Writing for the AP Also available in .pdf format The American Philatelist is the oldest philatelic journal in the world, the first issue having appeared in January 1887. It is the magazine of the 50,000-member American Philatelic Society. We welcome articles about any aspect of philately, so long as they are original with us. As the nation’s premier philatelic magazine, we attract many worthy manuscripts. Most accepted articles face at least a twelve- to eighteen-month wait for publication. We pay a $75 honorarium for feature articles, $50 for brief articles. Payment is made upon publication. You also will receive ten copies of the issue in which your article appears. Manuscripts Please write your article in a conversational style and in first person. Keep in mind that you are telling a story to an interested person who is not necessarily a specialist in your field. Provide some background information so that readers can follow your discussion. Always spell out an acronym the first time you use it; add the abbreviation in parentheses -- even if you think everyone should know that UPU stands for Universal Postal Union. Manuscripts should be typed and double-spaced on white paper. The editorial staff welcomes manuscripts on IBM-compatible disks, but please also send a hard copy printout. We can accept 3½-inch disks, zip disks, or CDs, and most word processing programs, but we prefer files saved in WordPerfect. We also can send and receive e-mail attached files. Do not incorporate pictures in the text when sending hard copy or electronic copy. Do not format text when sending electronic files -- no centering, one font, and no columns. Send manuscripts, including photocopies of illustrations for reference, to editor Barb Boal, The American Philatelist, 100 Match Factory Place, Bellefonte, PA 16823, or by e-mail to baboal@stamps.org. The editorial staff reserves the right to edit all material accepted for publication. You will receive a copy of your edited article for review prior to publication. Illustrations and Captions Do not place figure references in the text as "Figure 1, Figure 2," etc. Text should give a description of the item but should not refer to it by figure number. Don’t forget to double-check your catalogue reference numbers, no matter which catalogue you are using, and especially if the stamp pictured is a variation. Provide a separate sheet with numbered figure captions. Lightly number photocopies, etc. in pencil or use sticky notes. Do not place sticky notes on original philatelic material, they will "lift" old ink. Please keep captions brief. While we prefer to scan the original stamps and covers to be illustrated in the magazine, high quality color photocopies usually reproduce well, if the material is placed on a dark background. Do not photocopy items while they are in their protective coverings or mounted on album pages. All original illustrative material will be returned by registered, insured mail. Let us know what value you place on the material, so that it may be insured accordingly. And let us know if there is an urgent need for a quick return. If you elect to scan the material yourself, please consult the scanning tips on the back of this brochure. Photographs taken with a digital camera are not acceptable for publication. Their resolution is 72 dpi (dots per inch) -- we require 300 dpi. Tell Us About Yourself Don't forget to include a two- or three-sentence "bio-note" that includes your current collecting interests. This will be published with your article. Cite Your Sources We follow The Chicago Manual of Style for citations. Here are examples of the format to follow: Endnotes 1. John L. Kay and Chester M. Smith Jr., New York Postal History: The Post Offices and First Postmasters from 1775 to 1980 (The American Philatelic Society, State College, Pennsylvania, 1982), 23. 2. Albro T. Gaul, "Historic Philately Is Not Postal History," The American Philatelist 104 (September 1990): 818–19. Bibliography Kay, John L., and Chester M. Smith Jr. New York Postal History: The Post Offices and First Postmasters from 1775 to 1980. State College, Pennsylvania: American Philatelic Society, 1982. Gaul, Albro T. "Historic Philately Is Not Postal History." The American Philatelist 104 (September 1990): 818–19. Copyright Publication of an article in the AP is under the standard terms of First North American Serial Rights. The contents of each issue of The American Philatelist are copyrighted in its own name each month. Authors retain the right to use all or part of their articles in future works of their own. Occasionally we receive a request from a specialized newsletter to reprint articles from The American Philatelist. If the author gives permission, we typically will approve these requests. We ask only that printed acknowledgment be made to the article's prior publication in The American Philatelist and that, when it appears, a copy is sent for our files. Stay in Touch You may contact us at The American Philatelist, 100 Match Factory Place, Bellefonte, PA 16823. Our offices in the American Philatelic Center, 100 Match Factory Place, Bellefonte, are open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Barb Boal, editor 814-933-3803, ext 221 baboal@stamps.org Bonny Farmer, associate editor 814-933-3803, ext 222 bfarmer@stamps.org   Software we support -- Windows 2000 Professional WordPerfect 9 Microsoft Word 2000 Quark 5 PhotoShop 7 Corel Draw 9 Conversions Plus Digital File Information We welcome manuscripts on IBM-compatible disks, but please also send a hard copy printout. We prefer files saved in WordPerfect. Do not format text when sending electronic files; they often can't be unscrambled. We can accept 3½-inch disks, zip disks, and CDs. We also can send and receive e-mail attached files. When sending files via e-mail, please check with your provider as to the handling of attachments. Some providers have restrictions on the size of an attachment. When sending your manuscript and/or scans as e-mail attachments, please send a second message to let us know what you sent. Sometimes the message with the attachments never arrives. The magazine is printed with a line screen of 133 lpi. We need 300 ppi (dpi) for resolution. We do not use images taken with a digital camera, downloaded from the Web, or photocopies of screened photographs; the resolution quality is inadequate. Scanning Tips Always scan with the size of your final output in mind. Changing the size of the scan up or down can muddy the picture. If you have to increase/decrease the size of the scan, 10% up or down is the recommended amount to retain the best quality in your scan. Please do not take an existing 72 dpi scan and convert it to 300 dpi. Recommended scan sizes -- covers should be 4½ inches wide with the depth proportionate; individual stamps should be 1½ inches wide, again with the depth proportionate. Select the color mode during the scanning process. Most scanning software offers you the choice between line art, grayscale, and color. We use grayscale for photographs, bitmaps for line art, and CMYK for our color images. Bitmap -- black and white only; used for black-and-white logos and line art. Grayscale -- 256 shades of gray; no color options available; used for black-and-white photographs. Indexed color -- maximum of 256 colors; used for monitor output only. RGB -- red, green, and blue -- thousands of colors, should be converted to CMYK before most output. CMYK -- cyan, magenta, yellow, and black -- 4-color printing is done with CMYK, otherwise known as process colors. Saving your scan in the proper format is very important. There are many formats available, and this can become confusing. We prefer a .tif with no compression. (The .tif format is the most widely used for high-end printing and is the most versatile). Formats for use in page layout: .tif and .eps Formats for use on the Internet: .gif, .jpg, and .png Need help? Have technical questions? Don't hesitate to call Barb Boal at 814-933-3803, ext 221 or e-mail baboal@stamps.org