Studio Blog
Welcome to the Demand Studios Blog – a resource for writers, contributors and freelancers alike! Come here for answers to your questions, Studio news, writing tips and more.
Studio Blog
Ever wonder what it's like to work for Demand Studios? We checked in with our community of freelance creators—writers, copy editors, filmmakers and titlers—and asked them to share their experiences. Hundreds of people chimed in about why Demand Media works for them. Tune in daily to read their firsthand accounts.
Hi, my name is Steve Robinson; I was first published in print 1991 in “Inside Kung Fu Magazine.” I like print but find the challenge of learning the ins and outs of online writing exciting. I started in complete darkness, and while stumbling around trying to get the hang of it, Demand Studios gave me a shot at writing for them. Their professionalism has helped me understand the online medium while improving my writing. I have found several good opportunities online, but Demand Studios cannot be equaled—they turn out a professional product and take care of their writers.
Hi, my name is Steve Robinson; I was first published in print 1991 in “Inside Kung Fu Magazine.” I like print but find the challenge of learning the ins and outs of online writing exciting. I started in complete darkness, and while stumbling around trying to get the hang of it, Demand Studios gave me a shot at writing for them. Their professionalism has helped me understand the online medium while improving my writing. I have found several good opportunities online, but Demand Studios cannot be equaled—they turn out a professional product and take care of their writers.
We are excited to announce the introduction of a new editorial role designed to help guide new writers entering the Studio. This week, senior copy editors will begin reviewing and rating the work of every new writer entering the system. These editors will take additional time to intensively edit new writers' articles, providing feedback above and beyond our traditional edit while introducing contributors to our rigorous expectations and standards. Additionally, senior copy editors will focus on mentoring and teaching, providing a warm and welcoming reception into the Studio while gently acclimating writers to our guidelines.
This role represents a huge accomplishment in our constant quest to improve quality. The senior copy editor program will enable us to build a core group of dedicated, long-term, well-trained contributors, while identifying writers who don't meet our standards. For the rest of our CE team, we are confident this will translate into more efficient and productive work with writers who've already been coached with a helping hand. And our current writers can rest assured that they will still benefit from the expert editorial guidance of our senior CEs who will continue to edit their articles as well. In addition, we are continually hiring and training new copy editors (100 within two days last week!), so we expect production to remain strong.
Our congratulations and gratitude to the 50 elite senior editors chosen to participate in this innovative program.
Eve and Richard, Content Curators
This role represents a huge accomplishment in our constant quest to improve quality. The senior copy editor program will enable us to build a core group of dedicated, long-term, well-trained contributors, while identifying writers who don't meet our standards. For the rest of our CE team, we are confident this will translate into more efficient and productive work with writers who've already been coached with a helping hand. And our current writers can rest assured that they will still benefit from the expert editorial guidance of our senior CEs who will continue to edit their articles as well. In addition, we are continually hiring and training new copy editors (100 within two days last week!), so we expect production to remain strong.
Our congratulations and gratitude to the 50 elite senior editors chosen to participate in this innovative program.
Eve and Richard, Content Curators
Ever wonder what it's like to work for Demand Studios? We checked in with our community of freelance creators—writers, copy editors, filmmakers and titlers—and asked them to share their experiences. Hundreds of people chimed in about why Demand Media works for them. Tune in daily to read their firsthand accounts.
I am Brenda Thamm, a registered nurse from New England. I have always enjoyed writing and have had some success with it. Demand Studios has helped me improve my skills and make money from home. As a self-employed RN, client payments are not always predictable. Demand Studios pays regularly and on time. I’ve found that if I want something, I think of it in terms of how many articles I’ll write. New windows? Only 100 articles more. Thank you Demand Studios.
I am Brenda Thamm, a registered nurse from New England. I have always enjoyed writing and have had some success with it. Demand Studios has helped me improve my skills and make money from home. As a self-employed RN, client payments are not always predictable. Demand Studios pays regularly and on time. I’ve found that if I want something, I think of it in terms of how many articles I’ll write. New windows? Only 100 articles more. Thank you Demand Studios.
