Guidelines for Submitting Articles to The NA Way Magazine

The NA Way Magazine is a broad-based recovery- and service-oriented journal for NA members. One of our key roles is featuring updates and information from world services. Our editorial content ranges from personal recovery experience to opinion pieces of concern to our fellowship as a whole, right through to humor or nostalgia about recovery. While we prefer typewritten documents, we will gladly accept handwritten materials as well. We accept submissions in the same languages in which we publish: English, French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish. However, if the language you speak is not listed, send in your submission anyway and we will do our best to have it translated.

A signed Submission Form/Copyright Transfer Form must accompany all articles and photographs.

Manuscript Format and Preparation

Ø      If you plan to submit a typewritten document, please double-space the paragraphs and use a font size of at least 12 points. If you plan to submit a handwritten document, please write clearly only on one side of each page.

Ø      Keep in mind that each column of the magazine contains approximately 300 words. This may help you consider how and what to write.

Ø      Please do not use multiple ink colors. Black text only is preferred.

Ø      If you plan to submit a photograph, please enclose the actual photograph and not a colored Xerox copy. Reproduction of a color copy is poor at best. If sending electronically, please send a high resolution JPEG (keep physical image to 5"x5") or an EPS or TIF (both of which should be scanned at 200 dpi).

Ø      You may submit your manuscript and/or photograph electronically to Toni Kerwin at toni@na.org or to De Jenkins at de@na.org.

Editing

All manuscripts go through a review and editing process. We look for a tone that reflects a spirit of unity and mutual respect. Any article that slanders another NA member will be rejected. Explicit sexual references and all obscene and vulgar language will be deleted from published articles. Articles that are written in a “preachy or teach-y” tone may be edited to read from a more personal one. We make other edits in keeping with NA’s understanding of the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, using standard NA language such as “clean,” “recovery,” and “addict.” Implied endorsements of outside enterprises are deleted, as are any other references that may be perceived as being in conflict with NA’s spiritual principles. Authors’ names are printed using the first name and last initial, unless the author asks to be identified as “Anonymous.” Opinion pieces that challenge prevailing interpretations of the Twelve Traditions are welcome, and in those cases, some of the editorial guidelines noted above may be relaxed.

In addition, submissions are copyedited to ensure ease of comprehension and adherence to the rules of English grammar, i.e., we will review and revise sentence structure, spelling, punctuation, etc. Editorial staff may also substitute different words for clarification, but content and the author’s intentions are retained in the copyediting process. We do our very best to maintain the tone and voice of the author. We prefer definite, specific, concrete language and orthodox spelling. The reference books we most use are current editions of Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, The Chicago Manual of Style, Fowler’s Modern English Usage, and The Handbook of Good English.

Criteria for Magazine Sections

Feature Articles

This covers everything from personal recovery experiences to reports about current issues or events in NA to thoroughly documented historical essays on NA's beginnings in an area, region, or country. Maximum length: 2,500 words.

Sharing Section and Service Section

Personal recovery and/or service experience from 500 to 2,000 words long. May also include interviews.

Letters to the Editor

Opinions and editorial replies to previously published articles need to be fewer than 2,000 words long.

Primary Purpose

Members are invited to use this column to share any challenges their group may face and/or that “special knack” that keeps you coming back. We also welcome photos.

Humor

Humor pieces can be anything from a “top ten” list to a parody of NA's literature to a multiple-choice questionnaire. Other humorous materials may be “funniest thing heard at a meeting,” NA newsletter clippings (including material from The NA Way Magazine), misreading of NA literature heard at NA events, etc. Maximum length: 1,000 words.

Picture This

NA groups are invited to send us photographs of their meeting places, service meetings, meetings attended while on vacation, or other thoughtful ideas. We especially welcome photos that include meeting formats, recovery literature, posters, how literature is displayed, etc.—anything that makes the meeting room look “lived-in.” Sorry, we cannot use any photos that clearly identify NA members; however, we have seen some creative ways of including home group members while maintaining personal anonymity!

Parables

These are fiction pieces in which the writer illustrates a spiritual principle or some sort of recovery-related object lesson. Maximum length 1,500 words.

Did You Know?

Here is the spot for interesting facts and/or historic details about your local NA community or NA as a whole.

Thank You for Sharing

We appreciate your interest in The NA Way Magazine and invite you to share with the NA Fellowship. This is your magazine, and just like recovery, we cannot do it alone. The NA Way is a team effort!

