Monthly. That word strikes fear into my heart like almost no other does at the moment.

The Past

Let's go back in history a bit. For some strange reason - actually, it was because I wanted to fill what was at the time a wide open niche - I decided to start The Shadowrun Supplemental in early 1997. I was still in school and had tons of free time. Six issues came out within the first 11 months, and the magazine rocked along until the summer of 1998.

Crazy stuff happened in 1998. I graduated. I got a job. Shadowrun Third Edition came out. In early 1999 - twenty-three months after issue #1 came out, issue #9 came out. Not quite bi-monthly like the original plan, but still doing pretty well, in my estimation. Twenty-four months after issue #9, in early 2001, issue #13 was released. Not so good. Matter of fact, pretty damned lousy, in my opinion.

There comes a time when you have to make changes to stay alive. Obviously, while publishing on an irregular schedule is quite easy on the Internet, it's not always the best way to go. Mainly, it's no good for the readers - you don.t know when an issue is coming out, so you can't schedule your visits to the web-page. Your have to rely on word-of-mouth - press releases, message board postings, or something like that when a new issue comes out. The irregular schedule is also bad for me as an editor - it means less motivation to work on the magazine, fewer submissions from readers, and it makes it easier to push the release date back.

The Future

So, starting with this issue - #14 - The Shadowrun Supplemental officially moves from a quarterly schedule to a monthly one. We won't be producing 12 issues a year, though - we'll be releasing 10 issues. August is a designated "month off", due to the convention season, and we'll also take one other month off during the year, which we'll schedule as necessary
to work around our real life.

We're also shifting formats a little bit, and working more to emulate other popular online magazines in form and presentation. The HTML (web based) version will no longer be the bastard stepchild, but will actually be released before or at the same time as the PDF version.

What does this mean for you people, the readers? Well, first of all - and most importantly - it means that you'll be getting issues on a more regular and frequent basis! We.ll be able to cover news in the Shadowrun world, along with product releases and plot flow, in a much more timely manner than in the past. Second, it means that those of you who submit items will get a quicker response from the editors and will see your article in an issue much sooner. I won't deny that the new schedule means that we need more submissions from readers, so please, if you have stuff lying around that you think may fit in the magazine, or if you feel inspired to write, please take a look at the Submission Guidelines.

The other main concern is that each issue will probably be a little smaller. For the next few issues we'll be aiming to provide two Feature Articles, plus two of our Regular Columns, reviews as appropriate in SwiftOne Speaks, and of course an Editorial Verbiage from myself. There will also be some columns that will appear on an irregular basis, and we'll be accepting submissions for them. The details on two new columns are included below. A full list of the columns is available at http://tss.dumpshock.com/issue.html

The Staff

When I say 'we', I mean it. Because possibly the most exciting part of this revamp for me is that I'm bringing aboard a new staff member to assist me, and perhaps one more in the near future. Stepping up to the task of Assistant Editor is Elissa Carey, freelance author (Corporate Punishement, Target: Matrix, Year of the Comet, and more on the way). She's from Delaware ("Or imagine being whisked away to... Delaware. 'Hi, I'm in Delaware'"). She's responsible for helping me pick out articles and doing the nitty-gritty text editing. You can reach us via email at tss@dumpshock.com.

New Columns

Tai’s Magical Goodies

Originally a sub-section of The Cluttered Datastore, this is the home of magical items of all sorts, from spells
to adept powers to totems to other magical items. Tai's Magical Goodies is open to submissions from anyone.

Datasteal

A new column for reviewing non-Shadowrun gaming material, for the purpose of showing how it can relate to Shadowrun and be used in a Shadowrun campaign. An example review could cover the GURPS supplement GURPS Bio-Tech - including a basic summary, how well it meshes with current Shadowrun technology, and how much could be converted to Shadowrun. Like most reviews, it should conclude with a final opinion - is this book a worthwhile purchase to use primarily as a Shadowrun resource?

Submission Guidelines

Our submission guidelines are also available on the web at http://tss.dumpshock.com/guidelines.html

General Guidelines

The following guidelines apply for both written and artistic submissions. All submissions and submission inquiries should be sent by email to tss@dumpshock.com

1. All submissions should relate to Shadowrun in some way. Submissions that fit more generally in the 'cyberpunk' genre may also be accepted, but submissions that are oriented toward other cyberpunk genre roleplaying games are probably better submitted to a magazine or website devoted to them. We prefer that submissions are 'original' to The Shadowrun Supplemental - that is, that they haven't seen widespread distribution on another website already. We're flexible, though - if an article has been posted to a message board or mailing list so you can gather feedback on it, that's generally fine. When in doubt, ask us!
2. You must be the legal owner of the work to submit something, and you remain responsible for your work.
3. You retain all copyright to your material, but grant The Shadowrun Supplemental the right to edit your work before publication, and perpetual online rights to publish your work online and to edit/update it as necessary. You may republish any such material online, but we appreciate it if you give credit and provide a link to The Shadowrun Supplemental as the original place of publication.
4. All submissions should include the author's email address and real name. Neither of them need to be published, but we need to have them. If you wish to have your email address suppressed or your work credited to a handle, include that information in your email message.
5. No payment or compensation is available (unfortunately) for authors or artists.
6. All authors and artists should recieve an email within 7 days about the status of the article. If you do not recieve a reply within 14 days please send a follow-up email to us.

Written Submissions

1. All submissions should be sent by email - please put '[SUBMISSION] Name of Submission' in the
   subject line of your email. For example:'[SUBMISSION] Firearm Prices the Sensible Way'.
2. Submissions should be either included in the body of the email message, or attached as a .RTF, .DOC,
   or .TXT file. If you are unable to send a file in these formats, please email to ask for further instructions. If
   you have graphics that belong with the article - such as maps or character illustrations, please see the Art
   Submission guidelines.
3. Please keep formatting to your documents minimal - bold, italics, and simple tables are fine and is generally all that's necessary.
4. If possible, please follow our Style Sheet, available at http://tss.dumpshock.com/style.html
   

Art Submissions

1. All submissions should be sent by email - please put '[ART SUBMISSION] Name of Submission' in the subject line of your email. For example: '[ART SUBMISSION] Resturant Maps'.
2. All forms of artwork are acceptable - hand drawn, computer generated, computer modified photographs, etc.
3. Images should be in at least 300DPI format, 150 minimum. .TIF format is preferred, but .GIF, .JPG, and .BMP are all acceptable. Please email to ask about other formats.
4. All graphics must include the artist's signature or other defining mark.

The Wantlist

Some semi-specific things that we would like to see submitted for future issues of The Shadowrun Supplemental include:

• Places to Go, People to See - We're eagerly looking for more NPCs and Locations to fill out this column.
• Tai's Magical Goodies - Our new/revived Magic column, home for spells, adept powers, totems, and other magical mayhem!
• Organizations - gangs, smugglers, initiatory groups, policlubs.
• Adventures - short adventures, especially focusing on Year of the Comet events.