Ever wonder what it's like to work for Demand Studios? We checked in with our community of freelance creators—writers, copy editors, filmmakers and titlers—and asked them to share their experiences. Hundreds of people chimed in about why Demand Media works for them. Tune in daily to read their firsthand accounts.
I'm Mary Osborne, and I have spent the bulk of my writing career as a creative writer. I've written short stories for literary magazines and other publications. I've also been a teacher at an alternative high school, and I'm involved in scoring online essays for several standardized tests and exams. For the past eight years, I've been a content developer for a company that provides educational quizzes to schools across the U.S. Even though I've been writing for many years, it wasn't until I started writing articles for Demand Studios that I have actually felt like a writer. Writing these articles has helped to hone my writing and grammar skills and, more important, to become acquainted with a host of other talented writers who are experts in their fields. Plus, the twice-a-week payments are a great incentive to write, so I can eat, drive and exist. Thanks, Demand Studios.
I'm Mary Osborne, and I have spent the bulk of my writing career as a creative writer. I've written short stories for literary magazines and other publications. I've also been a teacher at an alternative high school, and I'm involved in scoring online essays for several standardized tests and exams. For the past eight years, I've been a content developer for a company that provides educational quizzes to schools across the U.S. Even though I've been writing for many years, it wasn't until I started writing articles for Demand Studios that I have actually felt like a writer. Writing these articles has helped to hone my writing and grammar skills and, more important, to become acquainted with a host of other talented writers who are experts in their fields. Plus, the twice-a-week payments are a great incentive to write, so I can eat, drive and exist. Thanks, Demand Studios.
Guest blogger Greg Perlstein is the Coordinator of Strategic Alliances at First Book, a nonprofit partner of Demand Media that provides new books to children in need.
Demand Media’s wildly successful “Write for a Cause” program has returned! Beginning today and continuing through the end of March, Demand Media will generously donate one new book to a child in need for every eight articles that writers and copy editors create. Here at First Book, we are thrilled that you, the Demand Media community, came to us wanting to re-launch this wonderful program. We are extremely grateful for your continued support and excited to see you all Write for a Cause once again!
In December, Demand Media writers and editors worked together to donate over 16,000 new books to children who need them most. Eighty percent of preschool and after-school programs serving low-income children have zero age-appropriate books for their children. First Book, with the help of incredible partners like Demand Media, works to supply these children with the books and educational resources that they need to learn and thrive. During the past 17 years, First Book has distributed over 68 million books to children from low-income populations.
This month, every article that you write and edit will help make a difference in a young person’s life. When you give a child access to a brand new book, you also give that child a chance to have a brighter future. Thank you for all that you are doing to brighten the futures of thousands of children this month.
For more information about First Book’s partnership with Demand Studios and how you can help, please click here. Visit the Write for a Cause Facebook page to track the program’s progress, and to donate directly to First Book, please visit our donation page.
Ever wonder what it's like to work for Demand Studios? We checked in with our community of freelance creators—writers, copy editors, filmmakers and titlers—and asked them to share their experiences. Hundreds of people chimed in about why Demand Media works for them. Tune in daily to read their firsthand accounts.
I'm M. H. Bonham, and I'm an award-winning, published freelance author of 30 books (Idiot's Guides, Dummies and other books) and hundreds of magazine articles. I enjoy writing for Demand Studios because it's an easy way for me to pick up a bit of cash between long assignments, and I can work on articles I would normally not be assigned. I can experiment and write articles not in my normal repertoire, which gives me great credentials. What's more is that I can always guarantee when a Demand Studios check comes out. I've recommended Demand Studios to a few of my writer friends who were looking for work.
