Write for PyZine!

We welcome article submissions:

• When you have an idea for an article on Python that you would be interested in writing yourself, send us a short description in English – a paragraph or two will do. Identify the topic (or topics) you would like to write about and why it is (they are) important. Send your idea(s) to the Editor at . Your suggestion(s) will then be considered by the PyZine staff. A member of the PyZine staff will then get back to you with respect to your proposal(s).
• If you have already written an article, in English, which has not been published in some other resource, you can send it to us and our staff will review the article and give consideration to its inclusion in PyZine. We'll inform you within 1 month of our decision.
• If you would like to suggest a topic that is of interest to you or which you think would be of interest to the Python community, please send your idea(s) to . If our staff agrees that the topic would be of interest, we will try to find an author willing to write an article about it.

As we pay for all articles, any published article would become the copyrighted property of PyZine. Henceforth, it can be quoted for reviews or reference but cannot be published or copied in any form without the written consent of PyZine. Naturally, if you later decide to write a book in print and wish to base it on some or all of the work you have done for PyZine we will happily support you--all we would ask is that you mention where the original article was published.

In general, an article in an issue of PyZine is about 8 to 10 pages long, including code examples. This does not mean, however, that we will reject longer articles: articles longer than 10 pages will (most of the time) be divided up into two or more parts and printed in successive issues of PyZine.

Note: code to be downloaded is not included in this length restriction.

We can not accept or publish images, screenshots or diagrams that are wider than 500 pixels.

Our rate for all articles we publish is 15 Euro per page (30 lines of 60 characters per line, i.e., 15 Euro per 1800 characters) excluding any program code. Payment is made on appearance of the article and will be based on the length of the final, not the submitted, text. In an article with two or more parts the time of payment will be divided up accordingly, i.e., payment will be made on appearance of the parts of the article. Authors should submit a PayPal account number in order to enable transfer of payment. Payments are processed 2 to 4 weeks after publication.

Authors who write either one article or two product reviews, that are published by PyZine, receive a one year subscription to PyZine free of charge. (See also our FAQ)

Once a topic for an article has been approved by the PyZine staff, the future author will be contacted and a deadline will be given for submission of the article. If this time is too short, we request that the author contact us immediately so we can agree on another deadline. PyZine planning for future issues depends on timely submission of articles. Prompt payment for an article will depend on its being submitted on time.

Note: PyZine reserves the right to decide when an article that has been accepted and gone through the editing process will appear on the Web.

English is the language of submission. No other language is acceptable as PyZine has no facilities for translating articles. We request that non-native English speakers have their articles looked at and given a critical evaluation -- and corrected as needed -- by a native speaker; or, if this is not possible, then by someone fluent in English (not by someone who is simply "good" in English).
Note: Articles are not to be translated using electronic translation programs, unless they are subsequently edited in detail by a native speaker or a fluent speaker of English.
One of the functions of the PyZine editor is linguistic editing; but the original text must be in “decent” English, so that anyone fluent in the language can get a clear idea of the author's meaning. PyZine reserves the right to return to an author for linguistic editing any article which has been accepted based on the author’s synopsis when the Editor finds that editing would require extensive rewriting.

All articles are to be submitted in reStructured Text, Rich Text Format, Microsoft Word or Open Office document(s).

As indicated above, the Editor will perform basic linguistic (and stylistic) editing. His editing function also includes making changes where they enhance the readability and coherence of an article. This will not be done in an arbitrary manner but with an eye to making the author's meaning as clear as possible. As the Editor is not a Python developer he will first draw on the resources of PyZine and then will contact the author for clarification of any questions he might have and discussion of his recommended changes. This contact will be in one or more of the following four ways:

1. Direct discussion, for authors living in the Berlin area
2. Telephone contact, insofar as this is economically feasible
3. ICQ / iChatAV
4. Email

Once the Editor has analyzed and made changes in a text (except where the changes are trivial, for example spelling or basic mistakes in grammar) and when any significant changes and the Editor’s questions have been discussed with the author, he will send an edited version back to the author for his/her final approval and any final comments.

Once the author-approved text is returned to the Editor, a final Word version will be prepared and then sent to the PyZine art director for HTML layout. PyZine will advise the author when his/her article is scheduled to appear.

PyZine is published quarterly. The texts, e.g., Articles, Product Reviews, Interviews, Letters to the Editor, etc. are not all published at one time, but over the course of the quarter. Authors will be informed of the Issue their article is to be published in.

Note: PyZine reserves the right to reschedule accepted articles, for example when a topic focus has been selected for a given issue. Each issue, whenever possible, will contain several articles on the same subject. The Editor intends to keep such rescheduling to a minimum, but requests our contributors' forbearance in this respect.