home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
Night Owl 6
/
Night Owl's Shareware - PDSI-006 - Night Owl Corp (1990).iso
/
050a
/
asp_apl.zip
/
README.DOC
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1991-05-01
|
6KB
|
110 lines
May 1, 1991
Dear Author,
Thank you for your interest in becoming a member of the Association of
Shareware Professionals (ASP). We are a group of Shareware authors that
are working to improve the image of Shareware as an alternative way of
purchasing high quality software.
Many of us operate by ourselves and have a "regular daytime" job and
operate our software businesses during the evenings and weekends. Others
of us, through hard work and "the right product" are running our Shareware
business full time and a few even have a dozen or so employees. The term
"right product" means that that author happened upon a product that was
highly needed, has wide appeal, is highly acclaimed, the author worked
hard at marketing and became highly successful. Not all of us (myself
included) are in that category.
Many of us target our software to a niche in the software market. We
realize that our expertise is in that niche and are willing to write to
that limited market. We can't all write good word processor, database,
communications or spreadsheet software. We have discovered that we can be
compensated for our efforts through registrations, without the HIGH cost
of advertizing and distribution associated with the "traditional" methods
of software distribution. Most of us really enjoy the direct contact with
our customers. This allows our Shareware to live and grow in ways that
are just not possible with the "traditional" method of distribution.
I have placed several files on this disk to help you in preparing your
software and documentation for ASP membership.
APPLIC.FRM READ THIS FILE!!! This is the full file that describes in
detail what is expected of the ASP author's software and
documentation. One of the MOST important sections contains
ASP's No Crippling policy. This is the sticking point on
many applications. All of us FIRMLY believe that the
potential registrant MUST be able to make an accurate "buy"
decision based on the freely distributed Shareware disk.
Some Shareware created a bad name for our industry by being
highly crippled as a registration incentive. If your
Shareware does not meet the No Crippling policy you should
either meet the requirements or withdraw your application.
Speaking for myself, when I revised my software to fully
document and include ALL features on the Shareware disk, my
registration rate went up significantly!
APPLIC.TXT This is the last few pages of APPLIC.FRM and is just the
Application Form itself. Fill this out and CompuServe Mail
or US Mail (on disk) this file to our Executive Director
after you have filled it out. In accordance with the
instructions in APPLIC.FRM, sign a paper copy of APPLIC.TXT
and mail with the disk containing the filled-out APPLIC.TXT
file. BE SURE to either mail the disk or Email the
filled-out APPLIC.TXT file or your application will be
delayed until you do send the file. Myself and the
reviewers are all volunteers and having this ASCII file will
save us a lot of time {many thanks!}. Don't forget the $50.
Please COMPLETELY describe your Shareware in the section
titled "Major Features". Take as much room at this point in
the file as you wish. If you just say "see attached" and
include a paper write-up, I will return the disk to you to
complete. I have a tough time stuffing brochures into my A:
drive {grin}. You can write letters, but they won't fit in
my A: drive either.
Please COMPLETELY describe ANY differences between your
freely distributed Shareware disk and what is sent to
registrants. If you leave this blank, the application will
come right back to you.
SHAREW.PRN Your documentation should contain a description of the
Shareware concept. You may wish to include a warranty and
you must includs something that lets the registrant know what
he/she will get for registering. Paul Mayer developed the
text in this file as an example of this type of text
wording. Feel free to include portions or all of this file
in your documentation.
IMAGE.TXT This file contains all of the ASP's regulations on the use of
Registration Reminder Screens. Carefully read this file and
to see that you are following the ASP' requirements.
REASONS.TXT A collection of messages from the ASP's open forum on
CompuServe that give many good reasons to join the ASP.
TRIVIAL.TXT A collection of messages from the ASP's open forum on
CompuServe that trys to answer the question "What is a
trivial program?"
README.DOC This file.
The address of our Executive Director is:
Executive Director
Association of Shareware Professionals
545 Grover Road
Muskegon MI 49442-9427
CompuServe PPN: 72050,1433
FAX: 616-788-2765
Thank you,
Woody Leonhard - ASP Author Membership Coordinator