Submit work and our rules

The Spectrum is a magazine written for and by autistic people and we are always looking for new contributors. Whether you have an article, piece of artwork or a poem you would like to be considered for inclusion, please send it in and it could appear in a subsequent issue.

How do I submit work to the Spectrum magazine?

Please send all submissions via email to the.Spectrum@nas.org.uk

Or by post to:

The Spectrum,
c/o The National Autistic Society,
393 City Road,
London,
EC1V 1NG

(c) 2021 National Autistic Society (NAS) - All Rights Reserved

The National Autistic Society administers all intellectual property rights on behalf of the authors and copyright owners. Content may not be reproduced for commercial gain, nor for any other reason without the explicit consent of the copyright owner for any other. Where authors are credited, only their first name is published, unless an individual contributor has expressly asked that their full name be used. Contributions may have been edited in order to fit the space available, as well as for privacy and other reasons. The views expressed by contributors are not necessarily those of the National Autistic Society or of anyone associated with the charity.

We look forward to reading and enjoying your work. For a list of our complete submission rules, please check out the Spectrum rules below.

The rules of the Spectrum magazine

1

The Spectrum is funded by the National Autistic Society through readers’ donations and subscriptions. Although it was called “Asperger United” it aims to be for the whole of the (reading) autism spectrum. That is, the concerns and joys of any autistic subscriber can be printed.

2

You can sign up for an email notifying you whenever a new edition of the Spectrum is posted on the webpage above. Email the.Spectrum@nas.org.uk for the notiﬁcation by email and please include your full name, postcode and let us know whether you want to subscribe to the paid paper edition too.

3

If you want to unsubscribe from the paper version, inform the Spectrum and include your postal address. Or to unsubscribe from the email notiﬁcation, include your email address.

4

If you want to resubscribe (or subscribe for the ﬁrst time) inform the Spectrum and include your postal address and fee (for the paper version) or email address (for the email notiﬁcation).

5

Book reviews are the most popular thing in the Spectrum, please consider submitting one. They can be about any book, not just books about autism. Also, they do not have to be short (the Goth keeps most of his reviews short to leave more space for other writers). If you do not want your review to appear in other publicity by the National Autistic Society about that book, please make this clear.

6

The Spectrum is quarterly, published in January, April, July and October. If you do not receive a copy when you expect to, please contact the magazine.

7

Pieces that appear in the Spectrum are credited using the author’s ﬁrst name only, unless the author requests something different. This is done to protect your privacy.

8

The Spectrum administers the copyright of everything that appears and it does this on behalf of the authors.

9

The National Autistic Society would like to keep in touch with you about our services, support, events, campaigns and fundraising. If you want to hear from us, you can register on our website. The National Autistic Society will only contact you in the ways you want.

10

If you subscribe to the paper edition and move house, please inform the Spectrum and include your old address as well as your new address. Even if you’ve paid for the Royal Mail forwarding service (or another forwarding service), you still need to inform the Spectrum that you have moved address.

11

The current edition of the Spectrum is available online at: www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/the-spectrum. You can download a PDF of the latest edition by following the 'Download current issue' link in the intro.

12

You do not have to be a member of the National Autistic Society to subscribe to the Spectrum.

13

If you phone and leave a message on the machine, please speak slowly and clearly and spell uncommon words, as the line isn’t very clear. Please give any phone number you leave twice for the same reason. Remember to give your postal address so that we can ﬁnd your record.

14

Although each issue is themed, submissions on any subject are welcome. Only some of the letters and articles in each issue will follow the theme. All submissions may be edited, especially for privacy, libel, and for ﬁtting the space available.

Hobbies and other things that fill your free time.

Vote with your contributions: the more submissions on a subject sent in (from different people) the more likely that that subject will be the theme. Writing on any subject is still welcome as are ideas for new themes, and artwork. Remember, if you want to see different content in the Spectrum, the best way to change it is to send something in!

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Calling all contributors!

We want to share the amazing archive of autistic prose, poetry and art that is the Spectrum magazine. If anyone who contributed to the magazine doesn’t want their work to be reproduced, please email us at content@nas.org.uk and we will remove it.

Subscribe to the paper magazine

A subscription will pay for four issues of the Spectrum magazine, delivered straight to your door. Visit our online shop to order your subscription today.