Write for TeleRead!
Note: This is just Version 1.0 of an FAQ for contributors to the main part of the TeleBlog—we’ll appreciate your feedback. Guidance on formatting and copy editing issues appears toward the end. Yes, when we do a future version, we’ll include questions at the top and links to the answers, so you can more easily navigate. Also coming will be a page with photos and bio information on contributors and links to their sites. (See, too, the current TeleRead FAQ).
1. Why does TeleBlog—the TeleRead Web Log—exist? And just why should I write for you?
We publish news and views on e-books and digital libraries, without ignoring the negatives. The idea is to arrive at the truth by allowing all kinds of reasonable perspectives, and in fact, we even welcome anti-e-book submissions.
Simply put, we’re a community hub, a mix of e-book specialists and enthusiasts interested in learning from each other. Some literary people, such as Sadi Ranson-Polizzotti also blog here.
When you write for the TeleBlog, our well-informed readers can point out the strengths and weaknesses of your ideas and projects. Recently, a Microsoft hardware designer wanted feedback on how the Ultra-Mobile PC could be made useful for e-books. Through our blog, he posted a query and received thousands of words of advice.
Our readers add more than their share of value to the blog. One TeleBlog regular works as an e-text-related researcher for a famous think tank, while another commenter is director of digital content and business development at one of the world’s largest publishers. From XML to e-book ergonomics, our readers have an amazing breadth of experience and skills.
Many of the TeleBlog’s readers are well to do and on the cutting edge. An unscientific TeleBlog survey showed that almost half the respondents want to buy an iPhone, many of them with e-books in mind.
At the same time, we are equally happy to be read by cash-strapped people who just want to learn more about e-books. No snobbery. And no such thing as a dumb question. We’re especially delighted to see people in developing countries rely on us for e-book information.
Here at the TeleBlog, the moderators care very much about Digital Divide issues, both inside and outside the U.S. We see e-books as a way to spread knowledge—both to make readers better as human and to build wealth, especially among those most in need of it. Along the way, we’re also helping the e-book industry, in effect, by expanding the potential market.
Partly because of our public-interest orientation, we’ve enjoyed links at one time or another from such sites as the Wired News, the New York Times, National Public Radio, the Wired Campus blog of the Chronicle of Higher Education, the Institute for the Future of the Book, Simon & Schuster, and a Holtzbrinck Internet specialist (no endorsements implied).
We are prime Google bait. So if you want people to notice your writings in your specialty, we’re a good way for this to happen. On long pieces, you’re very welcome to link back to your blog or other Web site to increase its visibility.
2. How do I apply to write for you?
No need for formalities, Just e-mail us at drNOSPAMteleread.org, and include a first submission if you’d like. It will help if you fill us in on your background and include writing samples or Web links.
3. How many people will I reach via the TeleBlog? Where do they live?
With RSS feeds, it’s hard to calculate, but our Alexa statistics currently exceed those of a major library journal.
At least 40 percent of our readers are outside the U.S., which is helpful—since that’s where the real growth of e-books and e-libraries will happen over the long run. Our readers outside the States are well spread around. Europe is a hotspot, but we also notice quite few accesses from, say, Japan or India. New York, Massachusetts, California, Texas and the Washington, D.C., area seem to be places where we’re especially popular within the U.S. itself.
4. Who may contribute to the TeleBlog, and who are the ringleaders?
Anyone knowledgeable may post—from obscure enthusiasts to well-known people within the high-tech and publishing industries. If you have a connection that would influence what you have to say, please level with the readers. Although we value authoritative writings, on occasions we may actually want contributions from people new to e-books, so they can remind us old-timers of the challenges involved.
The main TeleBloggers are currently David Rothman, who has started the TeleRead site, and Robert Nagle.
David lives in Alexandria, Virginia, near Washington, D.C., and is author of The Silicon Jungle (Ballantine), The Complete Laptop Computer Guide (St. Martin’s) and four other nonfiction books. He’s been writing about e-books since the early ’90s. Computerworld, U.S. News & World Report, the Washington Post and Publishers Weekly are among the publications that have published his e-book-related writings.
