About.com?

Indeed. The Mentor's Word is Law. If I'm not mistaken, not only are you evaluated on your content, you're evaluated on how well you interacted with your mentor.

Thanks for the tips, guys! I have been writing furiously and churning out articles. I have a lofty goal for information coverage and I hope I will achieve it.

So, I belong to a breastfeeding listserv (THE breastfeeding listserv, be all, end all one) and someone posted that she was looking for royalty-free images of different breastfeeding issues.

WOW! thought I! That is exactly what I need!!
So, I have been checking out the links that have been offered. Most of them I already knew but some are new.

Wow! This is great! These links are exactly what I need.

Wow....exactly what I need.

wow.

Uh....why is she requesting the same exact stuff that I need in Prep?

I'm a worrier. I'm paranoid, it's true.

Methinks I got some competition.

I mean, I know they select up to five for prep. But it was more comfortable to delude myself that I might be the only one.

But I have seen the email addy of the competition. She is real and her brain works like mine.

$*%#.

Nothing to do but write more articles.

Man, I was so worried about the competition. In fact, I was positive I didn't get the gig!

I still don't know who I was competing against, but the competition is what gave me the most incentive to do the job to the best of my ability.

midwife said:

Thanks for the tips, guys! I have been writing furiously and churning out articles. I have a lofty goal for information coverage and I hope I will achieve it.

So, I belong to a breastfeeding listserv (THE breastfeeding listserv, be all, end all one) and someone posted that she was looking for royalty-free images of different breastfeeding issues.

WOW! thought I! That is exactly what I need!!
So, I have been checking out the links that have been offered. Most of them I already knew but some are new.

Wow! This is great! These links are exactly what I need.

Wow....exactly what I need.

wow.

Uh....why is she requesting the same exact stuff that I need in Prep?

I'm a worrier. I'm paranoid, it's true.

Methinks I got some competition.

I mean, I know they select up to five for prep. But it was more comfortable to delude myself that I might be the only one.

But I have seen the email addy of the competition. She is real and her brain works like mine.

$*%#.

Nothing to do but write more articles.

Click to expand...

Methinks I got some competition.

Click to expand...

Well, we're rooting for you! XD We need a breastfeeding Fight Song.

Um... uh... what rhymes with "nipple"?

Good to hear it's going well midwife! And heck, About, still has not emailed me. I thought they got in touch no matter what - so that's a tad frustrating.

I wouldn't worry about the competition. Easier said than done, I know but you can't do anything other than be the best YOU, you can be. And write the best stuff you can. And be the nicest most fun person under a mentor ever! You can do it. Good luck with the graphics. You should check with midwifery today, they don't even pay their writers because they're low budget but they are so seemingly nice. They may have some photos sitting around. You've probably been to their forums; that's where I'd post a request.

Good luck
~ Jennifer

Thanks, Jen. That's a good idea! I actually have the June issue of Midwifery Today with my article in it. My very first published anything ever!

Thanks for the support, Deb, Badger, and Patti.

A breastfeeding fight song!! That's wonderful! I think nipple is a little easier to rhyme than areola!

Areola, Pensacola? Maybe nipple is the tough one. OMG! That reminds me! I need to write an article about the myth of toughening nipples!

Midwife, midwife, she's our girl
Breastfeeding expert to the world
She knows your nipples, she's the bomb
We want her hired at About.com!


:::thank you, thank you, I'm here till Tuesday, try the salmon:::

BOO-HOO-HOO!

Just checked the Available Topics and it looks like the DAYS FANS site I applied for is filled because it's no longer on the list. They must've already started Prep when I applied. Dang it!

So, midwife and Talia, I can now dedicate all my About.com energies to you! Best wishes and keep us posted!

RitrChick said:

BOO-HOO-HOO!

Just checked the Available Topics and it looks like the DAYS FANS site I applied for is filled because it's no longer on the list. They must've already started Prep when I applied. Dang it!

