PUBLIC (Software) LIBRARY
         Program Submissions
            P.O.Box 35705
       Houston, TX 77235-5705


                          SOFTWARE SUBMISSION GUIDELINES


      The following explains PSL's policies and procedures for adding
      programs to the library.  Also see disk 1-PG-233, Programmer's Guide,
      for tips about shareware marketing.  You can print, clip and paste
      to a mailer the address above for submitting materials to PSL.


      PSL NEWS DEADLINE:

      The PSL NEWS goes to the printer the last Tuesday of each month.  We
      can add program reviews to it right up to the prior week.  Programs
      which are received prior to our cut-off date are either added or
      rejected by that date.  If added, you will receive a PSL NEWS from us
      with a write-up of the program in it.  We do not have the resources to
      write to those whose programs are not accepted. We have tried this in
      the past and found that it only led to unproductive arguments.

      If a program is not added, it is usually because either we already have
      a lot of similar programs and this one has no special features, or
      because in our opinion, the program is poorly written, or because the
      program has been artificially limited to an extreme.


      LIMITING PROGRAM USEFULNESS:

      1. Programs should not be limited by date or number of uses.  It is too
      hard for us to keep up with when & which programs are going to "expire"
      and it defeats the purpose of shareware by limiting the extent to which
      programs can continue to be shared.

      2. We accept programs in which "extra" features have been withheld to
      encourage registration (although we tend to believe this does not work
      in the long run) but the main features of the program must function to
      the full extent of their intended purpose.  (Our policy is actually
      less strict than the policies members of the Association of Shareware
      Professionals have set for themselves in this regard.)

      The feedback that we get from programmers and users is that the most
      acceptable form of "encourgement" is an opening shareware explanation
      screen which to get by, the user must press Enter or enter a random
      number which is displayed somewhere on the screen.  We advise against
      putting a forced delay of 15 or 30 seconds with the screen, as that
      irritates the user unnecessarily and will likely keep him from trying
      the program enough to come to like it.


      COPYRIGHTS:

      We have had people send us disks with COMMAND.COM, FIND.EXE, SORT.EXE,
      MORE.COM, BASICA, and other copyrighted programs on them. We obviously
      cannot add these to our library.


      ARCHIVING FILES:

      PSL puts small programs (those that archive down to less than 100k) on
      disks with programs of a similar type.  If your program is in that
      category, please be aware that we will archive it into a self-extracting
      file using LHarc, which creates substantially smaller archive files
      than any other available archiver.  Also, in order to avoid confusing
      our users, we must use the same form of archiving throughout the
      library. Therefore, if you send us an ARC, ZIP or other format archive
      file, we will convert it to LHarc.

      If your program files are under 100k archived, but you have some reason
      for wanting them kept on a disk by themselves unarchived, please let us
      know. In our opinion, this will reduce the number of people who will
      see your program, but we will comply with your wishes.

      If your program is on more than one disk and we can get it onto fewer
      disks by archiving the files, we will do so. (We will add a batch file
      to assist users in unarchiving the files. We also give them telephone
      support, though few people seem to need it for unarchiving.)  If, for
      some reason, you do not want your program archived, please let us know.


      NEW PROGRAM DESCRIPTION:

      Please provide an overview of the program either at the start of the
      DOC file or in a separate file. This is for the benefit of your users,
      not just for us.  Some programmers NEVER get around to saying what the
      purpose of their program is, and sometimes we just can't tell.

      For a checklist, see the file OVERVIEW.DOC on this disk. You are
      welcome to put a filled out copy of the file with your software.


      UPDATE HISTORY:

      *PLEASE* include a file detailing changes from previous versions.
      This is the only way for people to know if a new version is worth
      trying or not.


      FREE SPACE ON DISK:

      We need at least 1k free on a disk to have room to put our disk number
      file which is essential for our order filling purposes.  If your files
      are not archived and there is no free space on the disk, we will try to
      archive the files to make room.  If your files are already archived and
      there is no free space, we have a real problem.


      "REGISTERED" VERSIONS:

      Please do not send printed manuals or "registered" versions of your
      programs to PSL.  In the first place, we want to be able to evaluate
      your program under the same conditions our readers will.  Secondly, we
      would hate to be responsible for accidentally distributing a
      "registered" version.



      Thank you for considering the Public (software) Library!

                                            - Nelson Ford