Hi from Australia

[lissie]

Hi I'm lissie currently living in Perth, Western Australia but a Kiwi (New Zealander in disguise). I have fallen into writing on-line as I have been trying to get a new career of Internet marketing up and paying. It takes a long time to develop decent sites which are indexed and paying the bills so in the meantime I am looking at making some quicker cash freelancing.

I spent the morning reading everything on this board, the FAQ's etc. and still have a few questions which perhaps someone else can help with. My native usage is English (UK) I have done enough on the web though to know some of the American usages (vacation/holiday, the common spelling differences etc) - if I am writing an article on "spec" am I best to stick with US usage ? Are most of your buyers North American?

What are the best selling categories and topics: blogs or articles: longer or shorter? From what I can see is that articles are more articles than selling than blog posts?

I must admit I am little intimidated by the three strikes and you are out with the editorial standards, I've not had anyone be an editor for me before. I have some questions around what is acceptable usage as some of the tricks that I have learnt from SEO contradict the "standard" rules of good English so I just want to double check before I get myself banned:

Short/long paragraphs: the standard these days appears to be no more than 2/3 lines per paragraph so that readers can scan quickly : is this acceptable at CC ?

Are bulleted/numbered lists acceptable in articles ?

Are subheadings (with H2 or strong tag) acceptable ?

Its common place for SEO purposes to bold (strong tag) your keyword phrase a couple of times in the first paragraph: assuming that the request is for Introduction to Blue Widgets I would normally bold "blue widget" a couple of times in the first 3/4 lines.

Thanks anyone who can help with these questions!

[Celeste Stewart]

Hello,

Many of your ideas on Internet styling - short paragraphs, sub-headings, bulleted lists - are preferred. However, I don't believe it's necessary to worry about making the keywords bold. I've never done it for CC articles and it hasn't been suggested that I do so. I generally let the customers worry about the overall formatting.

Both US and UK writers do well here. I'll let the UK writers chime in with their advice though as I'm a US writer.

The CC editor, Ed, understands that there is a bit of a learning curve and doesn't usually penalize for minor rejections in the beginning, but it is still a policy to be wary of. For example, I doubt anyone would be suspended for a typo in submission one, a wrong file type in submission two, and an awkward sentence in submission three. However, if a writer's overall grammar and grasp of English isn't up to basic standards, it won't be long before the writer is denied access to the system - sometimes sooner rather than later.

Good luck! The first step is reading the forum and you've already done that. Next, ask questions. You're doing that too! Next, read Ed's blog. Finally, fire away!

[lissie]

Thanks for your quick reply Celeste - off to read Ed's blog now!

[telzzz]

Hi Lissie,

Welcome to CC, I'm so glad you decided to give it a go.

As a UK writer, I'll take up the case. Ed does also understand that US and UK spelling is different and is fine about that. Remember that plenty of content buyers are from the UK, Australia and NZ as well as other UK English website owners around the world, especially India, which is a potentially huge market.

Just be aware that US grammar is generally preferred (I got my wrists slapped once for using single apstrophies around quotations) - and you'll be fine. Or should that be: -- and you'll be fine! hehe...

Terry

[lissie]

They use 'single apstrophies around quotations' - that is a new one on me! What do they use "real" apstrophies for? Have you ever found a good resource for all the differences: I've sort of learnt trial and error: and set my spell check to US !

[jak]

Hi Lissie and welcome. I'm another UK English writer. As has been pointed out elsewhere, Ed is happy with UK spelling etc. as long as its consistent. But most buyers are seeking US spelling.

My fingers automatically type UK English, but my trick is as follows.

When submitting articles, I copy the whole piece into the details section. I then proof it again in there, taking note of all the red underlining which picks up non-US spelling. If I have made changes, I copy it back into my Word document. Only then do I cut the detail to a sample, and attach my Word doc before submitting. It works for me.

[telzzz]

Hehe, no... I used single apostrophies - wrong! They should be double for US.

Sorry, I don't know any good resources for US grammar, I generally get it right by instinct as the books I read tend to be mostly by US authors.

That's a good tip for changing the spelling, by the way jak!