I'm M. H. Bonham, and I'm an award-winning, published freelance author of 30 books (Idiot's Guides, Dummies and other books) and hundreds of magazine articles. I enjoy writing for Demand Studios because it's an easy way for me to pick up a bit of cash between long assignments, and I can work on articles I would normally not be assigned. I can experiment and write articles not in my normal repertoire, which gives me great credentials. What's more is that I can always guarantee when a Demand Studios check comes out. I've recommended Demand Studios to a few of my writer friends who were looking for work.
JE Myers is a premium How To writer for eHow. JE’s article How to Kill a Facebook Bot is one of our flagship examples for Premium How To’s and can easily be applied to any how to article.
All of us who write for DS regularly have been beat into submission by now about writing "For A Style." I mean, when you first start writing for DS, you're petrified of writing "the wrong way." Your first six weeks of "How To" articles is humiliating. Really. It's hard. So once you start to break through the crust and feel some confidence that a CE is not going to bat your ears flat about going out of the lines of a DS style, it is really hard to "let go" in Premium How To’s. I am a very bold person, but even I was downright timid on my first article - and the second. The cricket on my shoulder was whispering "Oh, Jay...Mr. Lally wouldn't like this..."
But it’s okay to lighten up a little bit.
When I taught acting and directed stage plays long ago, I always told actors to "Go there. All the way. Trust me: I'll pull you back. But you have to put it all out there first." I think it's easier to pull back on an artist than it is to get them to "go there." That’s what you have to do with these articles.
Articles written for the “inside” pages on eHow.com means exposure to potentially thousands of readers. While writers should always strive for an outstanding product, a good How To can follow these suggested steps and potentially be promoted to premium How to articles.
Here are some more tips:
The Writing Process
• Humor helps, when appropriate. But written illustrations are even more vital to this kind of writing. If length permits, provide written snapshots of what you’re writing about. Help the reader “see” the content with rich descriptions and examples. Don’t hold back the paint brush. Paint.
• Clarity is everything. This is a “quick” medium. Get to the point, nail the fundamental steps in a process, reach the bottom line fast - and make it all crystal clear to the reader. Confusion and murkiness are the eHow reader’s worst enemy - and the writer’s too. It’s very important to read and reread your own copy several times through, step by step, to be sure the writing is “tight.” If a chosen word doesn’t contribute to the story in a meaningful way, cut it or find a better word.
• Finally, envisioning the reader as a real presence is important. It may help to imagine a stranger asking the question of you, The Expert, hoping to get a really helpful answer that saves them time, trouble, money or a loss of some kind. Consumers need information and answers and they need expert help at no cost - now more than ever. Start writing with the reader’s needs in mind. Be generous with what you know and share it. Give good advice or information that you feel personally certain will work for them. Don’t let any reader walk away with a sack of Wrong. Serve them. Be aware they are there, on the other side of the computer monitor, and serve them as you write.
The Overview
• The opening paragraph of a How To should be like the first two minutes of a good motion picture: it’s got to grab the reader, intrigue them and get them to follow you into the meat of the article. You have to give the reader a reason to continue to read. Foreshadow a benefit they will gain, paint a picture of a threat coming their way, promise to make them chuckle, something that not only makes them want to read but need to read the article. The Overview should contain the standard “Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How,” briefly, but then pull them into the body of the article as well.
Bulking Up the Steps
• Research is important, not only about the “facts” of the topic, but the potential cultural context flowing around it. If the article is about how to combat a virus on Facebook, the writer needs to not only know how to fight the virus, but also understand where Facebook is in its development and how people have become enamored, if not dependent on it. This is especially true if you’re not personally “into” the Topic. A Premium How To should begin with a well-rounded understanding of the topic from many angles. Make the reader feel you are “into” it with them.
• If you are generous with illustrations and examples, you’ll have no problem filing out steps. While some steps are facile or obvious, and adding empty “bulk” would be disingenuous, you can easily “feed” other steps so they are packed with clues, hints, extra help and demonstrations. Cite the step, tease it out with necessary detail, and then illustrate it with an example.
