Yet another newbie here...

[pongalors]

Hi all,

I just registered for Constant Content today, and can't wait to get started! I've always loved writing, but this will be the first time I'll actually try to get paid to do it, rather than just doing it for myself... it's thrilling and terrifying at the same time.

I'm a bit of a perfectionist though, and am feeling a little paranoid. I've read most of the links in the "Must-Read Resources" (and will certainly read the rest before submitting anything), but is there anything I should know that isn't included there? I just don't want to jump in without knowing important details, and end up wasting anyone's time with simple mistakes of any sort.

Thanks in advance for any help! This seems like a great site and community, and I can't wait to get involved. :)

[BarryDavidson]

Welcome Pong...

My only advice is to proofread everything a half dozen times, let someone else proofread if you can, and then let the work sit over night. Fresh eyes in the morning help from time to time.

Read through the requested content. Even if the request is old, it'll give you an idea of what's selling. Plus, many of those requesters are still buying articles.

Don't get discouraged if you don't sell anything right away, but keep writing and submitting.

[jak]

Good luck Pongalors. Keep on reading through the site. You can lean a lot just from the forum questions. Don't be in too much of a hurry to submit your first pieces. In another thread Ed has said he'll be away for a few days and won't be able to cope with his normal volume. He'll be back on the 11th but then will have to catch up, so things are going to be a bit slower for the next week or so.

[pongalors]

Thanks, both of you! It's good to know Ed is away, so I have at least a week to write my first couple pieces, sleep on them, and proofread them before submitting them, with no pressure to do it sooner!

I think I read just about the entire rejection forum last night to figure out what the most common mistakes are. Between that and BarryDavidson's advice, there's no way I'll submit a piece without proofreading it several times, sleeping on it, and having a friend (or more) read it over.

I just have one more quick question (for now). What does the "Purchase Rating" column on the public requests board mean?

Oh, actually, one more question. When I first sign in at Constant Content, one of the links I can click on takes me to a list of recently sold articles. Is this the only list of this? It seems like other people must have access to a different list, because they seem to know who wrote the pieces that sold. Or do you just know each other so well you can say, "Oh, a piece about <whatever>, that must be by <whoever>" or something like that?

Thanks again, I really appreciate the help!

[BarryDavidson]

I think (but I'm not totally sure) that the purchase rating has to do with the number or articles they've purchased, and those which have been returned. (Unless it has to do with a rating the customers give the pieces they purchase, which I doubt.)

There are two recently sold lists. Yours, and the whole site's. The one for the whole site isn't about who has sold what, but how much has sold. If watched, one can also figure out the types of articles which sell easier than others.

[Celeste Stewart]

Welcome!
The purchase rating is the number of transactions the customer has had with CC. Therefore, you can see that someone with a 1 purchase rating is relatively new or inactive while a customer with a 985 purchase rating buys a lot of articles.

Some of us watch both the recently sold list as well as recently posted articles. For example, if you see a recent article posted about "How to Stuff a Turkey" and notice that it's written by "Joe" and then see that same article on the recently sold list, then you can deduce that Joe made a sale. You may see a "good job, Joe" post on the forum by someone else. We don't automatically know; it just comes from observation.

[pongalors]

Ah, okay, I thought the purchase rating might be something like that, but just wanted to make sure. Thanks!

I appreciate the explanation of how people know who sold what, too! I'm impressed that some of you pay that much attention to what's going on... but then again, it seems from what I've seen that this is a very supportive and helpful community, so I guess I shouldn't be too surprised!

And now I'm off to keep working on my first piece for this site. I'm sure I'll have more questions, but for now, thank you all so much for the help!

(Edited for bad grammar. Uh oh!)

[HayleyWriter]

Hi pongalors,

I'm Hayley. I've been writing here for about six months. Perfectionalism helps, especially with grammar. I find that building up a good portfolio of articles that will appeal to different audiences is a good way to go. Don't get too downhearted if ed does reject an article or two - it takes time to learn the style of writing that is accepted here and ed is good about giving people a chance to learn, especially if they have taken the time to read the guidelines and try to improve their writing.

Submit articles fairly regularly. I find that when I submit articles, more sell. Sometimes it takes a few months to get established and sometimes articles will sell after a few months of being available on the site. On the other hand, I've had a couple of articles sell within hours, so it's not all bad. Just be patient, practice your writing and build up a portfolio so that when a customer is looking for a particular piece, it is on the site.

As you have noticed, we are a friendly mob here and always keen to help each other out. That's part of what makes CC so terrific for authors. The sales and payments help too!

Kind regards,

Hayley