About.com?

Congrats GardenWall! That's awesome news! Yay!

Congratulations to GardenWallPubs! I know you worked very, very hard for that. And sympathies to all who didn't make it; I feel your pain. Today I applied for Weird News, and it's my second app to About.com. Hope springs eternal, until someone builds a bypass over it.

Congrats, Gardenwall! I'm glad to hear that you got the position, and I can't wait to see what you do with it. I'm sure I'll be a regular visitor!

Congratulations, GardenWall. That is awesome news!

I'm wondering, how many About.com guides do we have here at AW?

Congrats, GardenWall! Looking forward to seeing your site once it's live

I applied last night for the UK Reality TV guide position -wish me luck!

i want to help anyone going thru prep because I just found it so life-interrupting. So now and in the future plz pm me if you need any prep pointers. I got mine from Deb Ng who was a huge help, so I want to pass on the karma.

Oh my goodness, GardenWall.
I just got into prep and I am so nervous. My heart is still beating fast...and it has been ten minutes since I read my acceptance email! I checked a few other emails and then came right onto Absolute for this thread. I have only posted a few times, but I read this thread daily! In fact, it is how I heard about About in the first place.

My prep starts 9/21. I may be contacting you for help. Thank you so much for the open offer. Right now I am still digesting and beginning to worry about tackling all the topics I must cover.

How giving of you, GardenWall. Thanks so much for the offer. Guess who YOU'RE going to be hearing a lot from in the next couple weeks??? (Prep starts Friday for me. Talk about Heartburn City! )

A BIG congrats to everyone recently accepted as a Guide, accepted into Prep and a huge "Good Luck" to those awaiting responses.

Congrats to GardenWall! You will get a lot of guidance now through the New Guide group but if you have any specific questions on tools or whatever, you can ask me.

Good luck to all the people entering prep (and those still waiting for answers)!

I will be starting prep on the 21st as well. I'm sure I'll have oodles of questions. I'll have to browse this topic and see if I can gleam some info, but its hard to go through thirty-eight pages. Why must we writers be so verbose?

If someone that has been through prep wants to give a short overview or point out one, I'm sure us hopefuls would appreciate it. Nothing detailed, but I'd be curious on how much work per day it might amount to and if there is anything I should be doing to prep for it.

Congrat again GardenWallPubs! I am so excited for you!

Good luck and congrats to all those who made it into prep! Getting in is the hardest step...

Wow grats to everyone going into prep! What topics are you guys starting in?

I posted something awhile back about getting ready for prep (I've gone through it twice now). If you click on my profile, you should be able to see posts by me.

What I remember off the top of my head:
- clear your schedule, talk with your family & friends, and let everyone know you're going to be busy
- browse a bit through similar sites on About to gather ideas, but don't feel like you need to emulate them
- start thinking about what categories and subcategories you'd like to have
- gather as many resources as you can, including books, links, photos
- if it's appropriate for your site to have a glossary, make a list of terms and start defining them. Don't go crazy, but just get ready
- start writing, but don't spend a lot of time on it because you'll need to fit your articles into their templates. A ton of outlines may be more useful
- brush up on your basic html. If you can add simple formatting and links, you'll be fine
- think about things that would make good blog entries (things that are timely)
- make sure you understand the basics of SEO (writing good keywords, meta descriptions, etc.)

There is no "right" answer about how much time to spend. Some topics take more time to write about than others and some competition is more challenging. If you need to do a lot of research, do photo editing, etc., you'll probably need more time. If you're writing about things that are more opinion-based, it will take you less time. Then again, it will take your competitors more/less time, too. I would plan on doing 2-3 hours minimum per day.

Take your mentor's feedback to heart. In my experience, they have a habit of saying vague things like, "work a bit more on category X." Certainly check your grammar, punctuation, etc., but it probably means that you need more content in that area.

Use a variety of templates. Proofread everything. Do more than the minimum. Write in a conversational, but professional style. TRY to have fun - it comes through in your writing.

Honestly, prep isn't "difficult" like organic chemistry is difficult. I found it more taxing emotionally and physically (lack of sleep). Other people may feel differently about my list and how prep was, but I think if you know your topic the challenge comes from trying to get all of your thoughts out there in the short timeframe.

=},
Christy

Thanks Christy, I really appreciate the hints. It's good to have an idea on what I should focus on in prepping for prep.

Christy is right on. I can't think of anything to add. I created a checklist of every single item they sent in that first email, and made sure I had some content about it. I also generated a checklist of my mentors suggestions from each review and applied them to every subsequent thing I generated. I love feedback and took it very seriously. feel free to email me at tapia at msu dot edu for prep help...I'm still a newbie but I will try ! I agree on the "not difficult but draining" sentiment.

Woohoo Gardenwall!

I think mentor feedback varies widely, too...Christy's list is extremely comprehensive, but my mentor didn't give me much info on how I was doing regarding my categories or content, even when I asked. Next time, I'll be all ready for the HTML/SEO related stuff, though! (Don't panic about this...If I can learn it quickly, and I did, anyone can.)

If you're not an outline-oriented person, consider writing chunks of text you can adapt to different formats. I had fun trying out the different About.com templates and working with them; some topics work better in one template than in another.

One key tip: Turn in your first piece of content as soon as possible (you'll have other requirements to meet first); this will give you maximum time to get feedback from your mentor.

