Writing for Car Wars and
Autoduel Quarterly
by Stephen M. Beeman
HTML conversion by Michael P. Owen, March 2000
We welcome manuscripts for ADQ articles and Car Wars supplements.
Subject Matter. All material must be oriented towards and faithful to the Car Wars game system, as detailed in the various Car Wars sourcebooks. Specifically:
Scenarios -- Short ones go in Autoduel Quarterly or one of the AADA Road Atlases. Longer scenarios (such as arena designs) and adventures could fit either in an issue of ADQ or as a separate product. In particular, we're looking for good solo adventures, along the lines of either Convoy or the Car Wars gamebooks published by TSR.
Articles -- ADQ articles come in two types. Gaming articles deal directly with the play of the game -- variants, strategy tips, etc. Roleplaying articles deal with the game's background -- the world of 2038. In general, we're interested in about equal amounts of both, and we love to see articles that combine the two.
Longer gaming pieces are often released as Car Wars supplements. Large amounts of roleplaying material, on the other hand, are more suitable as supplements to GURPS Autoduel.
Fiction -- ADQ is currently our only market for Car Wars fiction. We only publish one piece per issue, but we're always looking for good stories.
Vehicle and gadget designs -- We get more of these than we know what to with, but don't let that stop you. Beyond the one or two vehicles and four to six gadgets we print in each issue of ADQ, we also publish supplements like The AADA Vehicle Guide and Uncle Albert's Catalogs containing this sort of material.
Specifications. All written submissions should be typed, double-spaced, on white letter-sized paper. Do not write on the back. The first page should include your name, address and approximate word count. Each page should be numbered and include the author's name and address. Each submission must also include a standard-sized SASE if a reply is expected; if you wish the submission returned, you must also enclose a sutliciently large envelope with adequate postage.
Length -- Articles written to length require less editing and thus are worth more to us and to you. Each page of Autoduel Quarterly has room for about 750 words plus art. Articles written in increments of this length are much more useful to us than odd-ball sizes.
Electronic submissions -- We welcome manuscripts submitted in IBM MultiMate format. Other formats are less useful to us -- for anything less than 5,000 words, it's not worth our time to convert the file. All computer sub-missions must be on a 5 1/4" IBM-formatted disk; unless the SASE includes a mailer, the disk will not be returned. A disk may have more than one submission on it; each should be in a separate file. If your submission is in anything other than MultiMate, a hard copy must accompany the disk.
Game evaluation waivers -- Though not necessary for an article-sized submission, any single manuscript longer than about 5,000 words must include a signed, notarized game evaluation waiver before we can even look at it. A waiver form appears on page 10; to use, photocopy it on a machine capable of enlargements -- reproducing the waiver at roughly 150% will give you a useable form.
Illustrations -- If your manuscript requires art or maps, draw them as well as you can. Our staff artists will redraw them if necessary.
Payment. Autoduel Quarterly pays one to three cents per word upon publication. More experienced (with us) writers, and better manuscripts, receive higher payments. Car Wars supplements pay either a flat fee or a royalty, depending on the size of the product; for details, see our "Writing for Steve Jackson Games" information sheet, available upon request. Vehicle and gadget designs pay a flat rate of $2.50 each. All payments that come out to $5 or less are paid as $5 Steve Jackson Games gift certificates; payments of $10 or less (but more than $5) are given as $10 gift certificates. Anything we buy is considered a "work for hire," which essentially means that we own all rights to the work.
