This is something that Jon Orwant and I are doing, and we thought that
we'd like to let the readers of this list get first shot at the upcoming
announcement. Read and enjoy!
--tom
The Perl Journal
AUTHOR'S GUIDELINES
27 November 1995
1. "So...exactly what *is* The Perl Journal?"
2. "What does it mean to be an author?"
3. "Will I get paid?"
4. "What does it mean for a submission to be 'finished'?"
5. "What about copyrights and all that stuff?"
6. "I've got this great idea for a feature/column. What now?"
7. "Who's the intended audience?"
8. "What columns do you have in mind?"
9. "How should I submit my piece?"
10. "What will The Perl Journal look like?"
11. "How do I subscribe?"
12. "How do I place an advertisement?"
13. "I've read through this, and I've still got a question. What now?"
1. "So...exactly what *is* The Perl Journal?"
A sixteen-page quarterly newsletter devoted to the Perl language.
Every issue will have two or three feature articles about some
aspect of the language, and several regular columns that appear
in each issue: internals, tutorials, puzzles, enlightening
anecdotes. See question 8 below.
More than anything else, articles should be ENTERTAINING. Our
goal is not to write man pages or to smother people with
stellar Perl code. Prose is more important than programs.
When possible, articles should place the Perl concepts *in
a particular context*. Writing an article about some new
module? Don't just talk about what it does and how it works.
Talk about what you use it for. Throw in a few anecdotes.
Compare it to other modules/languages/approaches/algorithms.
Think of Scientific American in which every article just happens
to be related to Perl. If someone ignorant of Perl's wonders
should find a copy of The Perl Journal lying around, it should
make them want to learn the language. That's a lofty goal, but a
fun one.
We're now seeking submissions for the first issue, which we hope
to mail in February or March.
2. "What does it mean to be an author?"
There are two species of authors: contributors and columnists.
Both will be listed in the masthead (that's the column of fine
print in every magazine that tells readers who's who). The
difference is in payment and the level of commitment.
Contributors write one piece. The average piece will be about
2000 words, including code. Some pieces will be shorter, some
longer.
Columnists write a themed column to appear in four consecutive
issues. It's a year-long commitment.
3. "Will I get paid?"
Yes. Contributors will receive $50 per piece, paid upon receipt
of the finished piece. Columnists will receive $400 per four-piece
column, payable as $75 after each of the first three columns and
$175 after the last.
4. "What does it mean for a submission to be 'finished'?"
Authors should expect one or two phases of revisions. They might
be asked to add another example, or to explain something in a
different way, or to reorganize parts of the piece.
5. "What about copyrights and all that stuff?"
Authors must sign a "transfer of copyright and permission to publish"
form prior to payment. That's to ensure that we have the right to
publish the piece. The signature can be either traditional or PGP.
That form will be quite lenient compared to other magazine contracts.
Most contracts grant authors only one right: the right to publish their
piece "in an anthology consisting solely of the Author's works."
Instead, The Perl Journal will, as a matter of course, additionally
grant authors non-commercial rights, so authors will be free to make
their articles available via USENET or the Web or FTP if they choose.
6. "I've got this great idea for a feature/column. What now?"
Contact us at perl-journal-submissions@perl.com. Unsolicited
submissions are acceptable, but it's always better to let us know
in advance.
7. "Who's the intended audience?"
Anyone interested in Perl programming: novices and gurus alike.
In general, assume that readers will have "minimal Perl fluency."
Expect that they'll understand scalars and arrays and hashes and
subroutines. On the other hand, words like "namespace" and "XS" and
"scope" should always be explained.
Terms such as "context", "modules", "pragmas", and "inheritance" fall
somewhere in between. An article broadly comparing Perl to Java might
mention inheritance, but shouldn't waste words explaining it. An
article comparing the inheritance mechanisms of Perl and C++, however,
might devote several paragraphs to it.
There are a few exceptions to this rule: a tutorial for Perl novices
might assume no programming knowledge at all. Obviously, any internals
column will assume fluency in C.
8. "What columns do you have in mind?"
We'd like writers for the following columns.
Wizardry/Internals
Web/CGI/HTTP/HTML
The Perl Advocate
Security
Networking
System Administration
The Perl Puzzler
Perl/Tk
Object Oriented Programming
This is not set in stone. We're happy to entertain other ideas.
If a topic isn't big enough to merit a column in every issue, consider
writing a one-shot feature instead.
9. "How should I submit my piece?"
By e-mail, to perl-journal-submissions@perl.com.
FrameMaker is preferred.
POD, TeX, LaTeX, and HTML submissions are encouraged.
MS Word and troff are acceptable.
UUencode e-mail submissions where appropriate. We'll eventually have
an FTP site for uploading.
Pictures should be submitted as PostScript where possible.
GIFs and TIFFs are acceptable. Photographs are manageable.
10. "What will The Perl Journal look like?"
Sixteen pages, professionally printed and machine stapled, on heavy
paper stock. Some, probably all, issues will be two-color.
Most pieces will be printed as two or three columns, but authors should
send their submissions as a single flow.
11. "How do I subscribe?"
Send US$9 for a one-year, four-issue subscription to:
The Perl Journal
P.O. Box 54
Boston, MA 02101
Non-U.S. subscriptions cost US$12.
Contributors and columnists will receive free subscriptions.
12. "How do I place an advertisement?"
On pages 3 through 15, the rate is $12.50 for a sixteenth of a page.
Contiguous blocks can be purchased at these rates: a quarter page is
$50; an entire page is $200. For the back cover, the rate is $20 for
a sixteenth of a page.
Advertisements can be submitted as images, text, or a combination of
both.
13. "I've read through this, and I've still got a question. What now?"
