[156] in linux-announce channel archive
COMMERCIAL: Linux Journal Call for Articles
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Lars Wirzenius)
Sat Feb 4 17:12:49 1995
Date: Sat, 4 Feb 1995 19:33:48 +0200
From: Lars Wirzenius <wirzeniu@cc.helsinki.fi>
To: linux-activists@niksula.hut.fi, linux-announce@vger.rutgers.edu
X-Mn-Key: announce
Subject: COMMERCIAL: Linux Journal Call for Articles
Followup-To: poster
Reply-To: ljeditor@ssc.com
Keywords: authors articles linux journal commercial
From: "Michael K. Johnson" <johnsonm@nigel.vnet.net>
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.announce
Organization: ?
Approved: linux-announce@tc.cornell.edu (Lars Wirzenius)
Linux Journal wants YOU to write an article!
Amateurs and professionals alike are encouraged to propose
articles for publication in Linux Journal.
Linux Journal would like to encourage potential authors to
consider writing articles for Linux Journal. The pay isn't
great (most of the articles are donated, to help us keep
subscription costs down), but the glory is... If any of of the
topics below, or some related topic, or *any* mildly
linux-related topic catches your interest, and you would like
to try writing a magazine article about it, send either an
abstract or an outline to ljeditor@ssc.com, and I'll work it
over with you.
We are looking for a wide variety of articles, including highly
technical articles, articles for beginners, and anything in
between, because our readership varies from experts to novices.
You don't have to be a professional writer. If you have something
to say, we will take the time to edit it well.
To quickly answer the usual questions:
For a copy of the Linux Journal FAQ, `finger ljinfo@ssc.com | more'.
Subscription information is available via email from subs@ssc.com.
michaelkjohnson
Linux Journal Editor
Here is an extract from our editorial calendar to give you an
idea of subjects we are currently considering:
* May (Articles written in early February)
Focus: Linux and the Internet
Possible topics:
- setting up a WWW server
- setting up anonymous ftp securely
- setting up a Linux BBS
- Linux and Freenets
* June (Articles written by early March)
Focus: Commercial Applications
including directory of applications
* July (Articles written by early April)
Focus: Linux and X
Possible topics:
- Installing and configuring XFree86
- Reviews of commercial X servers
- Information on various types of X applications: graphics, text, games
Here is a copy of our current version of the Linux Journal Author's Guide:
Linux Journal
P.O. Box 85867 * Seattle, WA * 98145-1867 * USA
(206)PUBS-REF (782-7733) * fax: (206)782-7191 * linux@ssc.com
Linux Journal Author's Guide
January 3, 1995
Linux Journal publishes articles about the evolution and use of the
Linux operating system. It is our hope that we can further the
dissemination of Linux by making pertinent information available to a
wide audience.
Although some of our readers will be highly technical and involved in
the development of Linux, many will be newcomers looking for tutorial
information that will help them get up to speed with the Linux movement.
Additionally, we expect that a substantial number of readers will be
watching Linux development to see if it has commercial
potential--whether it is for use as an operating system to port their
applications to or a development platform to use in their work.
In order to address this dual audience we plan to offer the following
types of articles:
o Beginning tutorials, particularly for those in the MS-DOS world
o Interviews with prominent members of the Linux community
o Technical articles
o Interviews exploring the use of Linux in a commercial or...
o Otherwise "real world" setting
What Makes a Good Article?
==========================
Good articles usually stem from the experience of the author. If you
solved a problem, developed a new program or found a new application for
Linux you probably have the basis for a good article.
In order to determine if your article would be of interest, ask yourself
the following questions:
o Does my subject have broad appeal to the Linux community?
o Is my subject timely?
o Does my information have practical value?
If the answers are "yes", you have a story worth telling. Send a short
abstract to ljeditor@ssc.com to let us know what your idea is about. In
many cases you may also want to include an outline or abstract which
will help you collect your thoughts and give us a general idea of your
topic. We will get back to you promptly with any suggested changes or
revisions. Once agreement on the general nature of the article is
reached, you can proceed with confidence that the article will be
accepted and published after passing through editing.
With exceptions for articles of a very topical nature, we cannot say
when you give us the idea which issue the article will be published in.
Our production time is about two months, so there will be a minimum of
two months from the time the article has passed through editing to the
time it is printed. Due to various considerations, it is more likely to
take two and a half to three months, or even more, in rare cases. As
much as we would like to reduce this time, to do so would be to put the
quality of the article and the quality of Linux Journal in jeopardy.
What Form Should The Article Be Submitted In?
