The electronic availability of presentation style information in MarsPapers is only a partial solution to our goal of enhanced dissemination of information presented at our Mars Society Conventions. The preparation of a full paper from the presentation materials offers you an opportunity to provide a true stand-alone description of your ideas in writing to those who did not attend the Convention and it does so without the loss of presentation information that is, in part, orally transmitted to the initial audience. The Mars Society strongly encourages you to prepare a full paper for hard copy publication. 

The number of full papers prepared from presentations to the Mars Society Convention and submitted for hard copy publication has declined in recent years. Rather than wait several years until a significant quantity are received before we send them out for publication, we have decided to use print-on-demand publication of our next "On to Mars" book. We will be editing a book containing approximately 30 papers already received from the 2005 and 2006 Conventions, and we encourage authors who presented at the 2007 and 2008 Mars Society Conventions to prepare their papers according to the format guidelines. Author Instructions can be downloaded here (also available from the MarsPapers tab located at the top of the Mars Society home page and then clicking Help for Authors). The extended deadline for receiving papers for the "On to Mars 3" book is 30 November 2008. All full papers received will also be posted electronically to MarsPapers as soon as they are received and edited. Authors with any questions regarding the publication policies may contact the editor.