You have arrived at the publication standards page of the Journal,
a bimothly publication of Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous.

Content Standards

Each issue of the Journal shall have content to satisfy each of the following groups.

• Sex and love addicts not yet members of S.L.A.A. and the professionals that provide them with care
• Beginners
• Those seeking top line sobriety, spiritual maturity, and creative recovery

Brand Impression Requirements

The Journal brand was redesigned in 2009 to thrive in the new millennium.

• The logo of the Journal is typeset in a distinctive but readable font, kerned precisely and carefully.
• Only the letter J is capitalized, and the definite article hangs over the hook of the J.
• It shall always be printed and displayed electronically in a dense orange.
• The palette includes fruity colors such as lemon yellow, lime green, cherry red, wine-grape violet, blueberry blue, and raspberry red.
• The mood of the Journal is to be contemporary, hopeful, and refreshing.

Cover Design Requirements

• Concept shall be clear, concise, original, refreshing, and in alignment with the theme of the corresponding issue
• Design shall be letter size and portrait orientation
• Design shall be delivered in PDF form with 600 DPI resolution
• Design shall have 1/2" margins on all four sides, because bleed costs more to print
• Design shall display the Journal logo on the front cover in orange (see attached).
• Design shall display the Journal logo on the back cover in whatever color works.
• Design shall preferrably use a fruit palette for images and line art (lemon yellow, lime green, orange orange, blueberry blue, rasberry red, or wine red)
• Design shall display the issue's  theme on the front cover and represent the theme in the overall design.
• Design shall include, in a smaller font, both the price, "Single issue $3," and the issue's two months and year.
• Press output shall be on cover stock of at least 40 pound weight (Copy paper is not acceptable for a cover.)

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Editing, Proofreading, Accountability, and Governance

The Journal has no Editorial Board, however there is a seven-layer convention of accountability.

(a) Content is generated by S.L.A.A. members, who generally know something about recovery. They submit the content because they feel that it is appropriate for a recovery audience. About 95% of the paragraphs and stanzas contributed are found to be appropriate. Sometimes an editorial comment at the beginning of the piece is necessary to properly introduce the piece.

(b) The Managing Editor, required to have at least two years of continuous bottom line sobriety selects appropriate content for publication. Each creative contribution is edited to eliminate ambiguity, grammatical confusion, triggering language or imagery, and assertions that conflict with the Twelve Traditions, preserving the perspectives of the author to the greatest degree reasonably possible. One or more Editorial Assistants, each of whom must have at least one year of continuous bottom line sobriety, may assists in these activities.

(c) At least two further proofreaders, who must be solid members of S.L.A.A., review the content and can preemptively flag any politically, sexually, or socially inappropriate content.

(d) The Journal Executive Director, to whom the Managing Editor reports, and the members of the C.J.C. are free to address any patterns of content that are offensive or inappropriate during any C.J.C. meeting, which the Managing Editor is required to attend, or via emails between meetings.

(e) If the above measures fail, delegates and B.O.T. members can provide feedback and, if found to be necessary, request that the C.J.C. or the Executive Director replace the Managing Editor or warn that replacement is eminent.

(f) If such a request fails, the B.O.T. can halt publication by simple request or, if necessary, by cease and desist procedure.

(g) Each year, anyone in the fellowship can submit a motion to the B.M.I.S. to take any corrective action deemed necessary.

To our knowledge, in nineteen years of operation, nothing beyond item (d) has ever been necessary.

Editorial Policy - Reading and Writing Levels

Let's use two sentences from The First Ten Years of the Journal to illustrate.  The modifications shown here are NOT changes that an Editor would make before publication.  They merely clarify the difference between reading and writing levels.

The first example is from the Journal's 1998 January-February issue.

(1) original sentence
"I occasionally slept with my ex-partner if things did not work out with the men I dated since we never really ended things totally."

(2) sixth grade writing, postgraduate reading
"I engaged in coitus with my ex-partner, if occasionally a sufficient addictive connection was not realized during the dating of men since we never really gained entirely any closure."

(3) postgraduate writing, postgraduate reading
"Occasionally, when I was not able to achieve a sufficiently addictive connection with the men I dated, I slept with my former partner, with whom I had never really found closure."

(4) sixth grade writing, sixth grade reading
"I slept with my ex-partner, if sometimes things did not work out with those men I dated since we never really ended totally things."

(5) postgraduate writing, sixth grade reading
"Sometimes things would not work out with the men I dated, so I would sleep with my former partner.  Our relationship had never really ended."

To understand (2) the reader must have either a good vocabulary or a dictionary.  The reader would also need to have exposure to the therapeutic concepts of closure and addictive connection.  As is typical of sixth grade writing, the grammar of (2) is malformed; so most people will stumble when reading.  For many readers the process of comprehension will go slowly. Most readers will discard the sentence entirely.

Comprehension of (5) is easy.  The sentences are short; the grammar is correct; the vocabulary is basic; and the message is clear.  New S.L.A.A. members with a high school education will read (5) without trouble.  The thoughts and feelings of the writer are communicated effectively.

Here's another example from the 1997 September-October issue of the Journal.

"During this period, I balanced the shame of codependent, addictive relationships with over-achievement and sexual fantasies featuring unavailable men and women; the pain of over-achievement and compulsive yearning for a fantasy rescuer were themselves compensated for by bouts of uncontrolled eating and drinking, which provided 'safety valves' for the whole system."

Similar thoughts and emotions can be expressed using collegiate level writing in a way that a child could read them.

"I was ashamed of myself for not being able to leave these terrible relationships.  One of my escapes was to think up stories about men and women who would come and rescue me from my loneliness, but I always picked imaginary rescuers who were not willing to be with me in real life.  To bury the pain I would loose myself in long hours at work and uncontrolled eating and drinking."

Again, we're merely examining some communications concepts.  These are NOT changes that an Editor should make.  A professional Editor preparing the original sentence for publication would probably merely add the missing definite article "the" before "compulsive yearning", change the preposition "by" to "with" and change the semicolon to a period, capitalizing the first letter of the new sentence.

You can find some great examples of postgraduate level writing for sixth grade level reading in the children's section of any library or bookstore.

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