20One Stories about THE SOUL

20One Magazine, the online periodical I founded with friends, will have its first anniversary in January. Here is what we have planned:

20One Stories about THE SOUL – An E-Book-Project for Young Journalists

About us

When we started our online magazine http://20onemagazine.com/ last year we had a long debate about what to write about, how to call the magazine or blog, how often we would like to publish texts… and so on. Since we are all working professionals who dedicate their spare time to writing (without earning any money with it) we decided not to have a tight schedule and to allow our authors to write about every topic currently spinning around in their heads.

There are many topics that sadly never find a platform in traditional media – because they are too far away from the mainstream, to complicated or not in common interest.

And that was the guideline we could all agree to: We do not want to make simple news, we do not want to write about things every newspaper at least shortly reports on. We want to make journalism close to our hearts, our souls – about people who moved us, discussions that infuriate us and complicated science topics we think people might like to know something about.

About the project

For our first anniversary we decided to publish a short e-book with exactly 21 (guess why) stories about the soul. And for that we want to animate young journalists to participate. Send in your stories and we will choose the best 21 of them and publish them in a professionally made e-book.

What does the “soul” mean to you?

You can write about everything you like as long as you can draw a connection to that word, might it be a religious approach or a piece about soul music. Or simply a current addiction to a book, music, theatre, science… what ever it might be that moves your soul.

Send in your article until 20 December 2013 to take part in the competition. Sadly all we can offer you is a platform and no money (explanation above and below).

For any questions about what you have to do and what to expect of the competition, read the Q&A below or write us an e-mail: 20onemagazine@gmx.de

About the idea

To know why we decided that the stories should be based on the term “soul” you can have a look at what we wrote a year ago when we decided to publish our online magazine.

“In 1901 Duncan MacDougall, a physician in Haverhill, Massachusetts had the idea for a rather strange scientific experiment: He wanted to prove the existence of the human soul. And because he believed that the human soul must have a mass, he started to measure the weight of the soul. He chose six patients from an old-age home dying from tuberculosis for it was rather easy to determine the hour of their death. He placed them – apparently still resting in their beds – on a sensitive industrial scale. Whilst dying the six people actually lost weight: In average 21 grams. But for MacDougall that was not enough: Later on he experimented on dogs – with negative results, because when the dogs died the weight of their body did not change at all. MacDougall declared that he now could finally proof two things: Dogs had no soul! And the human soul had the average mass of 21 grams!

21 or 20One is the name of this magazine, not because we fancy strange experiments but because we believe that every good author puts part of his soul into his work. Our texts have 20One grams more than simple, soulless news: Our authors will give their opinion, make clear their intentions and show their emotions. Our stories are based on research and facts, but we will not hide ourselves behind them.

Media and journalism always claim objectivity – but it is a false one. Even if we try not to judge or to take sides in our texts, films and radio reports: We do. We choose our interview partners, we research and weigh the information and we constantly make decisions – decisions that may change the way topics are covered in the media. We might not do it out of bad intentions, we might not cause harm with it: But speaking of objectivity in the media is a lie nonetheless.

20One Magazine does not stand for soulless news but for heartfelt journalism.”

Q&A

What we can offer

A platform to publish especially if you are new to journalism, professional advice, contacts to experts and all the help you might need to write a good article.

What we cannot offer

Sadly we can’t pay you any money for your writing even though every author deserves it. 20One Magazine is our vanity project and hobby and an attempt to promote new forms of journalism, to give space for topics traditional media normally ignore. We write, but we do not earn any money with the project. Since we attempt to create a form of free and community based journalism we do not earn any money with the project at all and therefore simply do not have the funds. Sorry!

How to participate

Send in your draft, if you like some feedback first. We are there to help you write your story, assist with the research and give feedback during the process.

Every story that should become part of the e-book must be finished and sent in by 20 December 2013. We will read all of your texts and choose the best 21 stories to become part of our e-book.

Send in via e-mail: 20onemagazine@gmx.de

When will the e-book be available?

The e-book will be online on 15 January 2014, the date of our anniversary

How much does it cost?

The e-book will be free to download. We want to promote our and your work and not earn a lot of money with it.

Do I have to write in English?

Since most of our authors aren’t native speakers we know how hard it is to write in English, but since corrections will be a bit too difficult if everyone is writing in his or her mother tongue we have to insist on English texts. But do not worry: Every text will be proofread twice to eliminate at least the worst mistakes.

What if my story is not chosen?

You will get feedback why we did not include your story and tell you what to do to make your story better. If you like you can revise the text and send it in again. We will publish all other texts (who fit to a certain standard) on our blog. Maybe your text is good already but others were a tiny little bit better and we had to exclude you because our limit is 21 stories. In that case we will ask you directly if it is okay with you that we publish your article on our website.

Do I still have the right to use my text for other purposes?

Of course. When sending in your text you approve that we can use it to be published in our e-book. What you do afterwards is your choice. Just make sure not to publish the text on any other media that insists on exclusive text rights, because than we (and you) might later get problems with the e-book-publication. If you for example publish the article on your own blog we will be grateful if you link the text to our online magazine and/or the e-book. That’s not a must do but we would really appreciate your help with getting our work known.