Finding the Unusual
For me, the fun of writing is finding ways to say things that aren’t common or expected. I search for them gladly. How can I explain or state this idea in a way the reader won’t expect? How can I catch them off guard, or attract their attention by using words or anecdotes that are different? How can I throw a bucket of colorful words on a white wall? Many times, I draw on my own unusual life experiences that, thankfully, I’ve archived in memory over 55 years, to come up with that magical “different way.” Every writer, at least he or she who cares about being read and making a connection with a reader, has to find that “trick” that unearths the unusual in what they write. Caring enough to rise to the challenge, sentence by sentence, is most of the secret. The rest is, well, a secret!
All of us who write for DS regularly have been beat into submission by now about writing "For A Style." I mean, when you first start writing for DS, you're petrified of writing "the wrong way." Your first six weeks of "How To" articles is humiliating. Really. It's hard. So once you start to break through the crust and feel some confidence that a CE is not going to bat your ears flat about going out of the lines of a DS style, it is really hard to "let go" in Premium How To’s. I am a very bold person, but even I was downright timid on my first article - and the second. The cricket on my shoulder was whispering "Oh, Jay...Mr. Lally wouldn't like this..."
But it’s okay to lighten up a little bit.
When I taught acting and directed stage plays long ago, I always told actors to "Go there. All the way. Trust me: I'll pull you back. But you have to put it all out there first." I think it's easier to pull back on an artist than it is to get them to "go there." That’s what you have to do with these articles.
Articles written for the “inside” pages on eHow.com means exposure to potentially thousands of readers. While writers should always strive for an outstanding product, a good How To can follow these suggested steps and potentially be promoted to premium How to articles.
Here are some more tips:
The Writing Process
• Humor helps, when appropriate. But written illustrations are even more vital to this kind of writing. If length permits, provide written snapshots of what you’re writing about. Help the reader “see” the content with rich descriptions and examples. Don’t hold back the paint brush. Paint.
• Clarity is everything. This is a “quick” medium. Get to the point, nail the fundamental steps in a process, reach the bottom line fast - and make it all crystal clear to the reader. Confusion and murkiness are the eHow reader’s worst enemy - and the writer’s too. It’s very important to read and reread your own copy several times through, step by step, to be sure the writing is “tight.” If a chosen word doesn’t contribute to the story in a meaningful way, cut it or find a better word.
• Finally, envisioning the reader as a real presence is important. It may help to imagine a stranger asking the question of you, The Expert, hoping to get a really helpful answer that saves them time, trouble, money or a loss of some kind. Consumers need information and answers and they need expert help at no cost - now more than ever. Start writing with the reader’s needs in mind. Be generous with what you know and share it. Give good advice or information that you feel personally certain will work for them. Don’t let any reader walk away with a sack of Wrong. Serve them. Be aware they are there, on the other side of the computer monitor, and serve them as you write.
The Overview
• The opening paragraph of a How To should be like the first two minutes of a good motion picture: it’s got to grab the reader, intrigue them and get them to follow you into the meat of the article. You have to give the reader a reason to continue to read. Foreshadow a benefit they will gain, paint a picture of a threat coming their way, promise to make them chuckle, something that not only makes them want to read but need to read the article. The Overview should contain the standard “Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How,” briefly, but then pull them into the body of the article as well.
Bulking Up the Steps
• Research is important, not only about the “facts” of the topic, but the potential cultural context flowing around it. If the article is about how to combat a virus on Facebook, the writer needs to not only know how to fight the virus, but also understand where Facebook is in its development and how people have become enamored, if not dependent on it. This is especially true if you’re not personally “into” the Topic. A Premium How To should begin with a well-rounded understanding of the topic from many angles. Make the reader feel you are “into” it with them.
• If you are generous with illustrations and examples, you’ll have no problem filing out steps. While some steps are facile or obvious, and adding empty “bulk” would be disingenuous, you can easily “feed” other steps so they are packed with clues, hints, extra help and demonstrations. Cite the step, tease it out with necessary detail, and then illustrate it with an example.
