GUIDELINES FOR WRITERS AS OF JANUARY 2009



Midstream is now a quarterly publication. We continue to welcome submission of manuscripts that deal with Jewish life and culture worldwide, past and present, with particular emphasis on current Jewish affairs, political, social, and cultural, in America and in Israel. We hope to continue to maintain Midstream’s reputation as a leading American Jewish Zionist intellectual publication.



Midstream publishes many articles, at least one short story (fiction), and from three to ten poems per issue. Articles normally run from 2,000 to 4,000 words and fiction from 2,000 to 5,000 words. Poems are generally short, not more than twenty lines (counting line-spaces between stanzas), since they are used as fillers on a page, but occasionally, poems up to thirty lines are acceptable. Book reviews on current titles run from 1,000 to 2,000 words; review essays, which are more extensive in reach and depth, from 2,000 to 4,000 words. Writers of unsolicited articles, memoirs, short stories, and poems need not contact the editor before submission, but it is advisable that book reviewers send an e-mail description of the book they want to review and of their expertise in the field since the editor normally chooses such titles and assigns reviewers. Midstream does not usually publish very short essays of less than 1,000 words. Writers should include name, mailing address, e-mail address, and phone number, with every submission. Writers of prose pieces should also include a word count, and a three- to four-line bio written in the third person. Writers of fiction or of non-fictional memoirs should clearly identify the genre of their submission. Fictionalized memoirs, especially of Holocaust experiences, are not acceptable.



All manuscripts should be sent electronically as an attachment in Microsoft Word via e-mail to midstreamTHF@aol.com. Poetry (up to three poems at a time in one mailing) should also be sent electronically as noted above. We are not equipped to publish submissions of hard copy received by regular mail. Such submissions will not be read or returned. Letters addressed “To the Editor” should also be sent in electronically and limited to a maximum of 300 words. Letter writers do not receive notice of acceptance or rejection, or remuneration if published. The editor may publish excerpts, copy edit letters, and provide responses in print without its being considered an invasion of privacy.



Midstream receives many manuscripts each week for consideration by the editor, but its editorial staff is very small. Consequently, response time to writers may take as long as three months, or even more, and editors cannot offer comments or criticism on manuscripts not accepted for publication. Writers are urged to proofread their own work meticulously since our minuscule staff cannot spend valuable time correcting manuscripts replete with errors. Clean copy makes its own good impression. For the same reason, we urge writers to submit their final version of a piece since belated revisions increase our reading burden appreciably and are rarely welcomed. Timely articles that are accepted may be published quickly, but others that are accepted may take up to a year or more to appear in one of the four quarterly issues. Solicitation of articles by the editor is not an automatic promise of publication; that can only come after the submission has been received, read, and officially accepted.



Payment for published manuscripts is calculated at five cents a word for prose, $25 for a published poem, and three complimentary copies of the issue containing the writer’s work. Copies are sent out soon after publication. Monetary remuneration must often be delayed until Midstream receives its stipends from its supporters. Midstream, nevertheless, has an unblemished record of remunerating its writers in its more than fifty years of existence and is especially proud of this achievement in support of writing on Jewish themes. •