This post on the 10 (no, 11… yes, 11) tips for newbies is not written from the catbird seat point of view of the article publisher or information manager. It is rather by and from the perspective of an author who remembers the early misgivings. It is composed particularly for the starting article author. I have written and presented hundreds of articles for publication to thousands of article servers and database managers and still considers article writing my nemesis.
1. Needs vs Wants:
Articles and Web blogs are unavoidable in today’s scheme of search engine indexing. Not what the newbie wants to hear. Just remember what the Holy Book says, “there has nothing over taken you that is not common to man”. That’s right! All of us detest article and blogging at times, and some of us dread the journey to pen and paper (or keyboard as the case may be) all the time. Many a webmaster would call them “a necessary evil” as they are not broadly speaking anyone’s best liked house keeping chores.
2. Just Start, It Gets Better:
First it is sometimes difficult to get a thought or idea and to get started. We know authors who literally get sick thinking about the process. Lighten up. There are a lot to write about, name it: alternative medicine, cancer diseases, true religion, life insurance, playing online poker, cheap insurance. Others may think of even more unusual topics such as penis enlargement and cheap viagra. Once an author has a starting point and gets passed the first thoughts, article and blog writing usually goes fairly smoothly.
The important thing is that you get started. Select a theme you know something about and just begin writing. You will be pleasantly at just how easily ideas flow. Don’t take everybody knows what you know. They do not. Will Rogers once uttered, “all men are ignorant, just on different subjects”. And this is the truth!
3. Good vs Perfection:
Your old English composition professor is not looking over your shoulder. This paper does not have to be perfect. That is not to say it does not have to be on point or to say that it does not have to be correct. At least it does or it should be. However, perfection is not the goal and is, in fact, seldom possible. Too much detail and you run the danger of losing your reader on various levels. Too long and
most readers simply don’t have the time or interest to browse the whole material irrespective of how important it is.
4. Blog Length vs Article Length:
Most publishers want a minimum of 600 words per article - some will let you slide with four hundred (400) words. Blogs can be much smaller. Blogs can and maybe should support appropriate images and embedded links.
Don’t over do it though. Too gaudy or too slow to load and you have wasted your time, ticked off a potential reader, and probably upset a server who can ban you from their publications. articles, on the other hand, typically cannot carry these extra touches concurring to the essentials of most publishers.
5. Format:
Prepare your article in American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) format. There are many tools from which to choose to get the job done. A search the web for “free ASCII editor” will give you a lot of tools to choose from. WordPress is a favorite pick. If all fails Notepad is enough for you to use.
6. Grammar and Spelling:
Run and good spell checker and grammar checker once you have written your article. Microsoft Word has a built-in tool for this. Just don’t use the MS Word copy for composing of your article. Rather use its suggestions to make any necessary corrections to your plain text copy. The MS Word copy will work for blogs although other editors are preferred.
Like the good old days when you were encouraged by teachers, you will findarticle writing and blog writing skills become easier with time and practice.
7. Publish and Announce:
Once your blog is ready you may want to use some automatic tools to publish and announce it. First do a search for Blog directories and select those which best suit your needs. Join one or more and publish your blog there. Then search for blog announcers and RSS announcers and utilize them to get your blog known.
Now that you have that out of the way find an article wizard that will post your writings to free article publishers. You can post them one at a time by hand if you are really bored and have absolutely nothing else in life to do. Using an automatic poster you can publish to hundreds of servers in an hour or so. The only way to go.
8. Patience:
Now, have some forbearance. Here is where you lose control. Many of the men and women who host writings are timely and your writings will be reviewed in a span of twenty-four (24) to forty-eight (48) hours. But, many others will be days and weeks down the road therefore never date an article - a sure way to get rejected.
9. Rejection - “sorry your article has been declined”:
Be prepared for most directories to reject your articles. Do not be personal about this. It usually has something to do with your submission and with you as the author.
Some sites instantly reject compositions for spelling errors when there are none or where there is more than way to spell a word. And, just as in any other endeavor some directories are simply too lazy and get so far behind, the best and quickest thing to do (and perhaps the only alternative) is to reject everything. You will know who does this over time.
There are also people who review your writings through the sausage grinder and if they find certain words, regardless of how they are used, your article gets no farther. These are the people who can’t publish the Bile because of the words it contains that may offend readers. These are people who are narrow-minded and doesn’t deserve a place in article writing.
Remember, just as in everything else in life, for every rule there is an exception.
10. Always believe, and keep cranking out articles:
Since most authors, especially newcomers, prepare only one copy of an article against the advice of most seasoned authors it is important that the newbie keep his chin up - keep the faith. That will be easier as more and more of your writings are accepted and published getting visitors to your website while creating those all significant back links.
It is not essential that every host to accept everything submitted to them. After one or two hosts publish your article on any given subject, the search engines tend to penalize you anyway by ignoring additional postings. This is close to spamming and while it could help someone find you, it probably won’t. It is not necessarily, the more the merrier. The additional listings will not increment your page rankings or links reported by the search engines. It is more important to get published by hosts with the highest Google page rank possible.
Now, one BONUS TIP for you: Along with “the rejection slip” will usually come a suggestion on how to “edit” your article and a asking that you resubmit it. Do not blow your time. While trying comply with one database manager’s request you could have composed a new article where you can get more exposure. There will be enough publishers will choose your article up so move on and save yourself some time and heartburn.
Each person has an idea or thought at least once a day usually at the most inopportune time. How many of these ideas have been lost because you waited before you write? Don’t procrastinate! Go! Capture that thought before disappears.
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