[ Writers' Guidelines to get published in DT&G Magazine! ]

How to Contribute to DT&G Magazine

Publishing Notes for guest writers

The Design & Publishing Center Publications are constantly on the lookout for good ideas and input. If you would like to contribute your ideas, expertise or stories, please get in touch. Readers will love hearing about your success stories and victories.

We do not charge to post articles and we cannot pay writers to write articles. For the most part of the last quarter century the Design Center has been non-profit, spam free. We do encourage a donation to help support our quality content.
DONATE to help support our quality content

THANK YOU for your contribution. Now read how to write for the Design & Publishing Center! Welcome aboard!

Writers Guidelines

Following is a collection of guidelines you should familiarize yourself with before sending us any materials. Be sure to read a few issues of DT&G for examples of the kinds of articles our readers like best.

DT&G is the electronic publication of The Design & Publishing Center, devoted to sharing ideas, practical information, advice and tips on how to increase readers' capabilities and knowledge in the visual arts. It has three supplements: 60-Second Windows, Photoshop Tips & Tricks, and WebDesign & Review.

What do our readers like?

  1. First-person articles which explains the use of traditional tools or computers
  2. First-person articles on unusual or unique projects in the publishing field
  3. First-person articles dealing with problems, crisis projects
  4. First-person articles getting ripped off, or dealing with legal issues
  5. Experience, tips and tricks for finding clients, acquiring services.
  6. Know-how for effective business practices
  7. Articles which deal with starting, growing and marketing a business.
  8. Book or product reviews which have helped you with software or hardware
  9. Books, experiences relevant to business, marketing or online business marketing.

How-To Articles

These are what we like best. Show your friends how to do something unique, or more efficiently. Show how you accomplished a unique technique, or a really time-saving, or profitable operation. Remember, most of our readers use software and computers in their business, and are eager to learn anything new that will make them more productive, or more capable. How-to articles should include

Feel free to number the steps, and don't be afraid to be as elementary as you like. Many readers tell us to be more "basic" with our descriptions, particularly on difficult or lengthy processes.

Book Reviews

Book reviews earn a special place, in the Design-Bookshelf department! (Design-Bookshelf.com) These can be short and no longer than approximately 400 words. They should include a basic understanding of what the book is about, and how you felt about the value of the information and writing. If the product is not good, or you found it lacking in some way, by all means tell us. You must include:

Also helpful to the reader is unique features like the inclusion of a CD, whether or not the book is illustrated (B&W or Color), etc. A scan of the cover or some graphic from the book is helpful, but not mandatory.

Software Reviews

Software reviews ideally should deal with a function of the software as it relates to the visual field. We generally do not use reviews of accounting, spreadsheets, database or specialized business software unless it can directly relate to our readers use. Reviews can be short and no longer than two pages. They should include a basic understanding of what the software does, and how you felt about the value in terms of functionality and productivity. If the product is not good, or you found it lacking in some way, by all means tell us. You must include:

Most important are screen captures. The reader will get the most benefit if you show the software actually doing something, or menus, dialogs, etc. If you need assistance with this, just let us know.

Materials Submission

All articles should be submitted electronically by email in ascii TEXT format. If special formatting is desired you may submit a PDF. But we will reduce your writing to text for the special tagging of the Design Center.

Articles should not exceed 2,000 words unless your topic is complex or requires many steps. We have found few readers will stay with an article longer than about 1,500 words unless it's truly a compelling piece.

  1. Article text should be saved as ASCII TEXT, and pasted into an email.
  2. Graphics should be in GIF or JPEG format, attached to the email.
  3. Resolution for graphics should be no greater than 144 dpi, and no larger than 800 x 800 pixels. As you know, full screen captures can be quite large if not converted to optimized palette.

Who are YOU?

Be sure to include a brief biography at the end of your article which describes your business or profession along with your web or blog address so readers can reach you if they have further questions. We always want a photo of YOU. The author's photo not only reinforces the 'humanity' of the writer, but plays into Google rankings, as well. When your article appears, the photo icon (40 x 40) appears on the front page, the department page and the article page, along with the intro statement. This is THREE exposures -- and your photo is named "first_last.jpg" ... see examples in the site.

with_caution   DT&G, or The Design Center Publications editors, reserve the right to edit any articles submitted due to space limitations or clarity.

Will you get paid for your article?

The Design Center is a reader-driven, spam free web site. It does not generate revenue. While we currently cannot pay for articles, we do welcome and appreciate your submissions -- and so do our readers! We also believe writers in DT&G, or The Design Center Publications, have the opportunity to reach many readers and become established as experts. Your article may be linked, or referenced and even shared via the many social media channels. It has the potential of viral exposure! Many times readers contact the experts who appear in the publication and forge new business relationships. We have reports of some of these relationships being very profitable!

... and thanks for reading

Fred Showker

      Editor/Publisher : DTG Magazine   |   60-Seconds
      @FredShowker   |   Medium   |   Facebook   |   Twitter
      Published online since 1987

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