If you have material you want us to consider for publication, we are very much interested in looking at it. If it fits our editorial needs at that time, we will send you a “Transfer of Copyright Agreement” to sign and payment for your article. On the average we pay about $20 per printed page in SYNC. When you submit material, we ask that you keep the following in mind:
1) Type your manuscript on standard typing paper (one side only) with at least one inch margins all around.
2) Use the double space setting for your text throughout.
3) If you want your manuscript returned, enclose a self-addressed stamped (do not use a postage meter) envelope. If you want to be sure that we have received your work, enclose a self-addressed postcard.
4) Be sure to put your name, address, and phone number on the top of the first page in one corner. In the other corner put the machine requirements of your article or program (for example, 8K ROM; 1K RAM. 8K ROM; 16K RAM. 4K ROM; 1K RAM). Remember that our readers have a variety of ROMs and RAMs and they are not happy to find out after they have entered a program that it does not fit their machine. Put the title or a short form of the title on each page in the upper left corner. Paginate on the upper right corner.
5) Type with normal use of capital and lower case letters. Do not type everything in capitals in your text (in programs, however, do use capitals since that is what your computer uses). This applies also to headings and subheadings. Show subheadings by leaving extra space above and centering.
6) Underlining means that those letters should be italics when printed. So underline only when you mean “Use italics here.”
7) Paragraphs must be indented (5-8 spaces is usual). Do not use extra lines to show paragraphs.
If your article includes programs or listings, please keep these items in mind:
1) We prefer camera ready copy of programs and listings whenever possible because this substantially reduces the risk of typographical errors. Carbon ribbon typewriters make excellent copy. Printers and regular typewriters which give a sharp, clear image usually can be used, but make sure that the ribbon is dark. Of course, when the ZX Printer becomes available in the U.S., printouts from it will be acceptable. In addition, we would like to have the programs submitted on cassette with several saves, especially if the program is over 1K.
2) Type the program so that it will look just like the screen display including all spaces that are necessary or that the computer puts in automatically. Do not use extra spaces where the computer does not use them. This is a big help to the reader in checking whether he is entering the program correctly and helps him reduce copying mistakes.
3) Show necessary spaces in PRINT statements with a # mark.
4) Program notes which help the reader to understand what is going on are helpful. These may be given as side notes on the same line as the program line or at the end of the program with line numbers for matching. In either case keep the width of the notes the same as the program listing.
5) If you use graphics, be sure to specify in the notes which key to use to get the graphic.
6) If possible, make suggestions for adapting your program to fit other machine requirements. For example, if you have a program that takes 2K RAM, tell the reader where to shorten it to squeeze it into 1K if possible. If you are writing for an 8K ROM, supply the changes necessary for the 4K ROM if possible. Readers like to know where they can make changes in the programs to vary the results. Point these out also.
7) Type your program single spaced.
8) Be sure to indicate in your article how to RUN the program and what the reader should expect to see on the screen when he has done so.
9) Follow the emerging conventions for ZX80/81 programs: a) number program lines by 10’s unless you have a reason to do otherwise; b) avoid using letters that can be confused with numbers and vice versa; c) use consecutive designations for strings and variables; d) identify your program with a REM statement.
10) Provide the SYNCSUM (see the Perceptions column in this issue). Other checksums may be used if there is a good reason to do so, but the process for finding them should be explained.
Photos, illustrations, charts, and diagrams usually add to an article. Again, we prefer copy that we can use directly without redrawing. Illustrations can be larger than the expected final form because we can reduce them, but they should not be smaller. All charts, diagrams, listings, illustrations, photos, tables, and programs should be labeled such as Figure 1, Listing 1, or Table 1 and referred to in the text in that way rather than as “the table below” or “the following lines” because we may not be able to do it that way in our layout. It is even helpful to put all the figures, tables, etc. at the end of your article.
If you can supply your text and program listings on disk, include the information on the type of disk system you have. We would prefer that form if it is compatible with our equipment.
Following these suggestions will help us a great deal in using your material.