Call for Submissions for Issue # 2 - Submission Deadline is December 20th, 2013

[GrimFinger]

You know my point of view on this Grim, though I understand raising a discussion about it. Its a Gaming Magazine, so I find no harm having artwork from the games the magazine writes about; front page artwork included. As long as, several different games from several different companies pass from that position. Otherwise its biased, and none wants that or you are no longer an independent magazine.

Considering you are giving everyone a fair chance to have his artwork published however, I think you should use whatever resources you have available and that includes artwork, because at the end of the day

We want Suspense & Decision to be both entertaining and informative. We want it to be interesting. We want it to be fun.

Just trying to generate some discussion and feedback, and my personal preference (at least, at this juncture in time) is for the front cover of Suspense & Decision magazine to contain art, art generated more for visual interest, visual impact, and poking at the hobby and its many intricacies, rather than to showcase a particular game within the hobby, per se. After all, that's what they make (or should be making) advertisements for, in my considered opinion.

But, for the sake of this site having a forum, and being comprised largely of a forum presence, a separate and distinct interest exists to generate discussion here, beyond the pages of our magazine aspirations.

Additionally, generation of discussion in this forum may well provide fuel for the magazine, from time to time.

If I were to dedicate the front cover to particular games, as in effectively using the front cover as a highly visible advertisement for a particular game, then any approach along those lines would necessarily be with the understanding that no single game nor single game company would hog all of the front cover space, from issue to issue. I would rotate the games being advertised on the front cover, if I went that route. However, if I did ever go that route - which is exceptionally unlikely - I would likely only showcase a single game at a time on the front cover, and there would likely be a certain amount of time, issues-wise, before that same game would be featured on the front cover, again, in a future issue.

Now, with regard to ads in general, in a previous e-mail to me, the Mad Scientist admonished, "I'm working on some general submission guidelines, should be ready after the holiday. While I could have looked up the information (and for the advertisers listing at the end I did), I don't think we want to get into the habit of writing people's ad copy. There's an issue of personal responsibility, and for some reason I can't fathom they may have wanted it that way."

With Mark incorporating links directly into the PDF copy of the magazine, itself, Suspense & Decision should make it easier for readers to connect to games and companies being advertised within its pages, compared to many PBM magazines from bygone days.