Writing for DE

By DE Editors

Press Releases – Submit product and news press releases with color images to [email protected]

Articles – We welcome ideas for 800 to 1,200 word articles (plus artwork) presenting tutorials, application stories, product reviews or other features. 

Commentary – We also welcome ideas for 500 to 700 word guest commentaries for almost any topic related to desktop engineering. 

For more information on submitting article or commentary ideas, please contact Managing Editor Jamie Gooch via email or at 216-849-6402. 

If you’d like to submit an article or commentary idea, please read the next section— “Writing for Desktop Engineering.”

WRITING FOR DESKTOP ENGINEERING

Desktop Engineering (DE) is for design engineers who use, purchase, or specify computer hardware and software for the design-for-manufacture industry.  DE covers all computer platforms, operating systems, applications software, and peripherals. DE clarifies technologies, explains operational theories and practices, and offers hands-on reports of how hardware and software impacts engineers.

DE’s readers are well educated and technically knowledgeable. They are interested in comprehensive technical and scientific information on new and existing technologies and products so that they can make informed business and technological decisions. They are not computer geeks, but they are computer savvy. They are engineers first and foremost.

DE is a computer magazine for design engineers and not an engineering magazine that covers computer technologies. DE provides news and information on the computer-based tools and technologies available today and emerging tomorrow. DE provides its readers the news and information they need to succeed at their jobs.

If you would like to write for DE, please consider the following:

1. What to Write
DE seeks various types of articles from contributing editors, including application stories, product reviews and resource guides.

Feature articles and cover stories are in-depth discussions of leading-edge computer technologies. These articles range in size from 1,000 to 1,200 words.

  Application stories and product reviews range in size from 800 to 1,000 words. Here, you test drive products and provide readers with a hands-on report.

2. Write an Outline 
Before you write an article for DE, please submit a complete outline to DE’s  editors.  The outline should include a working title, an abstract summarizing the article’s major points, a description of the major graphical elements that will accompany your article, and a short biography detailing your qualifications to write on the subject matter. 

If your idea is accepted, an editor will work with you on all other details, such as deadline and length. 

Due to the volume of unsolicited outlines and manuscripts, rejected manuscripts cannot be returned or acknowledged. DE strives to render a decision upon unsolicited manuscripts within two weeks of receipt.

3. Things to Remember
No matter what type of article you write, it must be supported and enhanced visually. Visual information can include screen shots, photos, schematics, tables, charts, checklists, time lines, reading lists, and program code. The exact mix will depend on your particular article, but each of these items must be accompanied by specific, detailed captions.

For more information, download DE’s Contributor’s Guidelines.

Desktop Engineering pays its writers in the month of publication and reserves the right to one rewrite, pay a kill fee, or withhold payment if author obligations are not completed to the satisfaction of the editors.