MONTHLY POSTING: Review writer's checklist (optional)
comp.sys.amiga.reviews moderator
Helpful Checklist For Review Writers
(Optional but recommended)
Last modified 03 Jun 1996
This is a checklist to help review writers format their reviews the
way I like them. You don't have to use it; however, if you do, you will
make my job easier, and I will be VERY, VERY happy!!! :-)
Print out this checklist. As you write and proofread your review,
check off the parts you have finished. When everything is checked, your
review is ready to submit!
Review writers should also see the "Full Review Template" article,
which is an optional "fill in the blanks" form to help you write your
review.
GENERAL INFORMATION
( ) I used the comp.sys.amiga.reviews Template form, or I included:
( ) Product name.
( ) Brief description (1-2 sentences) of the product.
( ) Vendor name.
( ) Vendor address, INCLUDING the country (even if USA).
( ) Vendor telephone number. [If this is an "800" number, and
you live in the USA or Canada, please call it yourself and
ask for a non-toll-free number for use outside of North
America.]
( ) List price.
( ) Description of copy protection.
( ) Works (or does not work) with accelerated CPU's.
TEXT FORMATTING
( ) Only plain text files (also called ASCII files) are acceptable. I
cannot accept reviews in proprietary file formats.
( ) All lines are less than 80 characters long.
( ) Use tabs, not spaces, for indenting. (If possible.) If your text
editor or word processor allows you to set tab stops, I recommend
using a tab size of 8 when formatting your review, since USENET
news-reading software tends to use this tab size.
( ) Every paragraph has ONLY the first line indented (one tab). The
rest of the paragraph is not indented. For example:
This is an example of the way paragraphs are formatted in a
comp.sys.amiga.reviews "standard" review. The first line begins with a tab,
but all the rest of the lines are not indented.
(Exceptions: the sections AUTHOR/COMPANY INFORMATION and
SPECIAL HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS, where EVERY LINE is
indented with 2 tabs. See the Template.)
( ) Paragraphs are separated by one blank line.
( ) Major sections are separated by two blank lines.
( ) Major section names are in ALL CAPITALS.
( ) Sentences are separated by TWO spaces, not just one. (Non-USA
residents may find this surprising, but it is standard practice
in the USA, and I think it looks cleaner.)
( ) Please do NOT right-justify the text.
PROOFREADING
( ) Check the spelling.
( ) Check for common errors:
MEANING WRONG RIGHT
---------------------------------------------------------------------
megabytes mb, Mb [this is megaBITS!] MB, meg, Meg
kilobytes k, kb, Kb [this is kiloBITS!] K, KB, KBytes
memory ram, Ram, rom, Rom RAM, ROM
hard drive harddrive, hard-drive hard drive
hard disk harddisk, hard-disk hard disk
AmigaDOS Amigados, AmigaDos AmigaDOS
For example, eg e.g.,
That is, ie i.e.,
Etcetera, and so on etc etc.
( ) Common abbreviations are fully written out:
DON'T USE PLEASE USE
--------------------------------------------------------
WB Workbench
KS Kickstart
ADos, ADOS, OS AmigaDOS
v, V, v# version
w/ with
w/o without
HD hard drive, hard disk
CHIP, chip Chip RAM
FAST, fast Fast RAM
US$35.98 $35.98 (US)
MSRP list price
util, prog utility, program
anim, pic animation, picture
( ) Avoid "slang" -- readers from other countries might not understand
your words. (Example: "I fiddled with the thing-a-ma-jig until the
doohickey got frazzled and barfed. Not." :-))
( ) Read the whole review from beginning to end, one more time.
Thanks!
---
Dan Barrett, Moderator, comp.sys.amiga.reviews
Send reviews to: amiga-review...@math.uh.edu
Request information: amiga-revie...@math.uh.edu
Moderator mail: amiga-...@math.uh.edu
Anonymous ftp site: math.uh.edu, in /pub/Amiga/comp.sys.amiga.reviews
Web site: http://math.uh.edu/~barrett/reviews.html