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EM acts as a forum for shared ideas among musicians of the electronic persuasion. Articles written for EM should reflect that by having a friendly but professional and informative tone. We want people to learn from your experiences and ideas, and the best way for that to happen is to present them in a clear and readable manner.

To make sure our basic requirements are fulfilled, we've put together a set of frequently asked questions about writing for EM and supplied the answers. Even if you've never written an article before, we think you'll find all the necessary information.

Good luck with your writing. We look forward to reading your efforts.

--The EM Editorial Department

How do I get started?

Most articles, especially reviews, are assigned by an EM editor. However, we do accept unsolicited articles. If you have something that's of practical interest to people involved in producing electronic music, chances are it would fit in our pages. Remember, what is obvious to you may not be obvious to someone else; some of our most popular articles include simple ideas that fall into the "why didn't someone think of this before" category.

If you have an article idea and seek an assignment, please email a clear, comprehensive outline to emeditorial@penton.com. If you have not previously written for EM, please attach a writing sample (or send us a Web URL where we can download it), preferably something relevant to recording and electronic music. For instance, you can write a brief "mock" article, such as a review of a product you know well, just to give us a sense of your technical writing skills.

We will consider your proposal, and if we approve the topic and outline, we will specify how long the article should be, propose a due date, and tell you how much we will pay for it. Note that your deadline is the day we receive the article, not the day you complete it.

In many cases, we request modifications to such proposals, in which case you might need to submit a second version of your outline. Once we have agreed on the terms of the assignment, we will send you a contract and an assignment letter that formalizes the assignment. Many aspects of the contract and assignment letter are explained in this document.

How will I know if my article has been accepted?

If your article submission is unsolicited, we will email you to let you know whether your article has been accepted. Please be patient, though; we receive hundreds of manuscripts and letters, and it takes time to go through them, especially while trying to put out the magazine each month.

If your article was assigned by an editor, you will know the story was accepted in one of two ways: either a check will magically appear in the mail, or (more often) the person who was assigned to edit the story will contact you with questions.

Note that an article assignment does not guarantee acceptance for publication. Acceptance for publication means that we consider the story to be on topic, technically accurate, sufficiently thorough, and well written - in short, ready to be edited - and we do not anticipate asking you to do significant additional work. Even after an article is accepted, however, we might still ask you for supplemental work, mostly to clarify your points. With reviews, we sometimes require additional testing, as well.

In some cases, we may feel the article is moving in the right direction but needs significant rewriting and/or additional research, and we may want to discuss some of your assumptions and opinions that we consider questionable. In most such situations, we will not formally accept the article for publication until all such issues are resolved to our satisfaction.

What kind of articles should I submit?

We like to provide readers with solutions to the various problems encountered in the process of composing, producing, recording, and mastering music using electronics. To this end, we always need applications stories, ranging from basic tutorials through advanced master classes on subjects applicable to the electronic musician who works in a personal studio. Think in terms of practical tips and techniques that make life in the personal studio easier or more cost-effective or that help the reader overcome common technical difficulties in the recording, sound design, or mastering process.

A product-specific Master Class story should discuss how to use the deeper and less-known or commonly misunderstood features of a popular product. If the product is not in widespread use, not enough readers will be interested to justify doing a feature story. Assume the reader already owns the product and understands the basics, so that you can focus on advanced tips and tricks. The information presented should not be available in the product manual or on the manufacturer's Web site unless it is so poorly presented there that an explanatory article is called for.

Our Production Values series consists of interviews with well-known producers, audio engineers, or artists. These should focus on their recording techniques, production philosophy, and how they use their gear to accomplish their production magic. Simply discussing what gear they have is not of interest unless we learn why they chose that specific gear and, most important, how they use it.

We also like "plays well with others" articles that explain how to better integrate the hardware and software in the personal studio so that they work together as a system.

What about product reviews?

All product reviews are assigned by associate editor Gino Robair; grobair@emusician.com. Please contact Gino by email before submitting a review, as he may have already assigned a review of the product you have in mind.

