Include your contact information
if you are not already listed in our database. Send them to editor©november.org.
In addition to writing, you may want to involve yourself in
distributing the Razor Wire. If this is something you want to
do, learn how you can Volunteer
With Us, and how to go about ordering bulk Razor Wires
and other Activist Supplies.
Finally, you may want to use the Razor Wire as an aid to study
for your school, church, civic association, or your circle of
friends. We can make extra copies available for these purposes.
Prisoners hold informal classes, learning together how they can
further the cause of drug policy reform. "Free world"
citizens and drug war prisoners read from the same page
in this unique educational process.
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