Submission Guidelines

This document is almost completely changed from the last time it was updated (when it was called "HTML Guidelines").

For Text

I will take almost any document format as a submission for the APA. I don't care if it's plain text, rich text, or whatever. No PDFs for your main body of work, however, please. (See the secton below on "Other Materials," for exceptions.)

In general, I expect you to follow some basic formatting guidelines that exist to make my life simpler. If you follow Dream Pod 9's guidelines (see the DP9 website), you won't go wrong.

The most basic rule is this: don't ever format with your document preparation system (text editor, word processor, etc.). Do not italicize text. Do not boldface it. Do not use tabs to align text in a way that looks pleasing to you. Instead, do the following:

• For italics, //mark the text to be italicized like this//. Do not italicize ship or vehicle names or vehicle class names. Don't argue with me about whether it should be done or not; this is a house style.
• For boldface, [[mark it like this]].
• Do not split italic or boldface markers across paragraphs. If you have three italic paragraphs, then each paragraph must have its own set of italic markers wrapped around it.
• For tabular data, seperate individual elements with a single tab. Even if it doesn't look right, use only a single tab. If you try to use multiple tabs to make things line up right, then you're formatting with your document preparation, and that's a big no-no. Vehicles are a major exception to this rule, however.

If you ignore these instructions, I will ignore pleas to fix up the online version of your document. (Actually, if you use your word processor to create a table, that's fine. My word processor handles it gracefully enough.)

In addition, remember the following:

• Double-space between paragraphs. Do not indent.
• For stories, start a new section with three asterisks (* * *). Do not use the double-space to start a new section.
• Do not, under any circumstances, attempt to insert your own HTML. The sole exception is links to the outside world.
• For the love of god, make sure your document has your name and the title of the document inside the document. Do not rely on the filename or your e-mail to clue me in. If you don't have the title in the document, I'm going to come up with a name for it myself, and I'm no good at that.
• Finally, include a one-line description of your submission. This description will go in the index for the issue and will be used to generate the announcement for the Heavy Gear mailing list. This description can be in the e-mail accompanying your submission or it can be in the actual document itself. (I'll remove it from the document before posting, however.)

Vehicles

Vehicles are an exception. At the present time, I format vehicle stats using the HTML pre-formatted text (<pre>) tags. The easiest way for you to submit a vehicle design stat block is to look at a recent vehicle design and copy the general style of it stat blocks. (Do not include the HTML, however.) Use a DP9 book as a reference for the types of information required in your stats.

If you've got a better way of doing this, I'd love to hear it. The rules are, however, that it not use HTML tables and that it be mind-numbingly easy for me to use.

And whatever you do, do not include stats blocks dumps from such applications as Under Construction. And also don't ask me where to find Under Construction.

For Images

I can handle any image format, of course. I generally scale images down to about 250 pixels wide to tuck inline into a document and then link to a larger version. If you want to do the scaling yourself, that's fine -- just remember to scale to no more than 250 pixels.

I will not use someone else's copyrighted images in your article, however, without written permission from the original copyright holder.

For Other Materials

If you want to include other digital materials with your submission, that's great. PDF maps and what-have-you are all fine. As with images, however, I will not use someone else's copyrighted images in your article without written permission from the original copyright holder.

Heavy Gear is © 2002, Dream Pod 9, Inc. All rights reserved. APAGear is not affiliated with Dream Pod 9 in any way. Submitted material remains the property of the creator.

Modified March 10, 2002