contacting request submitters

[hirsb]

I have yet to submit an article for review. HOWEVER! There is currently a request for women's articles and I can pwn this as I am, in fact, female. I am very excited as I have several different ideas (10 different articles were requested). I would like to either ask here or ask the submitter about TONE in the articles. Is there a certain approach I need to take in writing the message? One of the articles would deal with personal experience and I am wondering how much "me" is allowed in the article. Thoughts? Insights? Are we supposed to painstakingly edit our posts in the forum, also? If so, I really need to know.

I came back and edited this post. There were several errors.

[tomkin]

I cant give you any specific answers but I would say, take a deep breath, write, submit and see what happens. Reading through the guidance on this site it does seem as if personal point of view articles are discouraged unless specifically requested.

Good Luck

[trisheart]

Hi there. I am pretty new here myself but would agree with tomkin. I don't think you are able to personally contact the customer until you have had 5 articles accepted here so you may have to do the first few "blind". I would suggest leaving the personal article until you can contact the buyer, or change it so that it is written in second person. Go ahead and write up your articles, check your formatting and proofread, proofread, proofread before submitting. Start with one or two articles and see how they go. Remember too, even if this particular customer doesn't choose your article/s someone else may well do so. It seems the forums are rather quiet these days - I guess everyone is busy writing but I also don't think you need to worry about proofreading and editing posts too much - I know I don't. Best of luck with your articles. Best of luck

Edited to say - you may be able to contact the customer where it says "contact customer" at the bottom of the request. Sorry - but I guess you probably figured that out anyway.

[Celeste Stewart]

Hi and welcome. Unless the request specifically says they want personal or first person accounts, keep the article in second or third person. As far as editing and proofreading forum posts, it's up to you. I wouldn't worry about the occasional typo or grammar error in a forum, but keep in mind that our posts do reflect on our professionalism. In my opinion, it's good practice to pay attention to our words no matter where they are. Bad habits have a way of worsening if we allow ourselves to get sloppy.

One of the neat things about public requests is we don't always know what the requester wants (sometimes the requester doesn't know, either). I say it's neat because it's an opportunity to pick topics that interest us and let our own voices shine. You may surprise yourself and the client. Go for it!