Boolean Union Studios



Guidelines for Guest Contributors

 


By submitting commentary, you agree that:


1. We may use your contributions in whole or in part, on our website, indefinitely.

In other words: You cannot submit commentary, then come back to us in six months and tell us to take it down. While the commentary remains yours, you are giving us permission to use it on our site.

2. We may edit your commentary for clarity, grammar and punctuation. Use of profanity is acceptable, but excessive profanity may be edited. Libelous commentary will be removed.

In other words: We like things to read cleanly, so we will revise typographic errors and confusing sentences. You can use swear words, but it's best to use them sparingly. While it can be used in a humorous way, profanity isn't funny in itself, so more profanity does not equal more funny. Libel is printed defamatory statements- if I were to make the serious claim that a given public official had committed a murder when I knew that wasn't true, that would be libel. When we talk about real people (like Jack Chick) on our website, it tends to fall under one of three categories: "Mere Vulgar Abuse" which is obviously not meant to be taken seriously, "opinion", in which the statement is not stated as a fact but as an opinion, and "Fair comment on a matter of public interest" which are honest arguments on a matter of public interest, such as laws or politics.

3. After making the agreement to do guest commentary, you will submit your draft text in a timely manner. No more than two weeks should elapse from the initial agreement to submission.

In other words: Don't keep us waiting forever. The site thrives on new content. If a month goes by and we haven't heard from you, we'll probably just push the page live with only our commentary.

4. You will provide us with your full name, a suitable picture, and (if available) a website or Facebook URL so we can give you credit on our site. If you would prefer to be known by a particular nickname/online handle, that is acceptable.

In other words: You do want credit, don't you? We don't do anonymous commentary, though if you've got a recognized online name, and want to be credited by that, we can do that.

5. You will submit your comments in an easy-to-access format, such as a Microsoft Word document or a PDF. Unusual formatting may lead to a request for resubmission. Actual commentary will be clearly organized within the file with indication of which comments relate to which panels of the original tract.

In other words: Don't send us some oddball file type, like Nissus Writer or .tar. Make sure that file is laid out in a sensible manner, so when we put together the actual web page, we know what words belong where. Make sure to label each of your comments with the panel it should correspond with. Panel numbering can be deduced using the links at the top of each dissection page. If your comments need to come either before or after commentary that already exists please indicate as such by copy and pasting the existing commentary into yours.

6. Be funny.

In other words: People read our site because they like to laugh. Everything you say doesn't necessarily have to be side-splitting hilarious but if you don't think it's humorous, neither will the audience. Try to vary your content and don't always comment on just one aspect of the tract (art style, religious dogma, conspiracy paranoia). Comments on various topics always get better responses and appeal to a wider audience. Try not to repeat commentary used by another commentator unless trying to make a point or draw humor from a running gag. Plagiarism is never polite. Try not to be racist or bigoted to a particular segment of people. Our audience is varied and reads our material from all over the world. We mock religion, but if we offend wide sections of our audience they'll stop reading... and no one wants that.

 

Last Updated: October 7, 2011