advaita-academy.org - Submission Guidelines

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Submission Guidelines

Submission Guidelines - General Guidance

General

Correct use of Standard English grammar and vocabulary;
American English spelling;
All text submissions to be in a separate Word.doc or Word.docx document (not as text in an email);
Times New Roman font, single-spaced, with page numbering;
‘Text’ language, pastiches from a variety of sources that have not been edited correctly, poor use of English, etc., are not acceptable;
Contributor’s name and contact details, date, and title of submission must be included in all text documents (ideally in header);
Minimal formatting (bold, italic are acceptable; underlining, complicated tables, exotic fonts, multiple colors, emoticons, Wingdings, are not acceptable);
References to pages on the web must contain the full URL address (e.g. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1846943477/fromtheunreat-20);
All abbreviations, acronyms, etc., to be spelt out in full, e.g. Advaita Academy, not AA, unless these are all separately listed at the end of the article;
All book titles to be written in full, e.g. Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, not Br. Up, unless these are all separately listed at the end of the article;
Submitted pieces must be final; drafts, works in progress are not acceptable;
All submissions must be the author’s own work; where quotations are used to support the text, they must comply with standard Copyright Law and be fully referenced;
Graphics, photography, audio and video are acceptable (submit as separate files, not embedded in text document, with full accompanying details);
Names of all files must be meaningful (e.g. not DWver-2.jpg; rather DennisWaiteBookofOne.jpg).

Use of Technical Terms

No diacritical marks or use of Garit font (a font specifically designed for Macs, which incorporates diacritical marks);
When using a small amount of Romanized Sanskrit words, follow Standard English rules for nouns and Proper nouns, e.g. Brahman, maya, Advaita, guna, etc.;
When using a significant amount of Romanized Sanskrit words, follow the ITRANS system [dictionary can be provided];
Devanagari script/alphabet is acceptable; however, use of such script must be accompanied by an ITRANS transliteration and word-by-word translation.

Book Reviews Book & Reviewer’s Data

Full title and subtitle of book
Author’s full name
Author’s biography
Author’s photograph
Author’s website
Publisher
Publisher’s full address
Publisher’s website
Year of publication
ISBNs
Book jacket image
URLs available for purchase of book (e.g http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1846943477/fromtheunreat-20)
Medium of book (printed book, ebook, etc.)
Category (s)
Language of book (French, Sanskrit, etc.)
Reviewer’s full name
Reviewer’s biography
Level of Reviewer – beginner, intermediate or advanced (modesty not permitted!)
Reviewer’s photograph
Reviewer’s email
Reviewer’s website

Book Review

The word length should be 1,500 words approximately. Please also provide a rating (out of five, with 0 being the lowest and 5 the highest) for the book review.
The review should also aim to cover the following:

Introductory short synopsis of book’s subject material
Raison d’être of the book (does it tie in with a specific event/theme?)
Brief comment on how the book features in terms of the author’s entire work (if known)
Structure of the book
Specific content of the book
Book suitable for beginner, intermediate or advanced seeker?
Style of the book (tone, pace, depth, etc.)
Readability
Does it achieve its objective?
Are there any notably contentious issues raised by the book?
How does it compare to the author’s previous books (if known)?
How does it compare to other books in the same book category?
Reasonably priced/available?
If there is Sanskrit content: is the Devanagari included? Transliteration? Word-by-word translation?
What is the ‘authority’ for what is stated (e.g. author’s own experience, references to scriptures, Shankara, Ramana, etc.)?
Are all scriptural quotations fully referenced?
Is the Contents list comprehensive?
Is the Index comprehensive?

One of the objectives is to set up the largest library of Advaita books in the Western world (at least). This will be pursued in a gradual way, aiming to obtain books and provide subsequent reviews of those books at the website. Obviously, in order for this to be achievable, there will need to be many reviewers. The way in which this is intended to operate is as follows:

The website will contain a complete list of all of the books currently held by the library, in the process of being ordered or planned to be purchased;
Invited reviewers will eventually be able to check this list at any time at the website or download a PDF copy of the latest version;
If they know of a book that they would like to read which is not on the list, they can email AA requesting the book;
If they want to read any book on the list (whether already held by AA or not), provided it has not already been reviewed or ‘booked’ by another reviewer, they will be able to ‘request’ the book for review;
AA will purchase the book and have it sent directly to the reviewer’s address;
The reviewer reads the book and writes a review;
Subsequent books may not be requested until a review for the current book has been sent and accepted. Reviewers should aim for a reading speed of at least 200 pages per month;
The required content and standards for writing reviews are provided in a separate document. Note that these are not intended to stifle the creativity of the reviewer, but simply ensure that the key points that potential readers might want to know have been covered;
The reviewer emails his review to AA for linking to the book on the website;
The reviewer keeps the book as ‘payment’ for the review (AA will purchase library copies separately.) and AA will additionally pay the reviewer a sum for each book reviewed. This payment will be $100 minus the cost of the book and postage;
If a reviewer sees a book on the list, which they have already read but which does not yet have a review, they can elect to provide a review without receiving another copy. However, because they will not have to expend any time and effort reading the book and because the review will also not be to our agreed standard, the payment will only be $50;
Reviewers are also invited to donate or offer to sell books to AA, providing they relate to Advaita Vedanta, are in good condition and not already held (or on order) by AA. This could also include tracking down, for example, out-of-print books in India;
Although the emphasis is very much on traditional Advaita (according to Shankara), recognized scriptures and commentaries, the library will also hold books written by or about all teachers from the formative stages of Advaita philosophy, up to Gaudapada and then down to modern sages, academics, satsang teachers and neo-Advaitin non-teachers;
All participants will be asked to open a Paypal account to facilitate transfer of funds. Other methods of payment will not be considered.