=============================================
The article will be professionally edited. We may modify headlines and
subheads, tighten and polish the writing, or rearrange sections to
improve the organization and clarity. Revised manuscripts will be sent
to the author for approval.
In order to facilitate editing, it is best if the article is submitted
in an unformatted form. We currently prefer plain ASCII text, either
e-mailed to the editor or mailed on a floppy disk in tar or MSDOS file
format. Special information can be included within [square brackets] as
needed. Put only one space after sentences, put a blank line between
paragraphs, and don't indent paragraphs. This is the format that we edit
our articles in, and if you submit it in a different format, be prepared
to get revisions back in this format.
The following conventions should be used where necessary:
<B> toggle bold: the word <B>bold<B> is in bold type.
<I> toggle italic: the word <I>italic<I> is in italic type.
<P> turn off all bold, italic, underline, or strikeout. (plain)
These can be combined, so <BI>bold-italics<BI> is in bold italics.
<BI>bold-<B>italics<P> has the word "bold-" in bold italics and
"italics" in italics only.
<+> toggle superscript
<-> toggle subscript
The rest of the "tags" are dealt with by hand, not automatically, which
is why they are enclosed in [square brackets] instead of <angle
brackets>.
[cw] following text is unfilled in a constant width font
[ecw] end of constant width, unfilled text
[list] indicates beginning of a (numbered) list
[dot] bulleted item in a list
[endlist] end of list
[table] beginning of a table
[endtable] end of table
The < character needs to be "escaped" so that the filter used by our
desktop publishing software doesn't eat it up: To get "<"; use "<\<>".
We will do this for you if you prefer.
In general, you can just submit standard ASCII text to us, and we will
put it in this format for you; this reference is for the times when you
don't want to leave things up to us. This information is also provided
as a partial reference, since revisions we send back to you are likely
to contain these "tags". If you like, we can also send you additional
information on the tags we use.
Feel free to include any other instructions for the editors within
[square brackets]. If the material you are writing is highly technical
or requires special formatting, contact the editor to determine a format
that will meet your needs.
We can also accept articles formatted with troff or LaTeX. This may be
necessary for highly technical articles, but as we will be reformatting,
the less formatting you do, the easier it is for us.
The Andrew editor, EZ, can create files that we are able to use, and is
available for use with Linux. Look at sunsite.unc.edu in the directory
/pub/Linux/X11/andrew/ for the file auis62L0-wp.tgz. EZ is not quite a
WYSIWYG editor, but will let you choose all your fonts and such and
display them without showing control codes on the screen.
No matter what format you submit, please submit tables, figures, and
pictures in seperate files from your text and from each other. One file
for the text, and one file for each seperate figure.
We would like a good photograph of our authors. We prefer a good
head-and-shoulders shot, kind of like a passport photo, but preferably a
better likeness...
Each article should end with a two or three sentence (we aren't too
picky about that; keep it down to one reasonable paragraph, anyway)
biographical statement. "Joe Author has been a Unix systems
confrobulator for 10 years, and has written free software in ML for the
last 3 years. He keeps ducks and freshwater shrimp for a hobby, and
welcomes your comments sent to joe@ducksnshrimp.org, or by snail mail
C/O Linux Journal." The bio can be serious or humorous, although it is
usually best to write it in a style similar to that of the rest of the
article.
How Long Should My Article Be?
==============================
The best answer is "as long as is needed". If the ideas can be
expressed in a short article, fine. If an extremely long article is
required to cover the subject and we feel the article is of sufficient
interest to our readers, we will run it. In some cases we may find it
necessary to serialize the article.
Writing Style
=============
o Pick a topic you care about.
o Be conversational. Use direct address to the reader. Use
imperatives. Use active verbs. Write as though you were
chatting with an intelligent friend who may not be familiar with
the specifics of what you are covering.
o Never talk down to the reader.
o Use short sentences. It helps.
o Be careful with your humor, particularly sarcasm and irony.
Printed matter has the same limitations as electronic mail.
Intentions are easily misread and can be offensive. Many
readers have English as a second language and are not immersed
in American culture and topical matters. They will not, in
general, understand puns based on Madonna, Star Trek, or Windows
NT. This is not to say you must be dull and uninteresting--just
be careful.
o Concentrate on your subject and don't worry about grammar,
spelling and punctuation. We have friendly editors that will
deal with these things.
o If you realize you can't make a deadline, let your editor know
as soon as possible.
--
Send submissions for comp.os.linux.announce to: linux-announce@news.ornl.gov
PLEASE remember Keywords: and a short description of the software.