IMPORTANT: Absolutely do not solicit a manufacturer to send a product using the name of Electronic Musician. Before a manufacturer sends a product for review, the request must be authorized by our editors. Unless we specifically instruct you otherwise, you should contact us, and we will contact the manufacturer to request the product.

Most reviews start with a very brief overview (don't give us the history of the industry), a physical description of the product, operational details, and your conclusions, with lots of opinions. The review should include unusual features, useful tips and applications for the piece of gear, and how you solved any problems.

During the review process, we expect you to contact the manufacturer with questions, especially if you find problems, the documentation is unclear, or you wish to understand the manufacturer's intentions with regard to design or marketing. Don't assume what the manufacturer intended; ask. We will provide the necessary contact information in your assignment letter.

After we fact-check the review, we will contact you regarding return of the product. Unless we tell you otherwise, please return the product to us, not to the manufacturer. If you have not been contacted, and you think it's time to send the product back, call us.

Requirements for product reviews:

1. Include all major features and functions (and a reason for their existence, if the reason is unusual or unclear).

2. Provide a product summary (refer to published EM reviews for examples). Be sure to include product name; type of product; list price; Pros and Cons; minimum system requirements for software reviews; and manufacturer's name, phone number, email address, and Web URL. (We can supply the manufacturer contact information during the editing process, if necessary.)

3. We use a 5-point rating system: 5 = superb, equal to the best of its type; 4 = significantly above average; 3 = good and solid; 2 = fair, but needs improvement; 1 = poor. There is no "zero" rating, but we allow half-points. We expect that if the product works as expected but is not truly above average, the ratings will usually be somewhere around 3. Please try to make your ratings consistent with your review text; the editors will challenge ratings they feel are inconsistent with the text, especially very high or very low ratings. We do not use a rating of 5 unless the product is the absolute top of its class. There may be others in that realm, but the review product has to be one of the very best.

To maintain consistency between reviews, we will suggest meter categories we feel are appropriate for each type of product. If there are special features or other circumstances that lead you to believe different categories are appropriate for the product at hand, please feel free to discuss it with the assigning editor. We generally use the following categories:

Features

Ease of Use

Audio Quality or Documentation (depending on the product type)

Value

Quick Pick reviews do not have product summaries, and they only have one Overall meter.

4. Become very familiar with the piece of gear so you can offer useful applications and clever tips. Cover all the important features and functions of the gear.

5. Although we assume you'll read the entire manual (ahem), don't write your review as you would a manual. For example, it's unnecessary to say "press the control button twice, hit return, and the second menu screen appears to allow you to save 32 patches." All we need to know is "you can save 32 patches" unless the operation is either so cumbersome or so user-friendly as to be worthy of note. IMPORTANT: Include opinions rather than just a listing of features.

6. Avoid direct comparisons with competing products unless they are clearly relevant, the comparison is fair (for instance, we generally wouldn't criticize a $300 mic for not sounding as good as a $1,000 mic), and you are extremely confident you can back up your claims.

What about product roundups?

Product roundups are complex feature stories because they cover all or most products of a certain type (say, powered monitor speakers that cost under $750), and our testing and writing standards are especially high for these articles. Therefore, these stories need to be closely coordinated by our editors. If you are interested in doing a roundup of a certain type of gear, be sure to narrow your proposed focus to restrict the list to a practically manageable number of products.

What about do-it-yourself articles?

Although we rarely publish DIY articles nowadays, we do run them on occasion. Here are the basic requirements:

1. Include a parts list that follows the EM format, using international units of measure. Make sure all parts are still available and suggest mail-order, Web, or chain-store sources for harder-to-find parts.

2. Provide copies of data sheets for ICs and unusual parts.

3. Include complete, accurate schematics.

What about article length?