Robert Nagle is based in Houston, Texas, holds a master’s degree in creative writing from Johns Hopkins University, does technical writing and Web development, and writes fiction on the side. He formerly worked for Texas Instruments and earlier worked as a teacher in Eastern Europe under a grant from one of George Soros’s philanthropies.
Branko Collin, now on leave from the TeleBlog for work-related schedule reasons, is a tech writer, Web developer and tech journalist who lives in Amsterdam and has devoted many hours to Distributed Proofreaders.
Although TeleRead is also the name of a cause advocating well-stocked national digital libraries in the U.S. and elsewhere, you don’t have to believe in it to contribute posts to the TeleBlog. We’re like the Christian Science Monitor, which draws wonderful essays and news stories from non-Scientists, too.
5. Are you limited just to e-books? Just what topics do you cover?
E-books are the main show here, and news items on the latest hardware generally draw the most traffic. We equally value thoughtful pieces on trends in the e-book industry, however—in technology, in e-retail, and in the number and kinds of books published. But keep in mind our interest in online library topics as well, and that can encompass everything from blogs to newspapers to video to related Digital Divide issues. DRM, pro or con, is an especially welcome subject. Same for copyright. A special forte is e-book standards; David helped start the OpenReader Consortium, which encouraged the industry to undertake a major standards initiative.
We’ll also welcome reviews of good e-books, public domain and otherwise. Just level with us about connections with authors and publishers; check with David if in doubt. We may tell you to go ahead, while leveling with readers about the ties.
Our focus is on genuine news and views. We are not a place for news releases, with obvious exceptions—for example, a major e-book organization announcing board election returns.
6. What writing style do you like?
We’re global and are read by people in many fields. So we’d prefer an easy, conversational style that avoids jargon, keeps it to a minimum or at least explain it.
There are some exceptions—check. For example, we love to publish academic and professional papers on important e-book-related topics, just so they have a lay-level abstract at the start.
7. What do you most value in a post?
Accuracy, fairness, clarity, relevance to e-book and e-library creators and users, sheer newsworthiness, and a good writing style. These are subjective matters. Just do your best. Check with David or Robert if in doubt.
8. Any minimum number of contributions?
Not right now. We’re more interested in quality than in quantity.
9. Any minimum or maximum length?
No. Write what the topic demands. If you’re contributing to the blog directly, use WordPress’s “More” feature to shift the bulk of long posts to another page. Try to use the headline and the material featured on the TeleBlog’s home page to give people the gist of your contribution.
But exactly how much of the post should be on the home page? It will vary according to its importance to our particular audience. Don’t be insulted if you do a post and we reduce the amount on the home page. In fact, we may actually go in the other direction and increase the amount.
10. Do I need to reply to comments made about my posts?
Up to you, but we encourage this. Interactivity is good for everyone and is one of the main draws of the TeleBlog. As noted earlier in this FAQ, you can learn from others’ reactions that emerge through genuine dialogue.
For a wonderful guide to making comments, see some wisdom from Lifehacker (thanks for the pointer, Rebecca).
11. If I disagree with an existing post, should I do my own post or comment on it?
Either’s fine. Generally people use comments, but on occasions, especially when you have plenty to say, you can do your own post.
Don’t be afraid to speak out; avoid blandness. When you criticize, however, try to aim for the idea, not the person. The blog is a community, not Usenet, and we’ll not tolerate vicious ad hominem attacks or trolling. The goal—we’re not perfect and don’t expect others to be—is civility.
12. What procedures do I follow to contribute to the main part of the blog, rather than just make comments?
If you’re new to blogging or want to be sure the material will work out, run it past David via e-mail. He can help you on issues such as writing style. David will be especially patient with people who are not native English speakers.
In the above situations, e-mail your contributions to David. And remember, we love photos and other illustrations, just so there are not copyright complications. David may add images to posts that don’t come with them.
To contribute directly to the blog through the WordPress software—for immediate posting or to do a draft that David can see before it goes “live”—ask him for a user name and password.
