Dear <Author/Contact's Name>,

My name is <Shepherd's Name>. I will be shepherding the paper you've submitted to PLoP '96, <Paper's Title>. What this means is that I will help you improve it (if necessary) prior to the conference so that you can present the best possible paper for review at the conference. It is also up to me to decide whether or not your paper is good enough for the conference. It's in your best interest to use this opportunity to improve your paper as much as possible. People who make the most of this process will have the best chances of being accepted to the conference.

Here's the schedule for what's due when:

July 15th -- Notification to authors July 29th -- Final pre-conference draft due September 4-6th -- Conference October 14th -- Proceedings draft due

So we have between today and July 15th to work on your paper. If I accept your paper, you'll have one more chance to make changes to your final draft for the conference. It is then due by July 29th.

I will be contacting you within a few days with my initial comments on your paper. In the meantime, if you have any questions about the review process or the conference, feel free to contact me at <Shepherd's e-mail address and/or phone number>.

I look forward to working with you.

<Shepherd's Signature>