How to (and why) Contribute

The how to contribute is fairly easy.  Send me an e-mail describing the article or project (no attachments please).  Provided it fulfils the basic requirements (see below), I will request the full text and any diagrams to be sent as an e-mail attachment.

I will then edit your descriptive text (if and where necessary), insert your diagrams in the places you indicate and advise you of the URL so you can see the finished product before it is indexed.  Once we are both happy with the result, I will index the material and your masterpiece is on line.

The why is also simple.  I have a page that gets over 2000 visitors a day.  This means great exposure for you and your ideas.

These terms and conditions must be read before you fill in the Submission Request document, which is printed from your browser, signed and sent to ESP.  All relevant details are on the form.

NOTE:   The Submission Request is not mandatory, so you don't have to fill it in if you don't want to.  I suggest that you do (and keep a copy for yourself), as this provides you with some degree of copyright protection.  Obviously, if someone wants to steal your idea there is not a lot you can do to stop them, but at least you have proof of ownership of the idea, and the date it was submitted.  I will also be able to support you if necessary if the form is completed.

The terms and conditions below are not intended to scare you off! The Audio Pages have gained considerable popularity because of the content and value to the readers.  Any material that you contribute should have the same intent - to share your ideas, to educate the newcomer and to provide a benefit to the audio community.  This is our hobby, our enjoyment (even our passion), so let others benefit from your experiences and help me to establish the best DIY audio web site in the world.

The basis of all of the stuff below is very simple.  You don't offer material that is not yours, I don't steal your ideas, and you don't steal mine.  We work together to everyone's advantage.  I admit that some of the stuff below looks heavy going, but it is actually quite straightforward and in simple terms means that I will not accept responsibility if you try to pass someone else's work off as your own, and get caught out.

So you know exactly what I mean by some of the terms, here are my definitions:

Submitted material	This includes any printed material or other hard copy, all software, text files or drawings in any format.
Published Material	Includes any or all of the submitted material, and also includes the page format in Hypertext Markup Language (html), the ESP logo, any text or drawings prepared by ESP or others working on behalf of ESP and the final copyright notice.
Relationship	Includes any business partnership, memorandum of understanding or other business relationship or any verbal agreement that provides a financial benefit to any person.
Submission Request	The form that declares your ownership of the submitted article, and includes your full name, postal and e-mail addresses.

All material submitted must be your own.  Reprints of existing articles and/or the work or rework of others is not acceptable without written authorisation from the original copyright holder.  Any person submitting material for publication indemnifies Elliott Sound Products and Rod Elliott (hereinafter referred to as ESP) against any legal action that may be taken as a result of the publication of the material either in whole or in part.  ESP shall not be held accountable for any breach of copyright, as submitted material is accepted in good faith that no prior claim is held against the published work.

Where the material submitted warrants it, you may be asked to fill in the Submission Request form, and return by post or emailed PDF to ESP.  The form declares your ownership or other rights to the material.  This form is available as an HTML page, and may be submitted with any material if you would like to do so.  It is expected that this will not be necessary in the majority of cases, but the choice is yours.  I suggest that you use the form (at least for yourself) as proof of copyright if ever you need to demonstrate that your material was submitted/ published before it was hijacked by another site (and this - unfortunately - happens way too often).

The copyright of the original submission of any published material remains your own absolutely, and may be re-used or re-published at your discretion.  The final published material, including but not limited to any drawings or additional text added by ESP shall have joint copyright, and the final published material may not be re-used, sold or re-published either in whole or in part in any form whatsoever without my written consent.

I will not sell, re-use or republish your original submission or the final published material without your written consent, either in whole or in part.  Should ESP design a printed circuit board or any other product that is subsequently offered for sale, you will be compensated at a rate that will be negotiated beforehand (where such product is based on your submitted material).

As the primary copyright holder, you may request the withdrawal of your published material at any time.  I will delete the material from my site completely, within an agreed time period.  I reserve the right to retain a copy of the material for my own reference, but will not disclose any part of the material to any other party without your written permission.

All credit for the work will be given to you (the author), and ESP's only credits will be for editing, redrawn diagrams and additional comment or explanation if necessary.

Articles or projects should be related (directly or indirectly) to audio, and shall be non-commercial in content.  Advertising of any sort is not acceptable.  Application Notes are a special case, and may be based on specific manufacturers' data, and do not need to have anything whatsoever to do with audio.  However, there is scope for other articles or projects that aren't audio-related, but they must be about electronics, and at a level that's consistent with the general content of the ESP website.  For example, a 100 page dissertation on 'theoretical particle physics' doesn't have a home on 'The Audio Pages'.

References to commercial component outlets or resellers are only accepted where a specific component is unavailable elsewhere, and where the seller is unrelated in any way whatsoever to the author.  However, there is some flexibility on this point, and is something that can be discussed as required.  It is (and always has been) ESP's goal to provide readers with good information, and if you can provide a particular part (such as a pre-programmed microcontroller for example) then that should not affect your submission.

