Submission Guidelines

Mechanics

We'll be developing the patterns here on scrumplop.org. If you want to submit a pattern, let us know (jcoplien@scrumplop.org) and we'll frame out a blank web page for you. We'll add you as a site user here at scrumplop.org, and you can edit your work here. [This is currently under discussion because of Google's copyright relationship to the content here.]

Terms

It is our goal to proudly publish your patterns in a book. We can't guarantee that we'll publish your work, and we may propose to publish some of your patterns but not others. We can't promise you when the book will come out, and it's even possible that our best intentions of broad publication might never be realized. By submitting your pattern, you'll agree to let us publish a suitably edited version of your pattern in the book, one time. If we edit your work we'll give you the right to approve or refuse its publication. We agree that you retain the right to publish your own work yourself, separately from the book, or to create any other derivative work from your own patterns. And of course we agree to prominently credit the pattern's authors in the book. We'll also ask you to agree that the book's royalties will go to a non-profit, hopefully charitable, cause, chosen by the conference organizers.

Tips

There's really nothing academic about our style. You can dispose of the usually perfunctory academic abstract.

Patterns should stand alone. Envision a member of an extended Scrum community facing a problem and picking up your pattern for insight. You don't want to send them on a research journey, but want to give them a crisp insight. You don't want them to have to spend a lot of time reading it, either. Aim for one page or maybe two per pattern, and justify longer patterns carefully.

If these are your first patterns, it might help you to know that:

    • The pattern name is usually a noun, and usually comes from the solution.

    • Patterns are about form: the essence of structure. If you can't draw a picture of it, it's not a pattern.

    • The solution should be general but concrete.

    • Individual patterns are pretty simple; the power comes in combining them into sequences as they are used. Most first-time writers try to pack too much into one pattern. Maybe a big pattern is really three patterns in one.

    • You're allowed to have a little fun, to use humour, and to do whatever it takes to make the pattern memorable.

    • A good pattern is a piece of literature. Polish it so it's as readable as a good story.

    • A pattern is never done but is always a work in progress. If you have a good idea for a pattern language, we will consider accepting a very early draft (non-polished) for review at the conference.

On the other hand, we're very fussy about giving credit where credit is due. Credit your sources of inspiration and the known prior art. Credit those who helped you clarify your ideas. You can collect these recognitions in a section that isn't in the critical path of the reader.