So, midwife and Talia, I can now dedicate all my About.com energies to you! Best wishes and keep us posted!

Click to expand...

-- This would be me giving About a piece of my mind.

Lame. I was so excited to see your name on this thread -- man. Maybe you'll still hear from them. Or maybe no one will pass prep. I was turned down for one topic there a few months back and it got taken off the list so I assumed prep started. Then a month later the topic was re-listed and it's still there now.

I'm gathering you did not hear from them either? I think it would be nice if they gave folks a yes or no at least. But maybe they're too busy?

Still, way to keep your chin up.

Take care
~ Jennifer

Oh, Ritrchick! I'm sorry. I was excited for you too even if the last time I watched Days was in 1990 (how much could have changed by now?)

Patti, too cute!

I was up all night catching babies and I'm tired. I need some discipline to get some articles written....

Advice from someone who flunked prep twice:

Try to resist temptation to put all your content in the "article" template, even it seems to fit there. Your mentors are going to want to see thatyou can make use of all of the templates, and know which type of info best fits each of them. If you don't know...ASK!

Also, don't be afraid of asking about the technical aspects of each of the templates. I was insistent about figuring it all out by myself, so I wasted a good del of time on trial and error.

Last but not least, and this should be a no-brainer: Save Your Work! Your site will stay up for a few weeks after prep, but you should have backups of all of your content. At the risk of sounding like a braggart, I have made literally thousands of dollars on articles I used in the my two failed attempts at prep. This is not to say anything negative about the content on About.com. It just means that you can be a great writer, but if you don't know how to fit your work into their structure, you won't make it. The upside is that you will come out of it with enough useable articles to last for at least a year.

Depending on your mentor and the person who makes the final decision, you might need to develop a thick skin. My first rejection was so offensive that I told my friends that I would never write again: Since then, I have written one non-fiction book, three career guide ebooks, countless articles, two podcasts for orbitzinsider.com and a complete novel!

Good Luck!

I found I wasn't able to get any use out of my articles after I was finished prep, but I think that's more to do with the nature of my topic.

I will admit I got a very gracious rejection letter. If you don't mind me asking, why'd they see fit to be so nasty with you? D:

An FYI for anyone who's interested:

"Jonathan K. Weedman is no longer the About Guide to GLBT Teens, so if you
know of anyone that might be interested in taking on this GuideSite, please
encourage them to apply now here: http:/gayteens.about.com
<http://collegelife.about.com/> ."

All very interesting

My update is that I decided I wasn't passionate enough about my topic to do the intensive few weeks necessary while still recovering from over a month of illness.

About said I can apply for a future topic so I'm happy about that. I'm going to hang out until they have exactly the topic I want. I thought about it and decided this topic was spreading me too thin. I am loving my NZ Reality TV website where I can review popular (and unpopular) TV shows and all the goss. I am still writing on emotional well-being but SAD is something that on a scale of 1 to 10 on my interest meter is probably a 4. I want to get a topic that is an 8 or above, otherwise I think it will be hard to write on it for 2+ years

The way I look at it the real money is being a long-term guide. In the short term your hourly rate is probably low because you need to spend the first few months getting lots of content. Further down the track you can do shorter articles that refer to the backbone of your content. My health, my other commitments, and my lack of passion for the topic were going to make it extremely difficult for me to get through that period.

Thanks everyone who supported me. I am watching the topics to see what else is available...

Lisa,
Thanks for the feedback. As I write my content I keep looking at the different templates. My plan is to use a variety of templates during Prep.

I just got my feedback on my category structure and first piece of content. I was on the right track mostly but my guide really honed in on some areas that I can fix.

Talia, sounds like you made the best decision for yourself. I've blocked out over 60 hours in the next two weeks to work on this project. It is a huge time commitment. My kids are fully aware of my efforts and my need to have them pick up the slack. It does seem to be quite a time investment. And, yeah, passion for the topic is a must.

