Author Guidelines

Guidelines for CADdigest Authors

We think it’s great that you’re writing for us, and so here’s a few things to guide you along:

All articles must be requested by TenLinks staff (TenLinks is the company that owns CADdigest.com). We do not pay for unrequested articles or self-promotional articles. You are working for us as a contractor, which means that by law we have to give you minimal guidance and you have to deal with the taxes.

Writing Tone

We encourage you to use your own "voice." You may use the style to which you are accustomed to writing on your blog; we think that will work well with our readers.

Here’s what we find also works well:

Write in the present tense as much as possible, and never in the future tense.
Try to use “I” rather than “you,” because the article is about your experiences.
If you find sentences getting long, readers will appreciate you for breaking them into two.
One space after period -- not two, as you may have been taught in typing school!

Writing Conditions

Authors must meet our deadline dates. Typically, we like to receive your article two weeks after the day we assign it to you or you receive the software. If you’re having any kind of problem, do let us know and we will do what we can to assist you.

Authors must have signed the TenLinks Author Release Form, which we will send you to separately.

Additional requirements may be added by one of the editors when we assign the article. But your ideas on tweaking the topic are welcome, too.

Standard Payments for Articles

Here is what you can expect to be paid.

Interviews: $100

Transcribe the interview
Provide a picture of the person(s) being interviewed, available from the person or the firm’s PR firm

Short, hands-on reviews or articles: $150

1000 - 1200 words
Multiple illustrations, such as screen grabs (minimum of two), including captions

Hands on Review: $200

1500 words or longer
Multiple illustrations (minimum of four), including captions

Software Sources

You will be supplied software for review by TenLinks.com or shipped direct (or downloaded) from the vendor. Software may be NFR (not for resale), unlimited use, or limited-time use -- depending on the wishes of the vendor. Either way, software does not have to be returned to us or the vendor.

Text and Illustration Standards

We can accept the text in just about any format of word processor that runs on Windows, like DOC, DOCX, and RTF. Don’t use PDFs and we really don’t like Mac-specific formats, like .pages.

Illustrations should be saved in TIFF or PNG format, in the range to 800 to 1024 pixels wide. If you need help taking good screen grabs, try using WinSnap from http://www.ntwind.com/software/winsnap/download-free-version.html

You can embed the illustrations in the document. But if you keep them separate, you can bundle all the illustrations into a ZIP file for easier emailing.

Your Bio

The first time you send us an article, write a short biography of yourself, some two to four sentences in length. Include a picture (headshot) we can use with the bio, and the link to your blog or Web site.

Submission and Publication

Send the completed article and figures to Ralph Grabowski, CADdigest.com Managing Editor, at ralph@tenlinks.com by the deadline date. Delivering your article a day early makes the editor really happy.

Once we receive your article, we copy edit it, fact check it, and then copy edit twice more. You can expect the article to appear on CADdigest.com within two weeks. You may want to subscribe to the CADdigest Twitter feed to track when and where the article is posted. After it has been published by us, you are free to use it on your blog, if you so wish.

Finally, the most important part! Provide us with your PayPal account so that we can pay you promptly. If you don’t use PayPal, please please email us your mailing address for the check. Expect to be paid within a month.

CADdigest.com Article Contacts

Roopinder Tara, Publisher
rtara@tenlinks.com
for questions about article direction, contact persons at vendors, and payments

Ralph Grabowski, Managing Editor
ralph@tenlinks.com
for questions about article content, figures, delays, and manuscript deliveries

CAD, CAM & CAE Articles