Constant Content

Is their a maximum length for a long summary?

No, there isn't. You can post your entire article in the long summary.

Thank you, nichewriter.
I have another question. Can we sell our long summaries?

You're welcome. Your long summary is the article you are selling on CC - this is the actual article contained in the document you attach with your submission. The short summary is where you "sell" your article -- the short summary needs to be different from your article and basically is a description of what your article is about. It's where you entice buyers into reading your long summary and eventually buying your article.

~ Sherry

The short summary MUST be unique, not copied from the article. Take a look at what some of the successful authors have done by looking at listed articles. Good luck.

Sorry, I meant to ask about the length of the short summary. Is their a maximum length? I don't think of the long summary as my article. I know the length of the abstract. The summary should be at least a third of the article. This is what my original question was about. Is their a maximum length?

grannyp wrote:Sorry, I meant to ask about the length of the short summary. Is their a maximum length? I don't think of the long summary as my article. I know the length of the abstract. The summary should be at least a third of the article. This is what my original question was about. Is their a maximum length?

There is a short summary and a long summary. The long summary IS your article (at least 1/3 of it, or if you prefer, the entire article copied and pasted onto the long summary box in the submission form).

Length of the short summary - I don't know if there is a maximum length for the short summary, but it's obvious it shouldn't be too long that it sounds like an article itself. I've written longer summaries before (~100 words). In general, though, I keep my short summary to paragraph length (3-5 sentences). Try looking at other writers' short summaries on the CC homepage so you can have a general idea as to the length.

We are having a semantics problem. A summary is a synopsis. Therefore, the long summary cannot be the complete article. So it is okay for it to be half the full submission?

grannyp wrote:We are having a semantics problem. A summary is a synopsis. Therefore, the long summary cannot be the complete article. So it is okay for it to be half the full submission?

When I say "short summary" and 'long summary", they are terms used by CC in the submission process. (Although I have to say there is a difference between a summary and a synopsis.)

If you look at the article submission form, you will see two boxes after the Title, Word Count, and Price fields. They are labeled "Short Summary" and "Content Excerpt".** (It used to say long summary, I think.)

Yes, you can paste 1/2 of your article in the long summary (Content Excerpt) box (since the minimum is 1/3 anyway). And again, some authors paste the entire article in the long summary (Content Excerpt) box.

I hope that's more clear. If not, perhaps someone else can clarify it for you.

I understand your short summary needs to be at least three sentences. I don't think there is a maximum length but practically, how much can you say about an article?