I hope you feel better soon.

good luck midwife - sounds like you're doing a great job and have it all planned out

we'll keep our fingers crossed

RitrChick said:

BOO-HOO-HOO!

Just checked the Available Topics and it looks like the DAYS FANS site I applied for is filled because it's no longer on the list. They must've already started Prep when I applied. Dang it!

So, midwife and Talia, I can now dedicate all my About.com energies to you! Best wishes and keep us posted!

Click to expand...

Aww...sad face. Don't be too disheartened. I'm sure something great will come your way. I'm a Days fanatic, but I don't have a cookbook, lol. Do you, by chance, post at Soaps Community?

Congrats to midwife and Talia for making it into prep and good luck to you guys!

Hi, Guys. Thanks so much for sharing my bummer-ness with me! I am sooooo bummed--I really thought the Days site had "RitrChick" written all over it. Guess that must be fate's way of making room for something else (?)

And Jen, nope, not a word from them yet--yay or nay. Maybe, just maybe, they're hanging on to my app just in case nobody knocks their socks off in Prep. Maybe the same is true for you, Jen, and that's why you haven't heard back. We can dream, right?

latoya--no, I don't post at Soaps Community. Not familiar with it. Is is something I should look into?

RitrChick said:

Hi, Guys. Thanks so much for sharing my bummer-ness with me! I am sooooo bummed--I really thought the Days site had "RitrChick" written all over it. Guess that must be fate's way of making room for something else (?)

And Jen, nope, not a word from them yet--yay or nay. Maybe, just maybe, they're hanging on to my app just in case nobody knocks their socks off in Prep. Maybe the same is true for you, Jen, and that's why you haven't heard back. We can dream, right?

latoya--no, I don't post at Soaps Community. Not familiar with it. Is is something I should look into?

Click to expand...

Okay, one, you have to quit posting in this thread. My heart skips a beat every time I see your name show up. (Naw, post away -- I can use the jolt)

And second, actually, in my case that dream would be more of a nightmare right now I'm so busy. If I got prep, I'm not sure I'd actually have the time. I'd try because the money would be nice. But it seems like a lot of work with all my other stuff. Still, I'd like to hear from them a yes or no -- just for politeness sake.

Take care
~ Jennifer

I had an offputting experience with about.com this morning

I get a newsletter from their reality tv guide and when i clicked the links to view the stories online they had rogue pop ups for errorsafe.com which is a scam program that makes you think you have system errors and then sells you their product to fix non-existent problems. i found that really offputting. errorsafe.com is highly unethical and i can't understand why about.com would use them. i haven't been back to check if the programs are still there because those pop ups are hard to get rid of!!!

Evil Popups

Hi Talia:

Just FYI: those pop-ups you're talking about aren't an About.com sponsored campaign. Somehow something got attached to one of our ad containers. The main office is aware and is working to get rid of the problem (if they haven't already).

Best,
Sandy

Thanks for the update Sandy

I am really glad to hear that, as they are an unethical campaign. I ended up closing all those windows and not reading the articles, and I haven't been back since!!! I'll wait a week and then find my way back in there when it's "safe"

RitrChick, I wouldn't absolutely give up yet based on the listing in the Be A Guide section. My topic was unavailable when I first saw that the Guide was no longer writing. I asked Support, and they told me the position had probably already been filled. So I applied for another site, didn't make it into prep, and went back a few weeks later to see if any other interesting topics were open -- and there was my topic again. Furthermore, after I'd been accepted, my topic was available for quite some time. So it may be that prep had started before you applied and they already have a candidate who graduated, or it may just be that that listing is very mysterious and you are still under consideration. Don't give up until you get that rejection email!

RitrChick & Jen I applied for About.com Business Insurance guide (yeah it's a leap from fiction to Business Insurance - but it is has also been my soul grinding day job for the last 10 years).

I haven't heard anything either yet - yea or nay.

Maybe they will leave us a while and then ask us to prep as About.com "bummed out waiting for an answer" guides