Please let us know your ideas or input for the magazine or if you are interested in receiving a subscription. We are now offering e-subscriptions to The NA Way. You can contact us to request either a paper copy of the magazine or an e-subscription at The NA Way Magazine, c/o NAWS, Inc., 19737 Nordhoff Place, Chatsworth, CA 91311 or send an email to naway@na.org.

You can also view two formats of the electronic version of the magazine at www.na.org. In the HTML version, you will be able to view the main sections of the magazine and Home Group cartoon. For those who wish to view the magazine exactly as it is in print form, the PDF format is for you. Since the PDF files tend to be large, we recommend downloading it to your local hard drive and then opening the file.

Ready to Take that First Step?

Below are some ideas to hopefully inspire you and stir up those creative juices. You may want to select an item from the list below to use as a starting point. Remember these are just suggestions. If you do not find anything that piques your interest, please feel free to come up with a topic of your own. We look forward to hearing from you soon!

¨       What is your favorite recovery quote and why?

¨       What is your favorite spiritual principle and why?

¨       What does working the steps mean to you?

¨       Online meetings? Do these meetings work for you?

¨       How do you handle disruptions at your home group?

¨       What is your experience with children at meetings?

¨       How do you know it is God’s will?

¨       What does it mean to be responsible and productive in NA and in society? Is being productive and responsible synonymous with being boring?

¨       How do you develop healthy intimate relationships?

¨       How does your gratitude speak?

¨       How do you continue to make amends? Are you ever finished making amends?

¨       Are there any other requirements for membership?

¨       Rigidity: How did you learn to lighten up?

¨       Holiday or vacation report—“When I went to a meeting in Paris…” etc.

¨       Service positions you can do in your pajamas?

¨       NA in your community…worldwide is cross-town; i.e., what it means to recover in your community.

¨       Ask an old-timer and/or ask a newcomer. What is it like to be new to recovery? What do you do differently after staying clean for many years?

¨       Why do you go to conventions, learning days, dances, or other NA-related events?

Helpful Writers’ Tips

Today we live in a “sound bite” and “bullet point” society where information is rapidly fired out across the Internet, television, radio, and the printed word. In recent years, many of us have become used to digesting large amounts of news and facts in a blink of an eye. So it is little wonder that we tend to lose focus when reading anything longer than three or four paragraphs. Our hope with these writers’ tips is to help you find your voice and keep the interest of the reader at the same time. Please let us know if you have other suggestions and/or tips that may be helpful.

¨     One of the most important things about writing is to remember that you will rarely write exactly what you want to say on the first try. Writing is really about rewriting and revising. Get all of your thoughts down first and then worry about making those words paint a picture.

¨     Try to be as clear and to the point as possible. “Keep it simple” is an excellent principle to embrace!

¨      We suggest sharing from the “I” perspective (personal experience), rather than the “you,” which oftentimes can sound pedantic (“teach-y”) or condescending.

¨      Write about one topic per paragraph.

¨     Avoid trying to fit too much information or background explanation in your first few opening paragraphs. You want to build the reader’s interest so that he or she will want to continue reading.

¨     Avoid using acronyms, jargon, or colloquialisms without explanations. Try to keep in mind that the magazine is read by members worldwide and is published in four other languages besides English, so that while something—such as HMO—may be quite familiar in the US, a member in Spain or Japan or New Zealand will probably not understand what you are sharing. If you must use acronyms or colloquialisms, offer definitions either directly after the word or as an endnote after your article.

 The following suggestions are taken from the Basic Text solicitation but can be applied to writing for The NA Way Magazine as well.

¨       Try saying what you are saying in different ways. For instance, you could write,

I really wanted to use, or

When I drove past the corner, I was gripping the steering wheel so hard, I left nail marks in the vinyl.

Sometimes it is not what you say, but how you say it that gets the message across.

¨       Try playing with the order of your writing: What happens if you start in the middle? What happens if you tell “the end” first? And so on.

¨       Put us in your shoes. Do not just tell us how you felt; describe the things that made you feel that way. Paint us a picture. For instance, you could write:

I was grieving, or

All of the colors were gone, and it seemed impossible to get out of my pajamas, go to a meeting, or even make toast.

¨       Write in the language you use, not in the voice you imagine an “author” should have. You are writing about what you have been through. Make it as important for your reader as it was for you. Make it stand out. Make it live.

A visual presentation of an exercise about what makes a great story (PDF)