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  Noticing Newbies  1. About this Newsletter 2. A Word from our Sponsor 3. Letter from the Editor 4. Editor's Picks 5. A Word from Writing.Com 6. Ask & Answer 7. Removal instructions  Welcome to the Noticing Newbies Newsletter! Our goal is to showcase some of our newest Writing.Com Authors and their items. From poetry and stories to creative polls and interactives, we'll bring you a wide variety of items to enjoy. We will also feature "how to" advice and items that will help to jump start the creation process on Writing.com We hope all members of the site will take the time to read, rate, review and welcome our new authors. By introducing ourselves, reviewing items and reaching out, we will not only make them feel at home within our community, we just might make new friends!  Passionate about writing? Take your passion to new heights - with an online Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing, available only from top ranked National University. Choose workshops based on your interests. Work with experienced and published faculty. Prepare for a variety of career opportunities. Use a state-of-the art online system: Study where and when you want. Click here to get more information!  Dear Readers, This week’s Letter From The Editor will focus on getting your work read. We're starting with the assumption you just wrote what you feel is your best work. You saved it to your hard drive, copied and pasted it into a static item. Now what? Well, first rule is save early and often, whether in a word processor (such as MS word, WordPerfect, etc.,) or in the site’s body text window. Click the Save and Edit button often! The first thing to consider is what content rating to give it. Don’t leave it with a blank dash. Why? It won’t show up in any of the public viewing of genres. Some people find work just by clicking on Comedy or by clicking on the short stories genre link! The rating is confusing at first, but remember we all want the more elderly, younger, and easier to offend members to get an honest content listing! Ask yourself if you want your grandmother or seven-year-old niece reading what you have written. When in doubt, always lean to the higher rating! Feel free to run it past a MOD if you aren't sure! The next thing to consider is “static item type” of your work. The pull down menu covers everything from article to thesis genres. Make sure you select the proper type. The next section deals with genres, keywords and descriptions. You can add a keyword to help you get “hits” or “views” if someone does a search. For example, let's say I want to read something about religion and I type in “religion” into the (power) search field. It should show me works listed within the relgion category and keyword someone added. To place a keyword you simply type it. For multiple keywords, you type the first, put in a coma and space, and type the next. Select the proper genre since many readers surf for a specific type of genre and category to read. You’ll see three pull-down menus. The first should be a bit broad. Say I wrote a poem about Viet Nam. First I might choose “War,” for the next I might select “Military,” and the third “biographical” or “tribute.” As you can see I started broader then got more specific as I progressed. Anyone doing a search for reading material on war would find my work either by the reader clicking on the “War” category in the reading page, or by searching for work on war. This simple one-minute task might vastly increase how many views a work might get. After pasting in the body text, you must decide how you will set up for reviews. You can opt for no ratings, only reviews/emails. This is an excellent choice for a work in progress, (or a WIP.) Anyone sending you feedback will likely give you a solid and thorough review; however, the drawback is this work doesn’t get listed automatically and you must plug your work in review forums and plug pages. Your other option is to accept ratings, which is the automatic default. A Discussion on ratings. It is very important to get and give honest ratings. Now by honest I do not mean brutally tearing someone’s work to tiny shreds and using honesty as a weapon. Instead, I mean to look at thestrengths and weakness of a work objectively, to give constructive feedback that will be meaningful, honest, and supportive. Be specific if you are pointing out grammar or spelling problems. Basically give the kind of feedback all of us want. Personally, I will be happier with a two-star rating with a detailed, in-depth review than a 5 star rating that says “great idea.” Please remember a rating is about the work! It isn’t about you the writer, separate those things in your mind! A three star rating is not a bad rating, all it means is the reviewer found the work average, and an average work isn't a bad mark. Anything higher than a 3 is a very good rating. A five is, and should be, as rare as a one-star rating! And remember, if you make an item public and ratable, expect to see the work get anything from a 1 to a 5, because if you post it publicly it will be rated and reviewed. Although we all wish for constructive reviews, don’t be shocked if someone vents at you, or misreads what you write. It happens. No matter what someone rates your work, act as if. By that I mean reply with a courteous thank you email. No matter how they rated it, they still took the time to read it and comment, so you owe them a courteous thank you. Next issue I will focus on places for non-poets to post for reviews. *** Here are five outstanding new and outstanding members to Writing.com  Sarah Asia  A remarkable poet with a wide range and a deft touch with images and language. Check out her work! She also has some fiction in her long works but skilled and well worth the read! NeweﮐЋewбie Only here a month yet her impact is amazing. Fun, good natured, jumpining into the Anti-SLAM with both feet forward and eyes wide open. A very positive and active community member! sonnydenbow Has a wide variety of short stories and essays in his port. His work is structured, detailed, and rich with meaning and conflicts. Highly recomended and extremely polite! fshaikh100 I was led to this port by kat2. Although, at this writing, it has only two items, both works are excellent reads! crystalmoon A young poet with a wide range of topics. Her poems are spar yet vivid and rich with complex imagery and motifs.  *** Poetry Autumn becomes a powerful metaphor for examining one's life.
The power of words.
The raw examination of oneself. Brilliant poem.
A clever spin on a plaidrom poem!
A loving tribute.
*** Non-Fiction Essays
A mother's open letter to her children. Suggested by The Milkman 
Not by a newbie but of interest to newbies who are considering self-publishing their work.
*** Lyrics
*** Fiction It isn't what you think. Extremely funny!
Remembering a friend.
A powerful short story that deals with loss and mourining. Highly recommended by kat2
Very well written story of two young people and one race.
Cinderella with a twist of lime! A funny re-write of the old fairy tale!
*** Interactives A fun and interesting Interactive Story.
Submit an item for consideration in this newsletter! http://www.Writing.Com/main/newsletters.php?action=nli_form  Have an opinion on what you've read here today? Then send the Editor feedback! Find an item that you think would be perfect for showcasing here? Submit it for consideration in the newsletter! http://www.Writing.Com/main/newsletters.php?action=nli_form Don't forget to support our sponsor! %%NL_AD_BOT%%  An excellent warning resource, all poets should take the time to read this!
Some basic common sense rules of the road.
Wondering how to get into my editions of Noticing Newbies (and maybe the other editions as well?) Here is the plug page I have. One entry a month will win a merit badge, and if you plug someone I selected, you'll also get a community badge from me (for encouraging reading of newbies.) You may also submit items for consideration by using the form at the bottom of this newsletter.
Regards, Pita  Your editors: bianca_b amawitch yesnomaybe  Have a question or comment for the Editor? http://www.Writing.Com/main/newsletters.php?action=nli_form  To stop receiving this newsletter, go into your account and remove the check from the box beside the specific topic. Be sure to click "Complete Edit" or it will not save your changes. |
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