'As You Were' Journal Seeks Veterans' Art, Writing

Editors of "As You Were," a literary journal published by veterans- and arts-advocacy non-profit Military Experience & the Arts (M.E.A.), recently called for submissions of new fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and artwork. In 2014, the organization consolidated its annual fiction, non-fiction, and poetry journals into one quarterly publication. Scholarly articles will no longer be considered.

A fourth journal, titled "Blue Nostalgia," collects narratives related to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (P.T.S.D.), and continues under the original name. Guidelines and an on-line submissions tool for that publication are here.

The first issue of of "As You Were" is available free on-line here.

The organization's focus on educating and encouraging veterans toward publication continues, as evidenced by this description of its collaborative submissions process:

[...] When you submit prose for consideration, you will first be assigned a "reader" who will read your work, critique it, and provide you with guidance meant to help you meet the standards of your genre's managing editor. When you submit poetry, it will be blind-reviewed by the dozens of authors, educators, and veterans in our reader group. Artwork will be evaluated by our professional art historian and, if chosen for publication, included in an edited collection.

Elsewhere on the organization's website, editors continue the description:

When you submit work for consideration a member of our staff may critique it and provide you with guidance to meet the standards of our managing editors, or you may be invited to participate in an online workshop to develop your skills. While we can't promise you'll be published, we can guarantee that you won't be rejected outright and you'll receive some form of consultation. Our approach helps maintain quality standards while giving every contributor the opportunity to improve.

Formatting guidelines and editorial suggestions for "As You Were" are here and here. An on-line submissions tool is available here.

Military Experience & the Arts also plans a national symposium for military service members, veterans, educators, advocates, and others May 14-17, 2015 in Lawton, Okla. Its first such event was conducted in Richmond, Ky. in 2012.