Send mail to perl-journal-staff@perl.com.
we'd like to let the readers of this list get first shot at the upcoming
announcement. Read and enjoy!
--tom
The Perl Journal
AUTHOR'S GUIDELINES
27 November 1995
1. "So...exactly what *is* The Perl Journal?"
2. "What does it mean to be an author?"
3. "Will I get paid?"
4. "What does it mean for a submission to be 'finished'?"
5. "What about copyrights and all that stuff?"
6. "I've got this great idea for a feature/column. What now?"
7. "Who's the intended audience?"
8. "What columns do you have in mind?"
9. "How should I submit my piece?"
10. "What will The Perl Journal look like?"
11. "How do I subscribe?"
12. "How do I place an advertisement?"
13. "I've read through this, and I've still got a question. What now?"
1. "So...exactly what *is* The Perl Journal?"
A sixteen-page quarterly newsletter devoted to the Perl language.
Every issue will have two or three feature articles about some
aspect of the language, and several regular columns that appear
in each issue: internals, tutorials, puzzles, enlightening
anecdotes. See question 8 below.
More than anything else, articles should be ENTERTAINING. Our
goal is not to write man pages or to smother people with
stellar Perl code. Prose is more important than programs.
When possible, articles should place the Perl concepts *in
a particular context*. Writing an article about some new
module? Don't just talk about what it does and how it works.
Talk about what you use it for. Throw in a few anecdotes.
Compare it to other modules/languages/approaches/algorithms.
Think of Scientific American in which every article just happens
to be related to Perl. If someone ignorant of Perl's wonders
should find a copy of The Perl Journal lying around, it should
make them want to learn the language. That's a lofty goal, but a
fun one.
We're now seeking submissions for the first issue, which we hope
to mail in February or March.
2. "What does it mean to be an author?"
There are two species of authors: contributors and columnists.
Both will be listed in the masthead (that's the column of fine
print in every magazine that tells readers who's who). The
difference is in payment and the level of commitment.
Contributors write one piece. The average piece will be about
2000 words, including code. Some pieces will be shorter, some
longer.
Columnists write a themed column to appear in four consecutive
issues. It's a year-long commitment.
3. "Will I get paid?"
Yes. Contributors will receive $50 per piece, paid upon receipt
of the finished piece. Columnists will receive $400 per four-piece
column, payable as $75 after each of the first three columns and
$175 after the last.
4. "What does it mean for a submission to be 'finished'?"
Authors should expect one or two phases of revisions. They might
be asked to add another example, or to explain something in a
different way, or to reorganize parts of the piece.
5. "What about copyrights and all that stuff?"
Authors must sign a "transfer of copyright and permission to publish"
form prior to payment. That's to ensure that we have the right to
publish the piece. The signature can be either traditional or PGP.
That form will be quite lenient compared to other magazine contracts.
Most contracts grant authors only one right: the right to publish their
piece "in an anthology consisting solely of the Author's works."
Instead, The Perl Journal will, as a matter of course, additionally
grant authors non-commercial rights, so authors will be free to make
their articles available via USENET or the Web or FTP if they choose.
6. "I've got this great idea for a feature/column. What now?"
Contact us at perl-journal-submissions@perl.com. Unsolicited
submissions are acceptable, but it's always better to let us know
in advance.
7. "Who's the intended audience?"
Anyone interested in Perl programming: novices and gurus alike.
In general, assume that readers will have "minimal Perl fluency."
Expect that they'll understand scalars and arrays and hashes and
subroutines. On the other hand, words like "namespace" and "XS" and
"scope" should always be explained.
Terms such as "context", "modules", "pragmas", and "inheritance" fall
somewhere in between. An article broadly comparing Perl to Java might
mention inheritance, but shouldn't waste words explaining it. An
article comparing the inheritance mechanisms of Perl and C++, however,
might devote several paragraphs to it.
There are a few exceptions to this rule: a tutorial for Perl novices
might assume no programming knowledge at all. Obviously, any internals
column will assume fluency in C.
8. "What columns do you have in mind?"
We'd like writers for the following columns.
Wizardry/Internals
Web/CGI/HTTP/HTML
The Perl Advocate
Security
Networking
System Administration
The Perl Puzzler
Perl/Tk
Object Oriented Programming
This is not set in stone. We're happy to entertain other ideas.
If a topic isn't big enough to merit a column in every issue, consider
writing a one-shot feature instead.
9. "How should I submit my piece?"
By e-mail, to perl-journal-submissions@perl.com.
FrameMaker is preferred.
POD, TeX, LaTeX, and HTML submissions are encouraged.
MS Word and troff are acceptable.
UUencode e-mail submissions where appropriate. We'll eventually have
an FTP site for uploading.
Pictures should be submitted as PostScript where possible.
GIFs and TIFFs are acceptable. Photographs are manageable.
10. "What will The Perl Journal look like?"
Sixteen pages, professionally printed and machine stapled, on heavy
paper stock. Some, probably all, issues will be two-color.
Most pieces will be printed as two or three columns, but authors should
send their submissions as a single flow.
11. "How do I subscribe?"
Send US$9 for a one-year, four-issue subscription to:
The Perl Journal
P.O. Box 54
Boston, MA 02101
Non-U.S. subscriptions cost US$12.
Contributors and columnists will receive free subscriptions.
12. "How do I place an advertisement?"
On pages 3 through 15, the rate is $12.50 for a sixteenth of a page.
Contiguous blocks can be purchased at these rates: a quarter page is
$50; an entire page is $200. For the back cover, the rate is $20 for
a sixteenth of a page.
Advertisements can be submitted as images, text, or a combination of
both.
13. "I've read through this, and I've still got a question. What now?"
Send mail to perl-journal-staff@perl.com.