Submission Guidelines

Emerging Civil War is open to submissions from our readership. Articles of varied length and photo essays are welcome. Please be advised that we DO NOT pay for any article submissions. We DO NOT pay if your submission is published on the site. Emerging Civil War is 100% non-profit. We do offer to promote you and your work to the best of our ability, while offering an outlet to explore new ideas and improve as a writer/historian.

We are looking to establish long-term relationships with writers who conduct excellent research and provide a fresh look at an old subject. Any articles that the author submits should offer a new interpretation of or newly discovered information on significant events.

Guest submissions are subjected to a blind peer review process. Members of our editorial board, whose identities are kept anonymous, read and comment on posts. However, they do not necessarily offer a simple up-or-down judgment. In keeping with our mission to provide a platform for emerging voices, our board sees its role as a developmental entity. The board’s general approach is to try and find a way their way to “yes.” This often involves several rounds of revisions based on feedback provided by the board. While there is no guarantee of publication, if an author is willing to put in the time and make a good-faith effort at incorporating feedback, the board is willing to continue helping authors develop pieces.

Word count should be in the 800-1500 range for consideration. Please submit guest posts as Word Document attachments by email to emergingcivilwar@gmail.com with “Guest Post Submission” in the subject line.

Authors will receive an e-mail acknowledgment when their submission has been received. The review process may take up to two/three weeks. Once the process is complete, an editor will contact the author to report the outcome. Just because you submit an article does not mean we will post the article. If your writing is accepted for publication, you will be asked to sign a form stating that the article is your own work and allowing Emerging Civil War to retain first digital rights.

To be considered for authorship, please keep in mind the following guidelines:

• Any and all topics on the broadly-defined Civil War era are welcome (battles, Reconstruction, memory, homefront etc…)
• If submitting a proposal, be specific about what your article will focus on. Include an outline of the story idea and a professional biography.
• All articles should be no more than 1,500 words (including notations or bibliography).
• All works must contain footnotes or endnotes in either Chicago or MLA format or a section citing works referenced.
• All work must be original by the submitting author.
• Articles should not be of a general nature but should be written to be enjoyed by a general audience.
• Articles should have strong leads. The first few paragraphs must capture readers, hold on to them, and then propel them into a story.
• Article submissions must contain an author’s brief professional biography.
• Submissions are subject to modification and editorial board review, with the editors having final approval.
• Previously published work may be considered as long as the author owns the copyright. Previously published submissions must be identified as such at the time of submission.
• We request authors send at least one image for use in the article, whether taken themselves, within public domain, or from elsewhere with clear publication permission. Any photos or photo essays should set the scene, showing specific items of interest as they relate to your narrative. They must come with captions and photo credits.
• Please submit all articles in a titled Word or Google Docs document (not PDF). Be sure to put the author’s name at the beginning of the piece.

Please Note: Occasionally, we run special blog series. You are welcome to submit an article on the topic, but unsolicited guest articles for a series are not guaranteed to be reviewed or published during the series. This is due to the high volume of editing involved in a blog series. If the article is accepted, we will feature it at a later time.

ECW is always open to considering new members. Interested authors should submit work within the usual blind peer-reviewed guest post process. The Editorial Board will review posts and offer comments for improvement and revision. After several posts are accepted by the Editorial Board and published, authors can be considered for official membership within ECW. Various criteria are used to impartially discuss potential members, and the Editorial Board encourages authors to consider submitting posts of varying lengths, unique approaches, and possibly a diversity of topics, especially if they are not often covered on the blog. Authors should express their interest to the Editorial Board after submission of multiple articles and will be asked to provide a cover letter later in the process if under consideration. Please email emergingcivilwar@gmail.com with any questions about the benefits and responsibilities of membership.

We do not accept unsolicited manuscripts or proposals for books in the Emerging Civil War Series, ECW’s collaborative series with Savas Beatie, LLC.

To submit a proposal for Engaging the Civil War, ECW’s collaborative series with Southern Illinois University Press, follow SIUP’s submission guidelines. However, rather than submit the proposals to the press, submit them to us here at emergingcivilwar@gmail.com.

If you have a recent book or article you would like to have reviewed, please contact Book Review Editor Tim Talbott at trtalbott@aol.com (ECW does not guarantee a review of unsolicited books, but we are happy to hear from authors and publishers.)

Accepted or requested books will be assigned to authors with expertise in the titles subject area. Books are reviewed on a first come first serve basis. Normally the review process can take up to 90 days.

A link to the published review will be sent to the publisher or author once it posts, provided we have received an email address.

We do not accept self-published books or fiction books for review.