Newsletter of the Society for Technical Communication, San Francisco Chapter
August/September 2004

ActiveVOICE Article Submission Policies

The ActiveVOICE welcomes articles from STC members and others in the technical writing community. Having a published article is a good addition to your portfolio. This document describes the guidelines for submitting an article to this newsletter. If you have any questions, you can email the editor at newsletter@stc-sf.org.

Publication Information

The ActiveVOICE is published six times a year in February, April, June, August, October, and December by the Society for Technical Communication, San Francisco Chapter, PO Box 2708, San Francisco, CA 94126, www.stc-sf.org. The editor is Marc Smircich (newsletter@stc-sf.org).

Submission Guidelines

Submit all articles via email to the newsletter editor (newsletter@stc-sf.org) in either of the following ways:

Microsoft Word format as an attachement.
Plain ASCII text in the message body or as an attachment.

If your article contains copyrighted materials, you are responsible for obtaining permission for the ActiveVOICE to publish the copyrighted materials.

Please include the following with your article:

Your name. Please spell it exactly as you want it published.
The title of the article. If you get to choose the title, make it descriptive and inviting. When readers are looking at the front page of the online newsletter, the title is the only basis they have for deciding whether to click on the link to your article.

NOTE: For recurring monthly articles, such as reviews of meetings, you do not get to choose the tile.
Headings. Please include headings so that it is easy for busy readers to scan your article (just as you do when reading technical publications). Heading are especially important when people are reading online. If your article does not have headings, the editor may add them.
A brief bio (no more than 50 to 75 words). This bio is a chance for you to say a little bit about yourself that you want to share with the world.

Articles Published

The ActiveVOICE publishes the following kinds of articles:

Reviews of previous meetings. Each edition contains reviews of previous meetings. These articles should be 500 to 750 words long. The purpose of these articles to provide a summary of the meeting for those who did not attend.
Columns by STC officials. To keep our audience informed what is happening with the STC, the newsletter accepts articles from STC officers at the chapter, regional, and international level.
Publicity for STC events and other professional organizations. The newletter accepts publicity articles for conferences, seminars, and other events sponsored by the STC, an STC chapter, an STC SIG, and closely related non-profit organizations.
Articles related to technical communication. The newsletter accepts software reviews, book reviews, information about industry trends, tips on how to use popular software packages, and other such articles. Normally, the maximum length is 1,000 words. To be accepted for publication, the primary purpose of the article must be to inform and educate, rather than to market a particular product or service. If you have an idea for an article, please contact the newsletter editor at newsletter@stc-sf.org.

Editorial Discretion

The Society for Technical Communication, San Francisco Chapter reserves the right to edit all submitted articles for length and appropriateness. The chapter is the sole arbiter of whether to accept an article for publication and when to publish it, either in whole or in part.

Copyright

All materials published in the ActiveVOICE are copyrighted by the Society for Technical Communication, San Francisco Chapter. Other STC publications may republish articles from the ActiveVOICE, provided that they acknowledge the author and the ActiveVOICE as the source of the article. For print publications, mail two copies of reprinted articles to: Editor, San Francisco Chapter STC, PO Box 2708, San Francisco, CA 94126. For electronic republications, email the URL to newsletter@stc-sf.org. Make the same notification to the author if the address or URL is known.

Copyright © 2004 by the Society for Technical Communication, San Francisco Chapter (www.stc-sf.org). This article may be reprinted in another STC publication, provided that the publication give credit to the author and to the ActiveVOICE as the source of the article.