The Newsletter Stand

Noticing Newbies 2-27-08 Item Page

Hello everyone and welcome to the Noticing Newbies Newsletter. I'll be your guest editor this week. The purpose of this week's edition is to get you acquainted with your Create an Item page.

Raise your pen if you want to gain maximum exposure for your posted items on writing.com.

The single most important thing (which will produce significant results) is to accurately record data when completing, (or editing) your 'Create an Item' page.

How, you may ask, does this help with exposure? Two main ways; first, through public listings; the information provided on this form directly effects where and on how many public listings your item will be placed. Second, through power searches; your item will appear during search results which are generated by other writing.com users and (so I've been told) by Yahoo.com users! Writing.com has what’s called a Power Search, located at the top and bottom of each wdc web page, where visitors and members can generate searches through keywords, genre type, and item type. Power searches are available for Upgraded members or higher.

Let’s walk through the portions of the Create an Item form.

Item Title:
Without compromising your creativity, consider a title, which incorporates the main idea or one of the main characters. These words will be used in searches.

Examples:
Snow White and the Restraining Order
A Mother’s Focus
The Write Genre Selection

Item Type:
Most authors get this part right. However, I have chosen 'article' and after writing, my content ended up reading like an essay. This is an area which helps to determine where an item will be placed in public listings.

Brief Description:
You only have 90 characters here, be concise. One quick punch can intrigue a reader so use this to your advantage. Be careful not to waste this space with words like.... please read rate and review. This is why we are here, to have our work reviewed. .

Examples:
Snow White and the Restraining Order - Fed up with the 7 dwarfs, Snow White finally takes action.
A Mother’s Focus - A poem depicting the struggles of parenting a child with ADD.
The Write Genre Selection - Gain maximum exposure for your items with a few simple steps on the Create an Item Page.

Genres Selections:
The definition of genre, as stated on the Create an Item Page is a category of literary composition characterized by a particular style, form, or content. There are three spaces to choose up to three different genre selections. For each different selection you make, your item will appear on a public listing for that particular genre. Also, every time your work is edited, the item is refreshed to the top of those pages. I am constantly surprised with the number of authors who don’t take full advantage of this opportunity. Often, when I review other author’s works, I’ve given advice about adding genre selections. Authors are delighted to receive such advice, saying they never considered how these choices could make a difference with exposure.

Examples:
Snow White and the Restraining Order – Comedy, Action/Adventure, Fiction
A Mother’s Focus – Parenting, Biographical, Personal, Emotional, Family
The Write Genre Selection – Writing, Writing.com, How To/Advice
If you are struggling with selections, you can almost always choose ‘community’ for most forums, and In&Outs. You can also consider ‘opinion’ or ‘research' for polls.

Relative Keywords:
Use this space to re-list your keywords, but add new ones, too. Snow White and the Restraining Order may be an action adventure filled with suspense, but in the end, its plot is really about diversity, acceptance and forgiveness. Relative Keywords is the place to add these words.

You see, a few quick steps taken before your item hits the Internet can make significant differences with the amount of exposure your item gets. So, what are you waiting for? Get busy editing!

Notice how this author sets up the Item Page:

My Last Child  (E) The love of a mother for her last child is a deep as that for the first. #1391080 by Joey Martin

Invalid Item  This item number is not valid. #1390834 by Not Available.

Invalid Item  This item number is not valid. #1391702 by Not Available.

Sites Newbies should check out!

Not Computer Savvy? Try the SLICK Steps!  (E) For Newbies who want to know how to create a static item the easy way! #1378373 by Noelle ~ TY Anon!

Invalid Item  This item number is not valid. #1379975 by Not Available.

Newbie Bitem Challenge - CLOSED  (E) Practice creating a link using the bitem format -- Everyone wins prizes!! #1378693 by NickiD89