If you have written an article that you feel meets our criteria but that has already been published elsewhere, feel free to submit it to us with a notation that you are offering us second rights. Photocopies of previously published articles are acceptable. And, according to current U.S. copyright law, unless you sold all rights to the previous publisher, neither you nor we need to request the first publisher for permission to reprint. The copyright reverted to you once the article appeared in the previous publication. Any time you can provide us with one or more sidebars that add information to the topic of your article, you enhance your chance of getting our attention.
Sidebars can vary in length from a short paragraph to a column.
Whatever their length, sidebars need to be part of the total word count of the article. We like the articles in Signs of the Times to have interest-grabbing introductions. One of the best ways to do this is with anecdotes, particularly those that have a bit of suspense or conflict. We find that it also helps to include one or two more anecdotes later in the article. Readers also like to know that someone who is an authority on the topic supports the author's point.