What follows is the Submission Guideline used for Plectrology IV (1999). Guideline for Plectrology V will be similar

The deadline is April 10, 1999. I can start receiving submissions after March 1.

If all goes well, I think we can ship Plectrology IV around June 1.

This year, we're anticipating to make four CDs. This makes things a bit more complicated.

First, each CD can contain up to 75 minutes of music. Thus, we will be able to have up to 300 minutes of music. If we have 60 contributors, each will get about *five minutes*.

Second, there will be a minimum order for CD duplication. My estimate is that we will need at least two hundred orders to make this feasible. On Plec III, we managed to get 200 orders in so I think we're OK in this regard.

Guideline

Here are some of the "official" guidelines. Bleach of the guideline is punishable by friendly licks on your face by my dog.

1. You *must* have fun doing this.

2. You *must* present the best *you* *can* *do*. But Rule #1 takes precedence. So don't try *too hard* so as to be stressful. There's no standard to meet - at least one tune from each contributor will be included.

3. Material can be original, traditional, or cover. Play what you like! If you do a copyrighted tune, it involves some paperwork but it can be done. We will have to pay the loyalty but it will be about $2 per set.

4. Last year, it was 3 CDs plus another later. Due to the time constraint, not all submission may be used. Last year, I gave priorities to submissions received *before deadline*. Performance and recording quality never were used as criteria.

5. Since I won't know how many submissions the project will receive, I will not be able to set the price *at this moment*. If we do four CDs, the price will be around $30 . Once all submissions are in and I figure out how much it costs, then I will post the ordering information.

6. I estimate each performer will get 5 minutes. Instead of limiting the number of tunes (whose lengths can vary wildly), I'd suggest that we do it by the time allotment. You can send me several tunes with your choices so I can adjust length of CD.

7. We have had some debate but I guess material can be (a) flatpick-guitar instrumentals, (b) flatpicking "other" instrumentals, and (c) singing with flatpick accompaniment and flatpick breaks. There was a wide variety of tunes on previous Plectrology series and I felt the diversity made the sets more enjoyable. One thing all agreed was not to include fingerpicking (and flatpick + fingers was accepted).

8. Liner notes will be made Eric Gard. Performers can discuss (a) songs, (b) instruments, (c) playing techniques and secrets, (d) recording set up, (e) personal notes (biography, dedications, musical influences), (f) anything else. All liner notes should be submitted *via e-mail* to Eric directly. We also would like to get photographs and these must be sent to Eric. I hope he's going to write Guideline for Graphics Part.

9. In past, we had tunes from bluegrass, fiddle tunes, original, swing jazz, classical, jazz, folkie, Bulgarian dance tunes, polkas, Celtic/Irish, country and western, and so on. You get the idea - anything goes!

10. The booklet can also include sheet music. This should be informative and the TAb or standard notation can even be *hand-written*. Xeroxing will add some cost but we should be able to do this for a buck or two.

11. On Plectrology I , II, and III, most of talking was edited out - not by me, as it turned out. My dupe guy did it for me.

12. Schedule - I will post this guideline regularly, plus list of performers and their selections.

13. I can accept casette (please indicate noise reduction - I can take Dolby B, C or S), DAT, or CD-R. Submission will be returned with the goods! I cannot take MD or 4-track cassette.

Did I miss anything? Probably. This is the *first edition* and I can fix problems later.

If you have questions, you can send it to me, or post it to the list.

Respectfully proposed