Material that is offensive, inflammatory or defames other persons or organisations is not acceptable, with the sole exception of exposing fraud or deception.  If you choose to do this - make sure you have your facts straight.  ESP cannot and will not take any responsibility whatsoever if you are wrong, and will withdraw any article without notice if requested to do so by any Government agency or other authority acting for or on behalf of anyone who claims (rightly or otherwise) that they have been damaged in any way by the published material.  You will be named as the author if this information is requested, and such authorities shall be informed of your sole responsibility for the material as set out herein.

Material does not have to agree with my own published philosophy, but I will almost certainly reject it if it is diametrically opposed.  For example, an article about the "great benefits of $10,000 mains leads" (power cords) will not be acceptable, since such things are complete BS.  However a well constructed article on the differences that can be measured between different power leads may be alright.  Note that differences and benefits must be quantifiable - purely subjective comparisons are useless unless properly conducted double blind testing has revealed that differences do exist.  Any such article must be sufficiently well developed to be able to explain the differences in real (as opposed to imaginary or indefinable) terms.

Editing shall include spelling and grammatical checking.  Australian English spellings will be substituted for others where appropriate (for example, "travelling" versus "traveling").  If any change affects the original meaning or intent, you must advise me of this as soon as the discrepancy is found and it will be corrected.

Drawings will almost always be re-done to reflect the style and format that I use.  In a very small number of cases I may elect you use your original drawings, but this is rare.

This is very simple - there is none (with one exception, see below).  I do not make money from my pages (other than from the sale of PCBs for my projects), and with only basic (and minimal) advertising I do not have the luxury of paying contributors, unlike magazines.  The Audio Pages are for the enjoyment of everyone, and in the best traditions of the Net are (with very few exceptions) completely free.  By the same standards, I expect no payment from contributors, for exactly the same reasons.

The only exception to the 'no payment' policy is where you have boards, kits or other material of any kind that is offered for sale.  Since you will get the benefit of the wide circulation of The Audio Pages, I will expect a percentage of the profits of sales made from this site.  This is negotiable on a case by case basis, and will generally be based on an honesty system.  Any breach of good faith will ensure the immediate withdrawal of the material without notice.

As noted above, the same applies if I make a PCB or kit from your submitted material.  I will then pay you a negotiated fee for the right to use your idea.  This will again usually be a percentage of the selling price or a single upfront fee based on mutually agreeable terms.

If you submit any material for publication, it is accepted that you agree to the terms and conditions as set out herein.  Your failure to read these terms and conditions in no way relieves you of any obligation nor obligates Rod Elliott (including but not limited to his heirs and assigns) to any penalty imposed due to breach of copyright or any other matter whatsoever.  You agree with the terms and conditions and accept full responsibility for all published material based on your submission.

The material you submit should be as follows:

Text	An ASCII text file is preferred.  Since the risk of computer virus infection is high with document files, I prefer not to have anything submitted in this format.  Since I will not open any Microsoft Word or similar file in anything other than a text editor, any formatting you may apply will be lost anyway.
Photos	JPEG is the preferred format for all photographic images.  These may be greyscale ('black and white') but preferably full colour.  The size must be compatible with the standard web browser page sizes, and should be able to be displayed without scrolling on a standard 1024 x 768 pixel display.  File size should be limited to less than 100kB (100,000 bytes) if possible.  Most photos will be reduced to 800 pixels width, and should not be more than 800 pixels high.
Drawings	All line drawings (including schematic diagrams) must be in GIF (Graphic Interchange Format), and should be formatted with black text and lines on a white background.  Like photos, they should fit in a standard browser window without scrolling (if possible).  File size should be limited to less than 10kB (10,000 bytes) if possible.  Graphs should be in colour, with a different colour used for each trace were more than one trace is shown in a single graph.
References	Where the submitted material contains significant reference(s) to other published or unpublished works of any party, these must be stated if at all possible.  Material that obviously uses references that are not acknowledged will be rejected, or placed on hold until the necessary references are supplied.
Printed Material	Any printed material must be in a format that can be scanned and read with basic OCR software or converted into an image file.  In general, printed material is the worst possible way to submit information intended for electronic publication.  Avoid if possible.
Software	Any software, spreadsheet or other computer based material that is submitted should be designed for the Microsoft Windows (Win7 or above) operating systems, as I cannot verify operation for any software designed for other operating systems.  Software must be certified as virus-free, and 'adware' is absolutely banned. Where this is not possible or available, suitable 'screen shots' should be provided to allow me (and other readers) to see what the program is meant to do.  (It is unlikely that non-M$ software will be published.)
Completeness	The submitted material should be complete, without any omissions that could make the material unusable to the average reader.
Supporting Material	I need your full name, postal and e-mail addresses, and a brief description of the material.  Use of the Submission Request form (see below) ensures that I have all the information I need, and you will have a permanent record of what was sent (and when).  This establishes your copyright to the material, and is also for my own records.  This information will not be disclosed to any party other than a government body or other authorised agency with a genuine need to know, other than at your request.  Should this information be requested (or demanded) from me, I will let you know as soon as possible.

Thank you for taking the time to read this information, and for your interest in submitting material for publication.  With your continued input and support, it becomes possible to build the most informative and useful web site in the world for all things audio.

View and fill in the Submission Request form.  Use of this form is voluntary but recommended.  All instructions are on the form.

Note: do not send the form unless requested.  By itself it is useless - I need the submitted details first.

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