Narrowboat Magazine

Scope of the Magazine

NarrowBoat – The Inland Waterways Heritage Magazine – is a magazine for inland waterway enthusiasts, with special emphasis on historical and heritage subjects. It is published quarterly by Waterways World Ltd, based at Burton-on-Trent. NarrowBoat publishes news, photographs and illustrated articles on all aspects of the history and heritage of Britain’s inland waterways. The emphasis is on well-researched articles on topics of major importance, accompanied by shorter articles based on new research, detailed interpretation of old photographs, preservation of the inland waterways’ existing heritage, museum and archive development, as well as readers’ views and questions.

Preparation & Submission of Material

Articles for publication should be typed, on one side of A4 paper only, with double spacing between lines and good margins at either side. All manuscripts and photographs should bear the author’s name and address and return postage should be sent with uncommissioned material. If illustrations are available these should be sent at the same time as the article. We cannot normally consider for publication material which has been simultaneously offered to, is under consideration by, or has been previously published in, other national magazines. Retention of uncommissioned material does not necessarily imply acceptance for publication. Manuscripts cannot be returned after publication.

Articles should be submitted by email or on disc, in addition to a copy printed as above. NarrowBoat uses Word and Quark XPress on Apple Macs, but we can translate from almost any word processing program. If in doubt, also send the file in Rich Text Format (RTF) or, failing that, as an ASCII (text only) file. If the article is not available on disc, it is not a problem, but it helps if you advise us when writing. When a major feature or large-scale research is anticipated, a preliminary letter to the Editor outlining the proposed article will be mutually beneficial.

Material should be submitted to: Hugh Potter, Editor, NarrowBoat, Bankfield, Chase Road, Ambergate, Belper DE56 2HA (01773 850134) or hugh.potter@wwonline.co.uk.

Illustrations

Illustrations can be submitted as original material, prints, slides or digitally. In general it is preferable to submit the material in its original format, ie do not scan prints or slides but send the originals. Photographs are returned after publication.

Transparencies should be originals not duplicates, and must be clearly labelled with a brief caption and the photographer’s name and postcode (and address if possible).

Black & white or colour prints (preferably gloss not matt) should bear a caption and the photographer’s name and address on the reverse (use labels or OHP pens). Computer-generated inkjet prints are not acceptable, other than for identification of digital files.

Digital images can be sent on disc or by e-mail. If the images were taken on a digital camera, the original file is preferred and they must be at least 300dpi at the size at which they are to be published. As examples, a 2.1 megapixel image can be reproduced at a maximum size of 135mm x 100mm (5in x 3in) and a 3.3 megapixel image at 170mm x 130mm (6in x 4in). Do not embed pictures into Word documents. When sending images on CD please also send labelled thumbnails for identification.

Maps or diagrams should accompany articles where appropriate. These need be no more than rough sketches as they can be redrawn in-house.

When material offered for publication is not the copyright of the contributor, approval to publish such material in NarrowBoat must be obtained from the copyright holder concerned before submission. It will be assumed that such approval has been obtained when photographs which are the copyright of a third party accompany an article submitted for publication. Unless otherwise indicated, these will be credited to the third party if published.

Letters & Questions

NarrowBoat welcomes letters and queries from readers, which may be submitted in any of the above formats. Letters are published at the discretion of the Editor, who reserves the right to abbreviate when necessary. We do not normally publish anonymous letters, and no letter will be published if the sender’s name and address is not supplied (although full addresses are not normally published). Photographs are also published in these columns. We are under no obligation to publish letters and where several are received on the same subject, the Editor will publish those which, in his opinion, are the most interesting and varied.

Poetry & Fiction

We do not publish poetry or fiction.

Payment

Payment is made to contributors of news items, feature articles, photographs and drawings published in NarrowBoat. No payment is made for material published in the letters or readers’ enquiries pages. Contributors of feature articles are sent an advance copy of the magazine as soon as it arrives from our printers. Payment is made by cheque after publication and is based on the length of the published article and the number of supplied illustrations used. Payment for illustrations is based on the size of the published photographs or drawings. The reproduction fee for photographs supplied from a third party is the responsibility of the contributor concerned unless otherwise agreed.

Copyright

Payment is made for the right to publish the contributor’s material in NarrowBoat, but the copyright normally remains with the contributor. Material first published in NarrowBoat may not, however, be reproduced elsewhere without the agreement of Waterways World Ltd and an appropriate acknowledgement made to NarrowBoat.

Articles should include an indication of the sources used in their compilation, although this may not be for publication. Detailed annotated references are not published. Articles which include original research are always preferred, and contributors are reminded that copying or paraphrasing extensive sections of modern publications may be considered plagiarism by the author(s) of those publications.

Loss or Damage

Whilst every care is taken of contributors’ property when in our possession, no responsibility can be accepted for accidental loss or damage.