Feb 21 2006
How to Write for Shared Creation
The journal and magazine section is a little different to Shared Creation Projects. Projects is an open invite to all to post. The Journal and Magazine has stricter editorial controls. That’s simply because Projects is all about getting attention to yourself and the magazine is all about well informed news and articles.
To write for the magazine you first need to register. It uses a separate login to emphasise the big difference in the two sections of Shared Creation. Once registered you have the right to comment on posts and right to create your own entries. You do not automatically gain the right to publish. All your posts are passed to an editor. The editor will either approve and publish the post; or note any problems preventing it’s publication. It then becomes a collaborative document between you and the editor; once it is o.k. it will be published.
When you have been published you are on a fast-track to becoming your own publisher. You will gain that right after you have had three entries published in Shared Creation.
There is of course one more question you might have; what is in it for you? In the short term only the thrill of posting and all publicity you can gain from it. In the long term there are plans to pay our writers - based on how many articles they have published.
So do it for fun, do it get your name known, and ultimately maybe money.
Membership to the Shared Creation - Journal and Magazine is of course free.
February 21st, 2006 at 8:04 pm
[...] Our sister site - Shared Creation - Journal and Magazine has just published an article on how to write for it. Click here if you are interested. [...]
February 25th, 2006 at 9:02 pm
The distinction between Journal/Magazine and Projects could be clearer. Perhaps different styles/templates? A single login for both, with different access privileges would certainly be better than separate logins.
The emphasis here seems to be the pragmatics of, and technologies for “creation.” Is that what you’re aiming for? What aspects and media of “creation” is this site about?
February 26th, 2006 at 9:42 pm
Thanks for the comments. The Journal / Magazine and Projects share a common design to reinforce the fact that they are part of single site, despite having very different focusses. You have a point on making a clearer distinction between them. I’ll have a good think about that. Perhaps callandar access, other other theme alterations in this area may help. Would altering the background colours be a useful cue?
You’ve guessed the emphasis of this area exactly. This is a resource on the pragmatics of creation. It’s about the upcoming news, events, useful discussion, technology. Projects is all about discussion and news regarding the endeavours that people are attempting. The emaphasis on creation is to help people engaged on media projects to gain alternative points of view. In one respect it’s about film, music, publishing and the web. In another it’s about gaining help and experience from people outside your normal sphere of influence. So it’s about getting artists to help filmmakers or perhaps podcasters to bands. I think I may have to write a really good post exposing these thoughts very soon.
I have to thank you for the comments - they’re really helping me think about the presentation of the site - it’s a huge help.
On the password issue- I think you are right there will have to a single login. Hopefully this won’t take too long to achieve.
February 27th, 2006 at 10:27 pm
Thx for the explanation, Rob. Different background colors would make the distinction clear, I think, as would the name of the respective sections in the banner, beside the site name.
Another option is to combine the two sections, but identify the Journal/Magazine content with a logo and style that distinguishes it from the Projects. Differentiating the content that goes through an editorial process doesn’t require segregation of the two flavors, IMHO. I would, however, add a note to every J/M post, saying that the comments are subject to editorial approval.
February 28th, 2006 at 11:00 am
Thanks for the opinions - they really are helpful. I’ve had a think about what you’ve said and I think I’ll definitely be looking at changing the background colours, and updating the banners. I think that would big a help for readers. I’m going to have a good think about merging the J/M and P. Its something I initially dismissed, but as this thing develops may make more sense - as you say I can still use comments (or even artwork) to note the comments that come through an editorial process.
March 1st, 2006 at 4:18 pm
Hi Aslam, I’ve made some changes to the Logos and the background of the J & M. I’d love your opinion of them.