The assigning editor will work with you to determine a target length for your story. This recommended length is not an absolute limit; you can exceed it if the writing is tight and the extra length allows you to include valuable information. However, please don't go overboard and exceed your word count by more than a few hundred words and don't turn in an article that is much shorter than the assigned length unless you have renegotiated the length with the assigning editor.

Features typically run 2,500 to 4,000 words, and columns 1,500 to 2,500 words. Full-length reviews are usually around 1,200 to 3,500 words. Quick Pick reviews generally run between 500 and 750 words.

What about style? (downloadable EM Style Guide)

Relax. Write as if you were talking to friends. There's no need to sound "formal" or "scientific," but avoid being overly chatty or verbose. Aim for writing that will interest the reader. But don't try to be funny; it probably will sound forced, and besides, our style is somewhat conservative. On the other hand, please be careful to write correctly, using proper grammar and sentence construction, and check your spelling and punctuation carefully. When in doubt, refer to the Chicago Manual of Style, as noted in item 7 below.

We use italics (sparingly) for emphasis; please do not underline words. Put only one space (not two) after a period. Put two "hard" returns between paragraphs, and don't indent the first line of the paragraph. Do not apply word-processor Styles or use any other formatting: no tabs, centering, etc. Using Styles and extensive formatting is a waste of your time and ours because we have to remove it in order to apply our own custom formatting.

If possible, try to be clever and create a few potential titles and companion kickers. A kicker (sometimes called a "deck") is the sentence or phrase immediately following the title that serves to capture the reader's interest and draw him/her to read your article.

For example (from the October 2002 issue):

(Title) Making the Grade

(Kicker) Do pro-audio schools deliver as promised?

Be sure to separate the article into smaller sections that begin with very short subheads describing that section. Each section should be at least two paragraphs long. You should also include a brief biography (25 words or less); the bio is the only place you are allowed to promote yourself or your company, product, or service.

For further information, you can download and read the EM Style Guide (Adobe Acrobat format). But the best way to learn how to write for EM is to critically read recent issues of the magazine, paying close attention to the layout, writing style, and elements of the story.

Here are a few more ideas:

1. Use an outline to organize your thoughts.

2. Use the active voice instead of the passive. If you write, "...turn the control to vary gain" instead of, "...the control is turned to vary gain," your reader knows the knob only does its stuff after getting a good crank, not through some otherwise unmentioned automation.

3. Take as many words as you need, but be concise; make each point only once. If your thoughts are organized, you won't repeat a point from paragraph 3 in paragraph 6. Follow the magazine's format as closely as possible. Use headings to separate topics.

4. Think graphically. A picture will often convey an idea more easily and in less space than a lot of words, so use diagrams or illustrations wherever appropriate. These don't have to be camera-ready drawings; a clear, accurate pencil sketch will do. (For more on this, see "What About Graphics?") Print your letters and numerals clearly enough to be read by someone with less than excellent eyesight.

5. Sidebars are extremely useful for quick explanations of basic terms and concepts in technical material. Use them to cover "mini topics" and basic concepts.

6. Check your work both by carefully reading it several times and by using a spell checker. When you think you are finished with the piece, re-read it one last time for good measure.

7. We generally follow the guidelines dictated in the Chicago Manual of Style, which is widely available at bookstores.

8. Captions should be more than just a label; they should provide useful information about what the reader is seeing in the graphic. For example, in our Finale 2003 review (in the January 2003 issue of EM), the Figure 1 caption reads, "FIG. 1: Finale's multiple floating tool palettes can easily be reshaped, and they can now appear in one of several style and color combinations. The Tool icons are also a bit larger than they were in previous versions." This is far better than simply writing, "FIG. 1: Finale's floating tool palettes."

What about format?

Please submit the article as a word-processor file. Our first choice is Microsoft Word, but we can read most Windows and Mac formats. Check with us if you use an unusual format, and when in doubt, save as a text file. Don't forget the graphics, which should be sent as separate files, not embedded in the text.

