Research presented in the magazine dedicated to the cultural aspects of traditional Japanese Rope Bondage. We aim to cherish the tradition without appropriating it.
The Kinbaku Society of Berlin
Purpose of the magazine
The Kinbaku Society of Berlin Magazine is an analog magazine honoring the Showa Era of Kinbaku and focussing on researching how we can transfer and adapt the ideas – and the mood – from that era into contemporary Kinbaku while most of the editorial team and contributors come from a non-Japanese cultural background.
The themes and topics touched upon in the magazine revolve around the darker aspects of our sexuality. We discuss kink, psychology, ethical pornography, and censorship, as well as our human desire to live despite knowing that suffering and death exist. We also research different concepts of beauty and how culture affects our perception of it.
More specifically, we are interested in the intersection of Kink or BDSM in Japan and elsewhere, in the context of performative arts and media production.
Technical Information
Magazine
Cover: U1 – U4, usually 240 g paper, foil laminated
Content: 64 or 80 pages (variable), usually 120 – 150 g paper, 4/4 colors, on both sides
Format: portrait 170×240 mm
Further processing: thread stitching (Fadenheftung)
Text
We accept text submissions in Word / Pages or as a Google Document.
Please inform us about the sizy of your submission in advance.
Full text magazine page consists of max. 3800 characters (with blanks) or 3227 (without blanks).
Half text magazine page consists of max. 1980 characters (with blanks) or 1640 (without blanks).
Headings are mandatory. Subheadings are advised. Also, quotations or main punch lines should be marked for use in the design.
Grammar and punctuation should be in the American or British style. Please run your text through www.grammarly.com or www.languagetool.org, selecting either American or British style, and let us know which style you’ve chosen. This will save our editors having to correct basic errors and typos.
Authors are invited to advise on visual material accompanying their submission, but the Editorial Board reserves the right to combine text contributions with visual material from diverse sources.
Visual Materials
Visual materials, such as photographs or hand drawings or illustrations must be big enough to cover a full 24 cm x 34 cm page (landscape) or 17 cm x 24 cm page (portrait) without loss.
Accepted format: PNG / JPG / TIFF
Resolution: minimum 300 dpi
A good indication is file size – we do not accept pictures with less than 2 MB.
Graphics and logos must be vectorized.
Accepted format: SVG / PDF / EPS / AI / PNG (Transparent)
Contributions and submissions
Whilst a contribution is initiated by the Editorial Board of a specific issue, we are also open for submissions that can be sent to us on your own initiative.
When we ask for a contribution we obviously want to have it in the magazine and usually this gives a certain guarantee that it really becomes part of the content.
There is no such guarantee for a submission. We usually pick one or two that fit into the magazine according to the editorial vision, and the needs of the issue in question.
We aim to keep the author’s artistic expression intact, but at the same time we need to make every contribution fit to the overall theme (and size!) of the specific magazine.
Text contributions must be fully edited according to this guideline (number of characters according to page count, language, format).
For some visual contributions we might feel the need to alter the material (crop, color grading, adding filters) to make it fit to the overall theme of the specific magazine. If you as a visual contributor are not open to any changes, let us know, or do not submit.
Contributions / Submissions can be only text, only visuals (drawings or photography), or a combination of both.
Content should preferably be written in English, although writings in your native language can be submitted as well. If you have a translation of your work into English, even better, we might publish both.
Please do not combine text and visuals into a pre-designed page, except we explicitly asked for it. Design of the pages should be left to our Designer.
We aim for publication of original, unpublished material. This means we do not accept works that were published anywhere else in any format, before being submitted to us. We do not accept simultaneous submissions. We try to provide feedback within 4 weeks of your submission so that you can submit elsewhere, when we think the material doesn’t fit our magazine.
Rights: We request one-time, non-exclusive rights for 30 days after publication in the KSB Magazine. This means that you can publish your piece elsewhere, 30 days after it has appeared here, but we request that you make a note that it appeared first in the KSB.
We restrict the publishing to our limited edition print magazine – there will be no content on the webpage (if not otherwise discussed, e.g. for translations of a text published in your native language in print), no PDF version, and nothing to download…
All contributions / submissions must contain:
- Title / Headline
- Category, as defined below
- Credits
- A statement how to deal with edits/alterings of your material
- Contributor BIO 20 words max., with name/nickname and link to socials/webpage
- Duly signed Artist’s License Agreement
For visual only contributions / submissions add a text document with the content above.
