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Do British SF/F magazines prefer/require submissions be in Queen's English?
I would think not, but I have many British friends here in Japan and there are often debates about which form of English is correct, English English or American English.
posted
British style English is correct in Great Britain and American style English is correct in the U. S. (Not in American since it is not necessarily correct in Canada)
A British publication is likely to want British spellings and terms. I've seen a few Australian publications say they would take either. If unsure, I'd inquire.
[This message has been edited by JeanneT (edited July 30, 2007).]
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By American English I meant US English, not North American.
I figured they would prefer it. I wonder how they would be about submissions with typos specific to the language differences.
I don't consider either one correct, simply different, but the differences have caused heated debates. Mainly because its origin is obviously England and that area, but here in Japan US-American English is predomiantly used.
I've been leary of submitting to the British mags for this reason. I wouldn't know how to change my writing into British spellings.
[This message has been edited by sakubun (edited July 30, 2007).]
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Most spell checkers do have the capacity to use multiple dictionaries. You can run a UK Dictionary to correct spelling errors between the dialects.
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I've found that British publishers translate American spellings and usages into Briticisms---something that irritates me no end when I run across it. In some cases, it can change meaning.
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posted
You have to be careful about phrases, too. Some phrases that are quite innocent in one culture mean something entirely different on the opposite side of the pond. The one that always comes to my mind is the phrase "knock her up" which, in England or Australia means "go visit her and knock on her door." In the US it means "make her pregnant."
And I think you can safely use the term "American English" and have people understand you mean "English as used in the United States." Those of us from the U.S. refer to ourselves as Americans, not as United Staters. Canadians are just that... Canadians. We all live in North America, not America. The comment that Canadians don't use American English is just that... I would error on the side of using British English spellings when applied to Canadians.
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I've heard that there are some Canadians (Quebecoise, anyone?) who don't use English at all if they can help it.
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Certain groups use things like this as a symptom of their nationalism, like the French-speaking Quebecois.
There's a post 'round here, a query about how to pronounce a word in Irish. Now Irish Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic, and Welsh all have somewhat unusual spellings and pronunciations and rules thereof, at least to an English speaker or reader. A lot of these apparently were chosen just to cheese off the English, to make it hard for English speakers to relate to the language. (In Wales, the natives often picked very long place names in Welsh that'd be hard to fit on street signs and railroad timetables.)
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You have to be careful about idiomatic expressions, as Elan pointed out, but otherwise I don't think they care very much if you use British or American spelling. (I always sub in British spelling, and no one has ever screamed at me).
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An Englishman, I spent nine years living in the US and now my command of English is, like, totally totally screwed man. As Elan and Silver3 said, not only are the spellings different, the word usage and idioms are different.
For example, the English enjoy fish and chips for dinner, but in America, that would be fish with fries -- as I found out recently when I asked for fries with my hamburger. "Rice?" the waitress asked, bemused.
In England the car has a bonnet and a boot, in America they're the hood and the trunk. You give someone a lift in England or a ride in the USA. That's if we're talking car journeys of course. If we're talking about ascending tall buildings, then the American elevator is a lift in England.
In America single women are surprisingly comfortable drinking alone in a bar. In England they're more reluctant for fear of being regarded as 'on the pull'; heaven knows what that might mean in America!
If your story has dialogue, Brits and Americans speak very differently. 'A pint of bitter please' becomes 'I'll take a beer please.' And while Brits have been known to use a little understatement from time to time, Americans don't.
JKR had to translate HP a bit for the American market. For example, I heard that the English 'pullover' had to become a 'sweater' in America.
All that said, I imagine SF audiences with their multi-galactic view of the universe are happy with either brand of English as long as it's consistent.
Interestingly, they say nothing about which dialect of English they want, but they do say this: "Please read a few recent issues of Interzone before you submit anything to us. Familiarizing yourself with the market is absolutely essential, but it's surprising how many people fail to do it. Unless you're a reader of a particular magazine (and this goes for any market), you're unlikley to have what it takes to become a successful writer for it."
I have a suspicion that it's far more important for the story to 'fit' the magazine than anything else. If it fits, getting it into the right brand of English ought to be comparatively easy, methinks. And if you take their advice and study a few issues, you'll soon figure out their language preferences.
Just a thought, Pat
[This message has been edited by TaleSpinner (edited August 09, 2007).]
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