General: The Black Seal is always seeking new submissions from talented writers and artists. More specifically, we're interested in material supporting the modern-day Call of Cthulhu RPG setting, which is the main focus of the magazine. The Black Seal supports both BRP and D20 systems. Submissions (where relevant) should include stats for one or both of these systems.

The Black Seal tends to run 'themed' issues, and whilst the first few will emphasise Europe as a setting - particularly the UK, Ireland and France - future issues will examine other settings around the globe. Initially however, material that is relevant to a European setting will have a better chance of publication.

Prospective contributors should also bear the following points in mind:

"It's Been Done Before...": The Black Seal is NOT the forum for:

• New Mythos monsters or gods - there are more than enough of these already!
• Scenarios and articles set in the 1920s
• Scenarios and articles set in the 1880/90s (Gaslight Cthulhu period)

"We'd Love to See...": Other topics potential authors and artists might want to consider are:

• New cults, or old cults revisited; the more imaginatively and artistically twisted the better
• Topical articles pertinent to Mythos investigations, i.e. what happens once you are arrested, the best B&E techniques, how to find a sixteenth century occult tome
• Inventive use of rule book monster, spells and books
• New Mythos books
• Imaginative Mythos and occult spells
• World War Two and the Cthulhu Mythos
• Background articles and scenarios set in Europe
• Background articles and scenarios set in Japan
• Background articles and scenarios set in Africa
• Background articles and scenarios set in South America

Legal: Legal ownership of material contributed to the Black Seal remains with the author/creator - although we would ask that you do not seek to republish elsewhere for a period of at least three months after publication in the Black Seal. Commercial and non-commercial distribution rights for your work also remain with you.

The Black Seal is a non-profit venture. Payment for publication is one copy of the magazine that the piece appeared in.

Article Guide: The Black Seal runs a number of different types of written work, which are outlined in more detail below:

• Feature Articles: The Black Seal prints articles on a variety of topics relevant to modern horror gaming. Past examples of articles include an overview of the UK's Mental Health Laws, a guide to Ley Lines and Megalithic Sites in Britain and a detailed look at PISCES operations in the United States. It is recommended that you contact the editor with a proposal for a feature article before submitting it. By their very nature feature articles vary in length, detail, and scope but should ideally fall somewhere between 5000 and 15000 words.
• Scenarios: The Black Seal is interested in Call of Cthulhu gaming scenarios set in the modern era. These should typically be between 5000 and 15000 words, and submissions should include maps and stats for any important NPCs, as well as creatures.
• Mythos Fiction: The Black Seal would like to include fiction but typically this work will be limited to one piece per issue, between 500-1000 words long. The Black Seal is a gaming magazine, and fiction submitted should take the form of scene setting or atmospherics. Selection of fiction for this section is at the editor's discretion and is wholly subjective -- if it turns the editor's crank in some way, it gets printed.
• Regular Columns: The Black Seal has several regular columns. These are:
  • 'Unusual Suspects' -- dealing with detailed NPCs and scenario seeds (1800-2000 words)
  • 'Dangerous Places' -- dealing with a geographic location linked to the Mythos with additional scenario seeds (1600-1800 words)
  • 'Green Box' -- gear, gadgets and weapons for the well-equipped investigator (150-250 words)
  • 'Reviews' -- of CoC and Horror RPG products, as well as relevant other-media subjects (500-1500 words, depending on subject)
• Occupation Templates: These are background information on specific organisations and associated investigator templates that could theoretically be drawn into a Mythos investigation. A Dept. of Social Security clerk is boring but a Benefit Fraud investigator isn't. See Pagan Publishing's Delta Green and Delta Green: Countdown supplements for examples. Ideally the templates should be for British or Irish organisations but other countries, especially Europe, are also acceptable. The ideal maximum word count for a template is 900-1000 words. The Black Seal has a stock pile of templates, please contact the editor before submitting as the template may already have been written.
• Tales of Terror: A Tale of Terror is a short scenario idea, originally developed by Steve Hatherley. These should be about 500 words. The format is to include an enticing and story-like introduction, much as it would be presented (in longer form) to the players. Then, under a heading of "Possibilities," present 3 different explanations of what is going on. This allows the Keeper to pick and choose, and find ideas for his or her own games. These are fairly simple to write, and depend entirely on your creativity to be effective. Tales of Terror should be short, scary, and to the point.

Format: For text pieces The Black Seal accepts submissions in electronic format, preferably Rich Text Format (.RTF). Plain text files (.TXT) are also acceptable. Please do not send unsolicited MS Word documents (.DOC); they will be deleted unread.

For artwork The Black Seal accepts electronic artwork in all major graphics package formats, although .TIFF is preferred. If submitting unsolicited artwork, please send thumbnails or an URL to an online gallery.

Please do not send files greater than 1 MB to the submission e-mail address. Instead please advise the editor that you have a large file and an alternative e-mail address will be supplied.

The e-mail address for submissions is subs@theblackseal.org
The general e-mail address is info@theblackseal.org