Content categories
The magazine publishes research and inspiration for the imagination.
With the research we publish, we want to contribute to the wider cultural understanding of Kinbaku. We want to learn ourselves – and contribute to the education of our readers.
The format can differ. We accept research papers on a specific topic (with citations), interviews with subject-matter experts, and even essays that reflect the topics above.
Inspiration can be (erotic, kinky, surreal, absurd) fiction, poetry, or visual inspiration, such as drawings or photography.
Research
Research Contributions / Submissions get 2 to 8 pages space in the magazine.
We believe that there are still big unexplored spots in the history of Kinbaku, worth being illuminated. Also, research can be done on the margins of our core topic of traditional Japanese rope bondage. What were the cultural influences this art grew out of? What were side lines in its developments? How were similar themes interpreted differently (or similar) from Japanese culture? How did underground culture, censorship, the social perception of kink or sexual deviations influence art in different cultures? Etc.
We would love to receive more well written research papers on these specific topics in our field of interests. We wish for these papers to be nerdy and detailed – with quotations, citations, and footnotes. We wish for honest, unbiased approaches – and technically good research (not just quoting the top 3 hits on Google).
Different from a research paper, an essay is an analytic or interpretive literary composition dealing with the subject from a personal point of view. Feelings and emotions are an essential part of Kinbaku. We encourage you to write from your point of view, tell us what you think on an important topic.
We also accept interviews with subject matters experts or book reviews.
Fiction
We publish fiction which is related to Rope Bondage, especially Japanese Rope bondage and more general dark-erotic, kink, surreal, absurd stories.
Fiction contributions / submissions get 2 to 6 pages space in the magazine.
Fiction should be well written, fresh, inspiring – with a good, twisted plot and surprises. Ideally it should be related to the topic of the magazine that it is submitted to.
Good kink-erotic fiction gives us a (gender-neutral) hard-on! Please do not submit “session descriptions.”
Of course, fiction can be combined with photography. If there is a story told, if there is text dominating the visual (not a visual accompanied by a little text) and if the story is convincing, then of course we also accept and publish this type of photo-story. We apply the same standards to the visuals as in the visual category (original, inspiring, high quality in execution).
Poetry
We encourage poetry that fits the magazine’s current topic (even if it’s vaguely related).
Poems must be written in verse, and be of a minimum of three verses.
We value both the content and form of the poem. Nevertheless, do not be afraid to break the rules of metrics as long as the rhythm is good, and it adds strength to the message of the poem. The usage of rhetorical figures and richness of language is appreciated.
We are inclined towards erotic poetry that raises questions about human nature and its dark spots, rather than cheesy verses about sunrises.
Poetry can be combined with photography or drawings. So if you have one that represents your poetry adequately, please share it. Otherwise, we might be able to combine it with other people’s content.
One full page of poetry in the magazine consists of max. 500 characters (with blanks) or 400 (without blanks)
A double page of poetry in the magazine consists of max. 1000 characters (with blanks) or 800 (without blanks)
Photography
We want to have outstanding photography in our magazine. Contributions / Submissions for this section must be high in originality and technical quality in execution.
We aim to see new approaches to aesthetics and visual storytelling. We reserve 6 – 8 pages per contribution. In addition we appreciate the crafts-based approach we in general promote in the magazine. Our hearts open for analoge produced photography, or old techniques etc.
Whilst we make a magazine “from the scene for the scene”, we also feature visual artists must with an already established “body of work” that contributes to the expansion of the visual-aesthetic or conceptual realm of Kinbaku or related underground arts at the cross-section with our space of interest (e.g. the body of their work doesn’t need to contain Kinbaku (aka rope work) but must somehow in relation to the essence of Kinbaku). From these “featured artists”, we also accept a portfolio of previous works, where we do not aim for exclusive publication.
Drawings / Illustrations
We very much encourage hand made content, such as drawings, paintings, sketches, illustrations over digital art. AI generated “art” is in general not accepted.
Drawings can stand alone for one page or a double page in landscape format or blend in with other content. Some even make it on the cover!
We apply the similar standards as for photography, when it comes to originality and technical skills.