Sprocket Doggingsworth is looking for more submissions for his non-fiction project Apple Cider for the Brony Soul. But I’ll let him explain:

Apple Cider for the Brony Soul is a collection (in the making) of essays on Love, Tolerance, and Friendship.

MISSION STATEMENTMy Little Pony: Friendship is Magic has been hailed by critics and fans alike for its appealing characters, sophisticated storytelling and underlying philosophy. The show’s adult fans—“bronies”—have cultivated a creed of “love and tolerance” inspired by the show’s moral teachings.Apple Cider for the Brony Soul will gather uplifting thoughts and reflections on the positive messages of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic from the show’s fans and its creators alike. Our mission is to express, define, and refine the core principles of brony culture.

The book’s primary intended audience is the show’s fandom, as well as people who want to learn more about My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and its fans.Apple Cider For the Brony Soul is a small press book project that will be released first as an e-book with a “print on demand” option. Hard copies will be made available at a future date depending on the demand and success of the e-book release which is scheduled for early 2013.SUBMISSIONS

Bronies, this book is by us, for us. We, as a fandom, have grown into something huge. What does Love and Tolerance still mean to us? You tell me.

Apple Cider for the Brony Soul is accepting essays about love, tolerance, friendship, and the positive message of the show.

RULES FOR SUBMISSION

1. Please submit all entries in RTF, Word2003, or PDF format.
2. Please do not submit anything that has been published elsewhere (in print, in an online article, or in your blog).
3. If you gather information from elsewhere, cite all of your sources. If you know how to cite in APA format, please do, if not, then just include all the pertinent information, and we’ll worry about formatting it later.
4. Essays must be positive and uplifting. That is not to say that you can’t mention negative things that you feel need addressing, but if the central message of your essay is bleak, you are wasting everypony’s time by submitting it here.

HOW TO SUBMIT

Send all submissions via baby dragon. If you do not have a baby dragon, you can email your work to [email protected] The Deadline will be sometime in Autumn of 2012. Exact date to be determined.

GUIDELINES

Make us smile. Make us cry.

There is no one way to go about it, but if you need a little help finding direction, here are some tips:

Find an angle. Be specific. Make your essay stand out. One hundred really well-written essays that say the same exact thing does not make a very good book. Find a way to make your essay stand out. Maybe you have deep thoughts on the philosophical implications of love and tolerance, or maybe you just have something personal to say. The more focused an unique your essay is the better.

Length. There is no specific limit on how long or short a submission has to be. Since we’re looking for chapter-sized entries, length is not necessarily a bad thing, but we are also open to shorter submissions, because sometimes the most beautiful sentiments are best said simply. Just make sure that the submission is an appropriate length for the subject at hoof. Don’t submit something that’s 40 pages when it could work just as well as a 10 page essay, and don’t submit a 2 page essay that feels like the ideas would better be fleshed out as an 8 page article.

Topics. The topic is up to you. Obviously, it must be pony-related. Here are some basic suggestions for broad areas you can write about:

• Love and Tolerance
• Friendship
• Kindness
• Generosity
• Honesty
• Laughter
• Loyalty
• Magic
• Specific Lessons from the Show
• Messages in the Subtext of the Show
• The Brony Community

Again, remember it is important to find a specific angle to whatever topic it is that you want to tackle. Please, please, please don’t limit yourself to just the topics listed above! These are just suggestions of the kinds of things we’re looking for.

MESSAGE FROM THE EDITOR

You hear a lot of talk sometimes about how love and tolerance is dead or dying in our fandom. The truth is, we are not the same community we were in Season One, but that’s okay. It still means the world to thousands upon thousands of bronies, myself included. Love and tolerance is alive and well. I see amazing acts of charity, love, and support going on in our community every single day.

As we trot into Season 3, and the brony phenomenon continues to grow at an exponential rate, it is important that we not only stay true to our ideals, but re-articulate them, refine them, and discuss them openly, especially to newcomers in our community. That’s what this book is all about.

I originally started writing Apple Cider for the Brony Soul just by getting my own ideas on paper, since I think about the morals of My Little Pony rather a lot. It wasn’t long before I realized that this book is not for me to write. It’s for us.

There is potential in this project to really touch peoples’ lives. That potential is you. So if you care about love and tolerance, and you have something you want to say about it, I strongly encourage you to make a submission.

Yours In Love, Tolerance, and Friendship,
Sprocket