EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENCE
Correspondence and responses
We appreciate your correspondence. Owing to the large volume of mail we receive, we may be unable to reply at great length, but please be assured that every submission will be acknowledged, read, and carefully considered.
General guidelines
• Correspondence should include the sender's name and complete postal mailing address.
• Submissions should be in a plain text format, sent in an e-mail message, without attachments.
• Do not include special characters, tabs, formatted tables, diagrams from another application, etc.
• Avoid using suit pips (in diagrams please use SHDC; in text, write out the words).
• Place South as declarer and to the left in bidding diagrams.
• If you need to include an in-line comment or note to the editor which is not part of the article, please use [[[three brackets]]] to denote such content.
• Payments for accepted articles are moderate, not munificent.
Requirements to be considered for publication
• Articles must be new material not submitted elsewhere.
• The author must be offering to sell all rights to the material.
• Content should be compatible with our audience; please be familiar with The Bridge World prior to submitting.
• When the content is a new idea or highly-technical material, shorter is better.
• Comments on (or extensions of) previously-published material are usually best suited to letters to the Editor (see below).
To submit a letter to the Editor
Review the guidelines and requirements above, put "Letter to the Editor" in the subject line, and begin your text with "To The Editor:"
To submit an article, problem, deal, etc.
Review the guidelines and requirements above, put "Article submission" or "Problem submission," etc. in the subject line.
To suggest a problem for the Master Solvers' Club or Challenge The Champs
Please review all of the guidelines and requirements above.
When writing, please indicate "MSC suggestion" or "CTC suggestion" in the subject line.
Include all facts necessary to the problem, including form of bridge and vulnerability. It is helpful if other information (such as setting or anecdote) is kept separate from the problem itself.
Please begin with what is necessary, with comments or discussion placed later. Neatness and compactness are virtues!
Tips for submitting MSC or CTC problems
Problem suggestions are often used, and are always appreciated.
Although problem selection for the MSC or CTC is sometimes a matter of the taste of the selection committee, there are some objective guidelines: We tend to shy away from freak distributions. We avoid auctions in which North-South make use of a non-standard convention, or take some early action so questionable that many will object. Our standards are lower for East-West--opponents are expected to bid peculiarly, bless 'em; however, a really weird East-West auction could discourage us from picking the problem. The fresher the theme, the fewer similar problems we have had in the past, the more likely we are to use it. A problem whose only point is that it has no good answer (e.g., an opponent opens with five clubs, and you hold . . . ) is unlikely to appear. The more reasonable answers there are to a problem, the better--we seldom use problems that have only two possible solutions (the main purpose of the MSC is to stimulate discussion among the experts). And we try our best to avoid problems for which a large majority of panelists or solvers will produce the same answer.
We are very selective about MSC problems--only around one in 30 submissions eventually finds its way into print. A higher percentage of submissions for Challenge the Champs are accepted, yet still only around 15 percent. Here, we look for three prime qualities: It must be clear to us what the best contract is; there must be some difficulty in reaching that contract; and there must be a fighting chance of getting to it. Submitters should check these criteria in their potential submissions. Challenge the Champs deals sent in by readers run about 80 percent to slams, so we are limited in how many of those we can use. Interesting game contracts, and partscores of any interest at all, are favorites to be accepted.
How can I help The Bridge World?
Participate in Bridge World features (by entering contests, sending potential problems, telling us about interesting deals or analyses, sending new ideas, and telling us your preferences regarding magazine content), get your friends to subscribe (or give them gift subscriptions), renew your subscription promptly, and patronize our book store.
To send correspondence to the Editorial Department
Please review the all of the guidelines and requirements on this page, and then click here to contact the editorial department.
(If you have a question regarding a subscription, please visit Subscriber Services.)
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Please note that we respond to all inquiries; our response time is generally within 2-3 business days. If you have not received a response from us, please check your e-mail systems junk/spam box and change the settings appropriately.