The schedule of payments that Advaita Academy (AA) will make for articles and book reviews is as follows :

Not that, in all cases, authors retain copyright to articles and book reviews but AA endeavours to purchase exclusive rights to use of the material for an agreed period.

1. Article series (this usually relates to the unfolding of a scriptural text)

$100 per month for exclusive rights for 5 years (previously-unpublished, original material). For this, we expect one contribution per month of around 1500 words until the chosen text is complete. This should include word-by-word translation of verses. Translations of Sanskrit should ideally be original but at any rate should not be from copyrighted sources;

2. Single articles or essays

$100 for exclusive rights for 5 years (previously-unpublished, original material);

3. Book Reviews

$50 for exclusive rights for 5 years;

Notes:

Articles or essays are formal and structured writing of around 1500 words on a particular topic;
All ‘$’ refer to US currency;
A typical audio/video length should be considered to be 1 hour;
A typical book review should be considered to be 1200 words.

Please contact AA with details of intended submissions before sending any material.

Publishing principles

Advaita Academy will give priority to commissioning articles that have the potential of bringing readers closer to an understanding of their intrinsic natures, their oneness with Absolute Reality, by removing vagueness around the teachings of advaita.
We aim to cover the widest range of articles related to non-dualism, either directly or indirectly, and at the same time maintain the highest standards of writing and inspiring content through our Editorial Board.
Due to the generous donation of a well-wisher, a modest publishing fund is available for the commission of new articles and to pay for reprint right of existing content. In order, however, to allow the site to grow we would also welcome the offer of articles as gifts from the authors. When submitting proposals for articles we, therefore, request you tell us if it is being offered as a gift to the site or, if we need to budget for payment (please note that payments are made via PayPal, so that you will need to have a valid account there).

Commissioned articles

Priority consideration will be given to the following original articles:
- Series that unfold complete Vedantic texts in detail (Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, Brahmasutras and Prakarana Granthas), including Sanskrit translations and commentary as appropriate.
- In-depth analysis of one or more key verses from such texts.
- The unfolding of key verses from non-dual scriptures of other traditions.
- The explanation of key concepts and practices employed in the teachings of non-duality.
Note that, although articles suitable for all levels of current understanding (i.e. from beginners through to advanced) will be considered, our aim is to attract new seekers and to persuade them that the traditional approach is worth investigating. In general, therefore, articles should not be too ‘academic’. Also, we do not wish to discourage material from non-traditional sources, since it is intended that all seekers will find interesting and educational reading, whatever their current background, whether traditional, Direct Path, Western satsang or neo-advaita.
We will be very happy to commission articles, and accordingly invite submissions of proposals that give a brief summary of content and (from new writers) a sample of previous writings.
Articles on subjects that relate indirectly, but closely, to advaita (e.g. On Sanskrit, science, art, prayer, etc) will also be considered by the Editorial Board.
A fee of $350 is available for exclusive rights for 5 years for commissioned articles. These would need to be of a minimum length of 1500 words.
Writers can opt for submitting articles as a gift to the site. These will be most gratefully received for their contribution to deepening the understanding of these valuable teachings.

Non-commissioned original articles

We will also consider publishing original (i.e. unpublished) articles of a more general nature related to the topic of non-dualism, not covered in the above categories. We cannot guarantee to read all unsolicited articles.
At the Editorial Board’s discretion a payment of up to $175 could be offered for exclusive rights for non-commissioned articles of 1500+ words
Writers can also opt for submitting articles as a gift to the site. These will also be reviewed by the Editorial Board and, if approved for publishing, will be most gratefully received for their contribution to spreading understanding of non-dualism.

Non-commissioned reprints

In addition to commissioning original exclusive articles, we would also seek out existing articles that match our publishing principles. We would be prepared to offer up to $50 for the rights to a 1500+ word article.

Author-Article Details

Authors are asked to complete the ‘Author-Article Details’ form for each essay submitted. This is so that readers will be aware of ‘where the author is coming from’ in respect of the essay.