Instructions for using WordPress are here. Scroll down to Step 5 (actually it’s the second Step 5 – the one that begins “Start blogging.”
For tips on inserting photographs into blog posts, go here.
Below is an example of the format we use for photos:
(img src="http://www.teleread.org/Patti Waldmeir.jpg" align="left" style="padding-right:4px" alt="Patti Waldmeir" /)
Note: We substituted ( and ) for < and > so you could see the code, not the actual photo. Also, don’t skip lines when entering the code—and use regular quote marks, not the directional variety shown here.
For images, WordPress’s software won’t supply all the information. To get the results above, you’ll need to add:
align="left"
and
style="padding-right:4px"
For images appearing on the right side, of course, you’ll use right alignment and left padding. Also, the padding can be more than 4px if a different number looks better.
Study the blog for an example of the sizes of graphics that work out in various situations. Ask if you’re still unclear.
Tip: Use the Code mode rather than the Visual mode (what you see is what you get) if need be. The mode-switcher appears title form.
13. What capitalization style should I use in headlines?
Lower case except at the start of a head and when commonsense dictates otherwise. The first part of a headline after a colon is in caps. As for capping tradenames, we much prefer that you do.
14. How about cap style in text?
We’re still working that out. For now, we’re usually not putting titles in caps unless they precede names. Example:
Mark Hayworth, e-book director
But:
E-Book Director Mark Hayworth
15. Serial commas?
Generally we avoid serial commas, but we’ll use ‘em to make sentences more readable.
16. “Ebooks” or “e-books”?
We’re old-fashioned and strongly prefer the latter. Please save us work and use the hyphen. You won’t go to hell if you do not, but it’s easier on us if we don’t have to crank up the hyphen-inserting machine, aka David Rothman.
17. Any restrictions on linking? Or preferences?
None other than our rules against links to porn sites or those focused on pirated e-books or other illegal content.
We try to avoid link-love games; links are on the basis on merit. You’ll find no small number of links to Manybooks.net because David loves its multi-format approach and the quality of this site devoted to public domain e-books.
18. Any other link rules?
If there’s time and it isn’t too awkward, try to identify the publication or person you’re linking to. In doing short items under time pressure, we ourselves may break that rule, but try to follow it if you can.
Try to warn people about PDFs, videos and MP3s. For example:
sample link (PDF)
or
sample link (PDF alert)
19. Can I recycle posts that have appeared in my own blog, or do a TeleRead post and recycle it?
No problem, either way. One advantage of having your post appear in the TeleBlog first, however, is that you can benefit from editing. It’s your choice. Most people seem to like the polish we can add. David Rothman edited such industry luminaries as PC Magazine columnist John Dvorak and CBS commentator and author Larry Magid, back when David was editor of High Technology Export & Import.
The theory is that most everyone can benefit from editing—we’re no exceptions. Oh, the atrocities we commit on deadline! We’ll welcome volunteer copy editors, and if you want to understand the value of editors in general, then read a recent Salon article headlined Let us now praise editors. Also go here for editing tips.
20. Who owns the rights to the material I post? What will you do with my material?
You do. All we ask is your understanding that our rights will be available for an unlimited period of time for the blog and for collections we may publish of writings that appear in it.
Also, to make the blog sustainable, we expect to run ads in the near future.
What’s more, we may strike alliances with other people and organizations, both profit and nonprofit (TeleRead itself is not a formal organization) and reposition your material.
The blog was not set up with advertising in mind, but has consumed so much time that we are looking for ways to monetize it through ads, so we can keep going.
Needless to say, we’ll also welcome sponsors who would be appropriate for a blog dedicated to the public interest and the advancement of e-books and digital libraries.
21. I spotted a few typos in this FAQ.
Great—we’re always interested in typo spotting and other error reports. We’ll welcome volunteer copy editors for the TeleBlog, as noted, and if revenue reaches a certain level, we’ll switch to paid CEs. Pay for major contributors would be nice, too, in time, although we can make no promises.
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