From the Beginning

From the beginning humans have felt compelled to tell stories, to draw storied pictures and to shout cries of joy or sorrow. In that compulsion nothing has changed except the vehicle of transmission.

Although recording of these creative efforts has gone from drawing on scrolls to printing on paper to posting on electronic format, the urge to write and be read is still there.

Canadian Stories

Some of us have been fortunate to be at the right place at the right time. It has been possible to collect and collate contributions from Canadian writers for the last 16 years and disseminate them to subscribers in printed form. The magazine is called CANADIAN STORIES, published by The Gentle Edge Publishing Co. Ltd. See www.canadianstories.net. Now we are embarking on the next step.

Story Quilt

Story Quilt is an all-electronic magazine to begin 2015 with the goal to collect stories, and poems, and art for the relaxed entertainment of all readers world-wide. Initially the contributions will mainly come from Canada but with time we hope to welcome submissions from any country in English.

The emphasis will be on stories. Stories can be told in many ways: “True” format using personal experiences or true facts from known sources, or “Fiction” based on facts, or “Pure Fiction, or “Art” as in artist’s creations either in black and white or colour, or Photography, or Applied Arts as in quilts, or in Videos, or in Music, or in any combination of the above. Suitable essays and novellas may also be considered.

Quality

The quality of the written word or created art is truly in the eye of the beholder. The English used and the spelling and grammar will be Canadian which has evolved from British and influenced by American usage. The English language is a fluid entity and changes with time. Likewise with art. We will depend on the associate editors to keep the gate and decide.

Editors

Guidelines

There will be no violence accepted in these contributions as judged by the associate editors. No sexual nuances, no racism, no vulgar vocabulary, no politics, no religion, no exploitation stories, and no hero worship. But we do want to see happy, energetic, creative, challenging, intriguing and unique material. Examples in www.canadianstories.net may help to define the content of Story Quilt.

[2026 Addition:]

Note: the canadianstories.net website and print magazine ceased to exist after Ed passed away.

How We Interpret These Guidelines

Story Quilt is intended to be enjoyable and welcoming to a broad readership. Violence, sexual content, racism, politics, religion and exploitation should therefore not be the principal subject or purpose of a submission.

Their mere presence does not automatically make a submission unacceptable. Sometimes sensitive subjects are naturally part of a character, memory, setting or plot. Editors may accept such material when it is handled with restraint and serves the larger story.

Story Quilt is looking for creative contributions that communicate something through experience, imagination or observation, rather than articles whose primary purpose is to explain, review, persuade or advocate.

Essays rooted in personal experiences or memories may therefore be a good fit, particularly when the writer's own experience forms an important part of the piece. Straight book reviews, academic essays, political commentary, opinion pieces and similar informational or argumentative articles generally are not.

Story Quilt also does not publish material whose principal purpose is hero worship, promotion, advertising or advocacy.

The final decision rests with the Story Quilt editors, who will consider both the individual submission and its suitability for Story Quilt's readership.

[End of 2026 Addition]

All submissions will be added to the Story Quilt website in Approval Pending mode. The Associate Editor will judge whether the contribution is suitable for Story Quilt, and the webmaster will correspond with the submitter about approval or rejection of their submissions. If major edits are required we will contact the author with suggestions; minor edits like punctuation will be implemented without further communication with the author. The Managing Editor has the final say whether submissions will be published in our online magazine.

All submitted material should be new and unpublished. Submissions sent simultaneously to other publications will not be accepted. Material already on other web sites should not be submitted.

The story or poem belongs to the writer. We did not buy the piece, so it belongs to the writer. We just want to be the FIRST to publish a story, but you are free to publish these stories elsewhere once they have appeared on Story Quilt.

By submitting your content to our magazine you also grant us the right to use part or all of it for our promotional purposes; this may include publishing (part) of it on our social media channels.

Fine Print

Each writer who submits a story, poem or other material (the Submission) for publication agrees with the Gentle Edge Publishing Company Limited and the Publisher that, in consideration of the publication of the Submission, the writer:

• confirms that he/she is the author of the Submission and has the right to submit it for publication,
• accepts full responsibility for the contents of the Submission,
• agrees to indemnify and save them harmless from any claim or liability arising from the publication of the Submission, and
• acknowledges that he/she will not be paid for the Submission.

The Plan

The plan is to group suitable contributions into units to be published bimonthly: January, March, May, July, September, November.

All contributions will be collected in an Archives section of Story Quilt available to all subscribers. Eventually a tone of calm easy reading from these contributions will evolve.

Subscriptions

Initially, Story Quilt will be free to access. After that it may be turned into a paid subscription.

 

These guidelines were created by co-founder Ed Janzen, when we started Story Quilt back in 2014. Ed passed away in 2023, and we keep running Story Quilt in his memory. Additional clarifications of these original guidelines were added in 2026, and are clearly marked as such.