Finding the Unusual
For me, the fun of writing is finding ways to say things that aren’t common or expected. I search for them gladly. How can I explain or state this idea in a way the reader won’t expect? How can I catch them off guard, or attract their attention by using words or anecdotes that are different? How can I throw a bucket of colorful words on a white wall? Many times, I draw on my own unusual life experiences that, thankfully, I’ve archived in memory over 55 years, to come up with that magical “different way.” Every writer, at least he or she who cares about being read and making a connection with a reader, has to find that “trick” that unearths the unusual in what they write. Caring enough to rise to the challenge, sentence by sentence, is most of the secret. The rest is, well, a secret!
Credit: Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of Velo Steve
I was talking with Rachel, the editor and gatekeeper of one of our websites, Answerbag.com, and we noticed a high volume of articles (approx. 500) were being set under the subcategory “Random Knowledge.” This creates a huge problem for the site, but also for your articles. If you set the category incorrectly for Answerbag.com, your article will be set to that category and misfiled.
Even though our titles are crafted to be picked up through search, setting the wrong category or wrong subcategory will result in your article getting lost on the website to which it is being published.
Specifically, for Answerbag.com, the category “Education” is intended for articles or titles directly related to the institution of education, not anything that's knowledge (because really, that would mean everything). Articles that can teach you about a topic you could learn in school should not be categorized under "Education." For example, an article about applying to a university would be filed under "Education," but an article about the science of the ocean would not (it would go under Science).
Below is a list of all Answerbag's top-level categories - it should be a good reference when categorizing articles.
Ever wonder what it's like to work for Demand Studios? We checked in with our community of freelance creators—writers, copy editors, filmmakers and titlers—and asked them to share their experiences. Hundreds of people chimed in about why Demand Media works for them. Tune in daily to read their firsthand accounts.
My name is Kate Massie. After majoring in journalism for college, I worked in the tattoo industry for more than 10 years. During this time, I worked as a professional artist and wrote press releases for industry-related publications. Two months after I retired, I received an acceptance letter from Demand Studios. With this company, I can continue to educate the public on the history, technical aspects and perils of tattooing and piercing. Demand Studios allows me to continue to educate others, while housing a fantastic community of talented people.
My name is Kate Massie. After majoring in journalism for college, I worked in the tattoo industry for more than 10 years. During this time, I worked as a professional artist and wrote press releases for industry-related publications. Two months after I retired, I received an acceptance letter from Demand Studios. With this company, I can continue to educate the public on the history, technical aspects and perils of tattooing and piercing. Demand Studios allows me to continue to educate others, while housing a fantastic community of talented people.
Ever wonder what it's like to work for Demand Studios? We checked in with our community of freelance creators—writers, copy editors, filmmakers and titlers—and asked them to share their experiences. Hundreds of people chimed in about why Demand Media works for them. Tune in daily to read their firsthand accounts.
Eric Broder here. I've been a professional writer for 30 years; I was the managing editor and penned a weekly humor column for Cleveland alternative weeklies “Edition” and “Free Times.” I've been doing less writing lately and more editing—I've copyedited several books on a variety of subjects, ranging from Cleveland pro sports to digestive diseases (not that one has anything to do with the other). I love Demand Studios’ chunky, bite-sized nuggets of prose that I can edit quickly. It's been a dream to be able to self-supervise, working when I want and where I want.
Eric Broder here. I've been a professional writer for 30 years; I was the managing editor and penned a weekly humor column for Cleveland alternative weeklies “Edition” and “Free Times.” I've been doing less writing lately and more editing—I've copyedited several books on a variety of subjects, ranging from Cleveland pro sports to digestive diseases (not that one has anything to do with the other). I love Demand Studios’ chunky, bite-sized nuggets of prose that I can edit quickly. It's been a dream to be able to self-supervise, working when I want and where I want.