At the beginning, put your name, social security number (so we can pay you), street address, telephone number, and email address. We do a lot of business by email, but sometimes we need to talk with you in real time, so please tell us the best time to phone you.

What about graphics?

We expect you to supply graphics (such as charts, diagrams, photos, computer screen shots, and tables) to illustrate your points. For technical illustrations, we can use clean, handwritten copy; a computer printout; or draw or paint files in any common Mac or Windows format (e.g., TIFF, EPS, PICT, PCX, BMP, GIF, JPEG, Illustrator, or Photoshop). Our computer illustrator will render your draft into final form. Screen shots can be in any of the same common formats.

IMPORTANT: Don't forget to supply captions and write figure callouts in the text (e.g., "see Fig. 1") when referring to a specific graphic.

Photos should be high contrast, fine grain (i.e., low ASA film) prints, slides, transparencies, or high-resolution (300 dpi or higher) TIFF, Photoshop, or JPEG files. Please be aware that space considerations and inadequate material often prevent us from using submitted photos. Do not write directly on the back of photo prints, as that destroys them; to identify photos, make a photocopy and write the figure number and caption on the copy.

We cannot guarantee the return of submitted graphics, but we'll do our best. If you want us to return any submitted items, please send an SASE and attach a return address to each item.

What about providing online example files (EM Web Clips)?

We also encourage you to supply audio, video, and Standard MIDI File examples that we will post on our Web site to help readers understand your points or simply provide extra value. We can accept audio files in WAV, AIFF, or good-quality MP3 format. Video files should be in QuickTime or Real format. MIDI examples should be in Standard MIDI File format unless they are product-specific, such as a Logic file to illustrate something specific to that program, a Finale or Sibelius file for notation, or a synth patch for a synthesizer-specific Master Class or review. Like graphics, EM WebClips need captions, so please include a few words about each clip.

Note that copyrighted material can be used only with permission of the copyright holder, and we will only use clips of 30 seconds or less unless we have written permission to use an entire piece.

When will my article appear in print?

Publications dates vary. Shorter articles are easier to work into the magazine than longer ones; timely or highly informative articles also get priority. Our usual lead time is three months, but articles are frequently bumped to later issues due to space considerations, and we keep some articles on file for future use, so it can take longer for a manuscript to make it into print. We know waiting is a drag, but please be patient; things are busy around here, and the magazine has limited space.

How much and when will I be paid?

We will send you a contract with the agreed-upon amount filled in. Note that this amount includes all expenses; we have already accounted for extra money in our offer to cover for your phone expenses, shipping costs, and so on.

The amount we pay is negotiable and depends on the subject's complexity, the level of reader interest, the quality of writing (concise, well-edited articles are always a plus), and whether or not camera-ready graphics or high-quality photos are part of the package. Most author-submitted photos are unusable, though, so it's fine to send them, but don't go all out unless you are sure of your capabilities.

EM pays upon official acceptance of your article for publication (see "How Will I Know If My Article Has Been Accepted?"). Before our accounting department can issue your check, we must have the signed contract, so please sign the contract and return it as soon as possible. Please allow two to four weeks after acceptance for us to process the payment.

Please be aware that EM retains a variety of reprint and reuse rights on published material.

Sounds good. Where do I send my article or story pitch?

Email proposals to emeditorial@emusician.com. They will be forwarded to the appropriate editor.

Email finished word-processor or text files and graphics files to emarticles@emusician.com. We do not accept hardcopy submissions, except for graphics.

Send graphics that are not in electronic form to assistant editor Tracy Katz at:

Electronic Musician

Attn: Tracy Katz

6400 Hollis St. #12

Emeryville, CA 94608

Please mark each graphic and include a note explaining what article the graphic is for, what the graphic is (e.g., a photo or technical drawing), and the figure number used to identify it in the article.

If, after reading these guidelines, you have further questions, please email us at emeditorial@emusician.com or call one of the editors at our main office. Our general office phone number is (510) 653-3307. Our office hours are 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time, Monday through Friday.