Demand Studios requires the use of AP Style in all articles. The Associated Press Stylebook will guide you in your writing with standardized rules for grammar, spelling, punctuation, capitalization, abbreviation and numeral usage. In addition, the AP Stylebook also contains guidelines for business and sports reporting and information on libel and copyright infringement.

Following the Demand Studios Editorial Guidelines and the AP Stylebook will reduce the number of rewrites and/or rejections you receive for articles and prepare you for writing assignments you might receive from others. If you don't already have one, the Styleguide can be purchased in hard copy or online form, and for a price of around $14 on sites like Amazon, this is a worthwhile investment that will guide you through your writing endeavors. You also don't necessarily have to invest in the newest version and can easily find a cheaper, older version on sites like Amazon or Ebay.

Of course, there is one other thing to point out in regards to the style Demand Studios style: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) style always trumps AP Style, as long as it is grammatically correct. For example, in AP Style, state names are usually abbreviated, however someone searching online on how to visit the best beaches in Southern California would type "California" and not "Calif."

-Liana

Hello writers, contributors and freelancers alike! Demand Studios would like to welcome you to a new resource that will hopefully resolve many questions, give tremendous insight and inspire ideas: our Demand Studios blog.

In the coming weeks and months we hope to use this blog to alert you of changes occurring at Demand Studios, as well as provide feedback and answer any questions you might have. Our overall goal is to streamline this entire process with as much ease and efficiency as possible, and we believe this blog will help us tremendously along the way.

For now, though, an introduction. My name is Liana and I am your co-pilot, your guide if you will, to the well-oil machined that is Demand Studios. I, along with my fellow Demand Studios editors will be steering you in the right direction. Thank you for reading and we hope you enjoy the ride.

The majority of the issues a writer may experience are directly attributable to the internet browser he/she is using. Compatibility errors between a site and a browser are ubiquitous across the Internet and something every website owner must contend with. So then the question arises, which internet browser is most compatible with www.demandstudios.com? In our experience, Mozilla Firefox has consistently worked the best and alleviated the majority of problems our writers encounter. Furthermore, Firefox offers a spell check feature that underlines misspelled words in red much like a Word Document.

We encourage our writers to use Mozilla Firefox when working on www.demandstudios.com. It can be downloaded for free at Mozilla.

From time to time, we review the work of every Demand Studios writer to determine if his/her writing style is on par with our standards. If a writer consistently turns in high-quality work , we will sometimes grant him/her a higher assignment limit. Here are the main aspects we concentrate on when reviewing quality: • The work offers actionable, coherent advice. • A certain amount of research has been done on the topic and the article provides more than common knowledge. • There is a logical progression of the steps and the question has been answered by the article. • Pictures have been added to illustrate the directions and to increase the aesthetic of the article. • The writer is consistent in the level of quality he/she is submitting.

If a writer produces work that meets these criteria then we are willing to raise his/her limits.

Today's writing tip comes from managing copy editor Richard Lally, who has been overseeing Demand Media's copyediting process since late 2006. He has written or collaborated on more than 20 books and has more than 25 years of publishing experience.

Here's a phrase we encounter often:

"It's a good idea to..."

As in, "It's a good idea to check that the saddle pad is free of any debris, grass or burs prior to putting it on the horse."

You've read enough of these to know where I'm heading, right? The fact that the writer is suggesting the action implies that it's a good idea. The phrase is superfluous, and its frequency gives our content a mind-numbing sameness. Cut it from the sentence and see what happens:

"Check that the saddle pad is free of any debris..."

Punchier. More active. Better.

And while we're "checking," trim that other hackneyed phrase: "Check to see that something is whatever..." "Check" alone will suffice: "Check that something is..."

Boy, all these words we're saving. Imagine if they earned interest...

Demand Studios employs a staff of more than 50 trained and experienced copy editors who look over every article before it can be published. Copy editors are fluent in Demand Studios style, and also audit all content for grammar, spelling and factual accuracy. Our copy editor staff, above all, attempts to ensure that every piece of content that passes through meets our high quality standards and offers value to a potential reader. This editorial staff is tasked with processing every submitted article within 3 days. However, our editors, like our writers, are people with busy lives and other interests. They often make subjective decisions on content quality, and they sometimes need more time to meet goals.

Because of this, content occasionally takes up to a week to be fully processed. We are currently working on several solutions to shorten this interval, and we ask for your patience and understanding as we try to speed things up.

In an ongoing effort to supply Demand Studios writers with new and unique topics, we will upload hundreds of new titles to www.demandstudios.com from time to time. Unfortunately, a few of these titles will end up in the wrong categories during the bulk upload. We would like all writers to remember that if a title seems to be in the wrong category, it likely is, so there is no need to try to conform the article to account for the categorization. If you encounter mis-categorized title, please email the editorial team and we will change the category for you as soon as possible.

We all know how frustrating it can be to have articles rejected or rewrites requested. Below are the most common reasons articles are sent back for rewrites and/or rejected:

• Does not follow the style guidelines
• Same and/or similar wording/content as other articles
• Stating the obvious or giving generally well-known information
• Insufficient content
• Poor grammar and repeated spelling errors (especially if we see this as a continued pattern)
• Article does not accurately answer the question put forth in the title
• Illogical and/or conflicting advice
• Stilted or superfluous prose
• Personal stories
• Articles that essentially say, "Do an Internet search"

One of the best ways to speed up the review process and reduce rejections is to follow the style guidelines.

Demand Studios has an overall Style Guide, as well as guidelines that apply to the article format you are working on. Please familiarize yourself with all of these documents before you start writing.

For any style issues not addressed in the Demand Studios Style Guide, please refer to AP Style, the standard style guide in the journalism industry.If you do not currently own an AP Stylebook, the Associated Press website also has an online style guide available for subscription. Of course, the Demand Studio Style Guidelines have the most common references to the AP Stylebook listed.

We realize you may not always find exactly the title you want in our tool, which is why we welcome your suggestions.

If you have seen a lot of your suggestions rejected, there are ways you can improve your chances of approval.

Look Ahead: Think about titles that could be relevant in the coming months: Are there upcoming seasons, holidays, events or hot new products?

Research Existing Titles: With more than 300,000 existing eHow articles, many topics have been covered. Looking over existing titles can give you insight to what (or what not) to write about.

Be Concise and Specific: Make the title as short and efficient as possible while still getting your point across. Use the most relevant words and minimize redundancy. Examples: Bad: How to Make Homemade Cards for the Christmas Holiday Good: How to Make Christmas Cards

Do Keyword Research: Successful titles are based on the most search engine-friendly way to phrase the question. Here are some Keyword Resources:

• Check the title against what people are currently searching for online at. This free search product from Yahoo/Overture displays the number of times a given word was searched in the last month.

• You can also use Google AdWords to choose keywords. This tool generates keywords based on recent Google statistics, including search performance and seasonal trends.

For more information on how to get your titles accepted, please read our Tips for Suggesting Great Titles.