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The Syracuse New Times offers provocative, credible journalism, progressive thinking and edgy arts coverage. Our audience is devoted to our publication, the fourth-oldest alternative weekly in the country, and read us cover-to-cover. With 30 full-time staff and up to a dozen freelance contributors, The New Times produces 52 issues and more than 25 special sections per year. Active in the local community, The New Times sponsors or contributes to more than 100 charities. Many of our staff are involved in festival planning and are on committees or activist groups such as the Syracuse Ad Club, The Syracuse Chamber of Commerce and 40 Below. Every year more than half the editorial matter published in the Syracuse New Times comes from people not on our full-time staff. Cover stories, interviews, What's Shakin' items, arts and entertainment features, sports stories, book reviews and cartoons are all occasionally generated by free-lancers. It's fair to say The New Times would have a tough time surviving without them. As a result, we look forward to reading, editing and eventually publishing free-lance material. This being said, you should be aware that for every 10 unsolicited manuscripts we receive, only one is likely to be published in The New Times. To ensure that you waste neither our time nor yours, here are some guidelines. Generally speaking, what most impresses us is thoughtful, clear writing. The subject matter is almost secondary. It is crucial that the piece be lively, interesting and appealing to the uninterested readerin the way that a well-written piece on boxing can appeal to a reader who hates the subject. We tend to avoid journalism that is abstract and generalized, and to favor writing that deals with specifics and, in doing so, suggests the universal. We generally turn down stories written in the first person. With good writing of paramount importance, we then give preference to the stories that fit our format. Take a look at a recent copy of New Times to see what we make room for and what we don't really have. Cover stories are often news stories or features of considerable length. The What's Shakin' section is shorter, newsier items, the back of the book contains art and entertainment section contains art and entertainment stories, books, features, human interest pieces, food and lifestyle articles and reviews. Since The New Times is a Syracuse newspaper, we generally run stories that are about the metropolitan area, or at least are relevant to Central New York readers. Now that we've laid down the rules, remember that rules are made to be broken. A story, no matter how it may deviate from these guidelines, may be published in The New Times if it is well written and strikes our fancy.