PsL Monthly 1995 April/pslmonthlyvol3-4utilitiesapril1995.iso/psl_news/submit.doc

Text File | 1994-06-14 | 10KB | 204 lines

                              Software Submissions


      PsL's Monthly CD is marketed heavily to BBSs, Shareware Vendors,
      and User Groups, as well as to individual users. If you would like
      to get your program into this extensive distribution network, send
      it to:

          PsL Review Dept.
          P.O.Box 35705
          Houston, TX 77235-5705


Super-Large Files:

      PsL's low-cost Monthly CD is ideal for distributing files which may
      be too large for normal disk distribution or downloading. For
      REALLY large submissions, we can accept 44MB, 90MB and 150MB
      Bernoulli cartridges. (We will return your cartridge, of course.)




PsL's Catalog Criteria:

      PsL will add all worthwhile programs to our monthly CD, but we do
      not add every program received to our catalog. The following
      criteria apply for our catalog:

      1. Originality - We look for programs with new ideas or which
           appear to be improvements (features or price-wise) over
           similar programs already in our catalog. If you think your
           program is better than existing ones, be sure to add a
           features comparison chart to your DOC file. Check the PsL
           Reviews on this CD to see what programs are already available.

      2. Fully Functional - We do not add programs with important
           features artificially limited, nor those which run for a
           limited time or limited number of executions or with shareware
           screens that are overly intrusive or which do not have
           sufficient documentation to allow full use of the program.

      3. Useable - Programs must be free of significant bugs and must be
           intelligently and attractively designed. We can no longer add
           programs to our catalog which are aimed at very small niches,
           although we will add such programs to our Monthly CD.

PsL's Credit Card Registration Service:

      PsL offers a shareware registration order taking service primarily
      for the benefit of shareware authors who are unable to get a credit
      card merchant account. We began this service in January 1989 and
      presently take orders for over 850 shareware authors.

      PsL can take orders via our 800#, non-800#, CIS#, and FAX#. Our
      operators are available from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. CST
      Monday-Friday and normally from 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on weekends.
      We provide the easiest and most direct way to register shareware
      via CompuServe - via email. FAX and credit cards are the primary
      means of registration for overseas customers.

      When we take an order, we contact you to ship, so you maintain
      complete control over your products and customer base.

      We charge a small fee per transaction. You incur no costs except
      for these transaction fees when we take a registration. Statements
      and checks are computer prepared and mailed promptly at the end of
      each month.

      We have tried to price this service as close as possible to our
      total actual costs as a service to shareware authors.

      As a result, we will take orders ONLY for programs that are being
      marketed as shareware for DOS-based machines. However, the program
      does NOT have to be in PsL's shareware catalog; the order-taking
      service is a completely separate function from our shareware
      distribution service. (We would, of course, be happy to have you
      send us a copy of your shareware program for review for our monthly
      magazine.)

      See the file ORD-SVC.TXT in the DOS\PRGMMING directory for more
      information.

Other Help With Shareware Marketing:

      The Association of Shareware Professionals is a trade organization
      of shareware authors, vendors, and BBSs. One of the best sources
      for assistance in marketing your program as shareware is the ASP
      forum on CompuServe (GO ASPFORUM). Lots of programmers are regulars
      there and willing to answer messages asking for help.

      The best way to learn how to write a DOC file with all the blurbs
      for shareware marketing is to study other successful shareware
      programs.

      We get many calls from programmers asking us to evaluate their
      programs or to give them advice on shareware marketing.
      Unfortunately, our resources are stretched to the limit with the
      work we already have, so we are unable to honor such requests.

      We do have a Shareware Programmer's Guide on disk which you may
      order from PsL or download from the ASPFORUM on CompuServe
      (GUIDE.EXE). ASP also gives this file to new members (last time we
      heard).

How the PsL Database Can Help Programmers:

      If you are thinking of writing a program, you can first check the PsL
      database (using PSL_SHRD or PSL_SHRW) to see if what you want to
      write has already been done.

      Once you have written your program, you can search the database to
      see if someone is already using the program name you want to use.

      If you want to have a company name, you can also search the database
      by company name to help avoid duplication. (The Windows program lets
      you view a list of authors sorted by company name for faster
      scanning.)

Sumitting Information for the Database:

      If you would like to update the information in the PsL database for
      your author entry or for any of your programs, you may optionally
      submit it in a file on your disk or via email on Compuserve which
      will make it possible for us to quickly import it into the database.
      Otherwise, we welcome submissions in any form - by by FAX, by phone,
      or by postal mail.

      The format to use in electronic sumbmission is shown below. A
      suggested file name is DATABASE.TXT. The number at the start of each
      line is the maximum line length.

      Note that in the Program entry, only 12 characters are allowed for a
      file name. For use on PsL's CD, multiple program files must be in
      one or more ZIP files of the same name with a letter or number
      incrementing at the end of the name for multiple files. For example,
      if you have MYPROG1.ZIP and MYPROG2.ZIP, just list MYPROG1 in the
      entry and the number of files (2, in this example) on the next line.
      A PsL CD ZIP file may, if you wish, contain your own archives and,
      optionally, an installation program for the user to run after
      dearchiving from the PsL CD, although many users complain about
      having to "install twice".

      If you have a single file of some type which cannot be compressed by
      ZIPping, such as a GIF file, it does not have to be in ZIP format.

      Program descriptions can be up to 1000 characters. We use descrip-
      tions which are factual and descriptive. The first sentence should
      give a capsule summary of the basic function of the program. Assume
      that the program name starts the first sentence, so you do not have
      to repeat the name. Example first line for CardShark Hearts:
      "lets you play the card game Hearts against the computer or up to
      three other people over a network." Note that you do NOT have to
      start with "is a program that..." which just wastes precious space.
      (The user already KNOWS it is a program.)

      Next should come a concise listing of the most important and most
      unique features of the program. The last line should include system
      requirements which meet or exceed the following: >1MB RAM, EMS, 386+,
      VGA+, and any special requirements such as CD-ROM, modem, laser
      printer, etc. Also, 1000 characters is a LIMIT - please do not feel
      obligated to use the entire limit. The database compresses blanks out
      of this field and holds down the size of the database. When entering
      the description, use as many lines as you wish. A blank line ends
      the description.

      Y