Like GardenWall, I made a big outline and checked things off as I completed them. I found this process very discouraging at times (thinking I couldn't get it all done, especially with a vacation AND houseguests going on!), but I did complete every single item, and then some. Just forge ahead. Check things off. Refer to your guidelines (you get them in your "you're in Prep!" e-mail). Repeat as often as necessary.

This isn't any different from writing for any other editor, if you think about it. You have guidelines from a magazine or website, and you follow them, refer to them, check them, recheck them. In my experience, it's easy to get spooked by the scale of the project, but it's very possible to create a lot of content in 17 days.

(I realize that I didn't get selected as a Guide...yet(!)...but I hope my thoughts help...as the posts of so many helpful people kept me on track.)

One of the best parts of being a freelance writer is the supportive community of writers out there...I can't tell you how much it helps to know that, if I'm fortunate enough to be chosen for Prep again, I'll have a ton of support.

And...I can't wait to see GardenWall's site! Can you?

Go, Prep people!

Congrats GardenWallPubs on getting the job! Can't wait to read your content! Congrats to everyone else who has made prep or just went through prep.

Thanks to everyone too for all the tips on how to get through prep -- it's appreciated!

I started prep Friday for Weird News. I'm waiting to hear word on my outline. I'll admit it's pretty overwhelming, but I'm going to give it my best shot.

Cheril

Thanks so much for all the prep advice. My topic is ADD/ADHD.

MoreThanMommy and NancyP both mention the importance of knowing the HTML/SEO basics. Any advice on how I can pick up this info before starting prep?

MoreThanMommy said:

Blah. I have followed up. The week after I was supposed to find out, I emailed my mentor, who wrote back and asked for a "site plan" (as quickly as possible). I sent that within the hour and didn't hear anything. I emailed her the Friday after I was supposed to find out and she said I'd hear early the following week, but it was her last day so I should check in with Eric. The following week was Labor Day, so I emailed Eric on Wednesday to ask how things were progressing and he said he'd look into it. On Friday, when I hadn't heard back, I dropped him a note to see if there was any chance I'd know anything before the weekend. Once again, he said he'd ask around. Still haven't heard. The thing is that I've had a few other opportunities on hold while waiting for About results. I don't want to make other major commitments because I'd rather focus on the About site, but I don't want to miss out on other things while I'm waiting indefinitely.


I guess at this point, I'd just like to know what's going on. Am I still up against someone else? Is it my site plan that's the problem? Are they rethinking their own vision for the site?

Ok, my rant is over. I just really want the job and it's hard to scramble to put everything together only to wait for weeks to get a result. Then to see other folks getting their results, ACK!

=},
Christy

Click to expand...

Methinks you got stuck with the same "mentor" I had to deal with. Everyone who was mentored by someone else had a great experience; it's like some sort of Evil Lottery. It's also the reason I'm not applying for About.com again, even though I'm qualified for a couple of other topics.

Try this site:
http://www.davesite.com/webstation/html/

It is an online, interactive HTML tutorial. It's more than you need to know for Prep, I think (esp. the domain names part) but it really helped me understand how tags work and practice using them...you type out Dave's exercises and you can instantly see if you did it correctly. This is great Prep practice, as you'll need to format and proof your own work as you go.

I haven't applied for a medical topic, but I understand there's another level of review for your content. This makes upfront preparation more valuable than ever.

The SEO info you're given as part of Prep is pretty comprehensive.

Thanks NancyP.
I'll take a look at the website you suggested.

I am glad my prep doesn't start right away...sounds like I need to do a lot of work before it even starts. That will make almost four weeks of torture, instead of just 14 days!

I've had two different mentors, one gave significantly more feedback than the other. I actually misunderstood feedback from my first mentor and didn't graduate prep as a result. Luckily, everyone in prep for a topic has the same mentor (at least as far as I can tell) so you're all getting the same level of feedback.

Hey, Cheril, you may want to email your mentor tomorrow morning to check in on your outline. You should have heard back by now and I know that my mentor this time didn't receive the outline the first time I sent it.

Good luck to everyone in prep!

Christy

Think of it as an advantage...time to organize your thoughts about your content. Most writers do better when their ideas have time to "gel" before that final edit.

I really, really worried about the HTML part (talked with friends, read and bought books, etc.). Davesite was all I needed to figure out how it all worked, in terms of relating to Prep. (I started with zero knowledge of HTML, just to give you a frame of reference, although I've taken programming classes and stuff like that...which did help me organize and write clean tags.)

Good luck to everyone who's going through Prep, or just about to! I agree with the tips I've seen here so far. Be prepared to spend a lot of time, and try not to drive yourself crazy with worry (which is much easier said than done, I know). Write good, quality content with a heavy emphasis on SEO. Familiarize yourself with the concepts of keywords and how to use them naturally so your writing doesn't sound like it's written for search engines, if you aren't familiar with these concepts already.

Once you start prep, take their advice - use the first couple of days to read through the documentation and get a good feel of what they're looking for. Try to use all of the different templates, or at least as many as possible and appropriate for your site. It can be easy to stick to a couple of familiar templates, and overlook how useful some of the others are.

Be patient and friendly with the staff. About.com is expanding really quickly right now, and there's a lot going on for the employees that handle recruitment. Realize that things might be a little bit slow, especially when it comes to hearing back about whether you've graduated or not (the hardest part of all).

Good luck!