 Noticing Newbies: October 20, 2010 Issue [#4032] |
  Noticing Newbies
This week: It's All in How You View It... Edited by: Jay's debut novel is out now!  
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Hey everyone! I'm Jay's debut novel is out now! , back again to guest-edit another edition of the Noticing Newbies Newsletter. 
One of my favorite things to do is to read and review newbies. I don't get to do this nearly as often as I'd like, so I have to be selective about what I can realistically take the time to read and comment on in a timely fashion. (I always strive to offer meaningful feedback!)
Since we have on average somewhere around 300 new users each day, the ones who are most likely to get read and noticed are the ones who stand out. While a certain amount of garnering reviews is based on being in the right place at the right time, taking some time to polish your Portfolio and the way you present yourself in the community will do wonders to improve your odds of being read, rated and reviewed by your fellow Authors! Here are a few main things I would recommend polishing to the best of your ability to attract readers and reviewers.
BioBlock and Biography
Adding meaningful information to your BioBlock and Biography tab would be the first place to start. When I open a portfolio that is new to me, I want to know something about that writer. Including important details about the type of writing you do, the type of feedback you want, something interesting about yourself... Any and all of these things tell me more about you as a writer than "This member has not yet set his/her Bio Block." And of course it would give a potential reviewer more perspective about your writing to see just about anything about you.
You certainly don't have to fill out all of the tabs-- they're just there to give you a wide variety of things about yourself that you could mention. Certainly not everyone wants to post their age or their birthday, but most folks have a favorite movie or favorite genre of writing, and being able to make a little personal connection to your reader is helpful on a lot of levels.
Proofreading and Editing
I can't possibly harp enough on the idea of proofreading... no, not even the idea of proofreading, the doing of proofreading. I notice it almost daily... There is nothing that drives a reader away from your items, and your portfolio in general, faster than poorly edited work. Lack of proofreading-- not using spell check or taking basic steps to check punctuation and capitalization-- tells the reader only one thing: "I don't care."
And "I don't care" is not the message you want to send your readers-- they, in turn, are also not going to care, and so they will click the little red "x" at the top of the screen and move on to reading and reviewing the work of someone who does care.
The best possible thing you could do is to polish your work to the best of your ability. You might still need help-- in some cases, maybe a LOT of help!-- but if you demonstrate to your readers that you care and that you want help to improve. Use spell check, use proper punctuation and capitalization. I know, it isn't edgy or cool to write correctly, but trust me, it will get you more attention-- and more readers-- to try to do it right.
Titles and Descriptions
This is one of the things that is a little more nuanced, perhaps, and is definitely a bit more dependent on personal preference, but I find that having a good title and an enticing description does wonders for garnering reviews.
As an example... a title like, "A Poem I Wrote," with a description that says, "This is a poem I wrote." gives the reader little information on which to choose to read your writing. Given the choice between the first example and something titled with a bit more description, say, "Cold October Morning," with a description, "A poem I wrote about my feelings on a cold October morning." Not perfect, but significantly more detail to help inform the reader-- they can now be reasonably certain of the type of poetry they can expect to read.
I do recommend making good use of the small spaces-- titles, descriptions, and BioBlocks give a lot of information to your potential audience. Get their attention and keep it! Anyone can do it. 
Until Next Month,
Jay's debut novel is out now!
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Responses from last month's issue:
"Community Within A Community"
NickiD89  writes:
 Wonderful NL, J! Very informative for our newbies, while reminding the rest of us of the great features WDC has to offer.
Thanks, Nicki! I definitely hope to inspire our longtime members as well as our newbies! 
Doug Rainbow 
I attend a large church. It has many activities and programs: youth groups, social groups, music and singing, cooking, Bible study, missions, and those are just a few examples. Some people belong to several of these sub-groups and others only come to the morning worship service. All are welcomed for whetever level of participation they choose. I find WDC is much the same.
Writing.Com is a similarly varied place-- people from all walks of life who may only have one thing in common-- a love of the written word that brings us together.
Cubby 
Great newsletter, ~j! And absolutely wonderful advice for newbies and not-so-newbies!
~Cubby ")
Aw thanks Cubby! I definitely strive to be helpful for everyone.
fendi
I do have a question ... I still dont understand how to answer contest It always tells me to to it in B-format and I dont understand please help thank you
Hi Fendi! I would recommend taking a look here: WritingML Help
Rejji 
Quote-... perhaps through some of the (aforementioned) forums.
Being a administrator is hard huh? =D
I guess it would be hard to be an administrator if I were one.  Luckily I am only human. Whew!
GRAMPA ED
~J,
Thanks for this newsletter. Being a newbie I need all the help I can get to learn this site.
Grampa Ed
Absolutely, Grampa Ed! If you have any questions you can always feel free to ask and I'll be happy to help.
Christine Cassello
I do check out writing.com daily. I joined Simply Positive Newbie Reviewers, so I find a lot of interesting material to read on there and I like commenting on them. I read these newsletters and look for contests I can enter or at least get writing ideas from. It's great.
Great, Christine! It is really rewarding to see how different users make the most of the many tools and utilities we have here on the site.
Stephen Hawkins
You are perfectly correct; this site is quite overwhelming. I am still looking for a section which caters for elderly Englishmen (or Women). As a man who is old enough to well remember the Kennedy Tragedy, I suppose I would feel more comfortable in the company of other grey haired people. I strongly suspect that I am old enough to be the Father, or Grandfather, of many contributers to this site.
Perhaps someone could point me in the direction of the "Old Crocks" section, where I can happily discuss the Beatles Era with others who were teenagers at the time. I wouldn't know these modern pop stars if they stood up in my soup. Frankly, I wouldn't want to.
Right; must take my dog for his walk. He is looking longingly toward the door.
Regards
Stephen353
If I'm not mistaken, there are a few forums and groups for the over-40 set...!
7stars
hello, nice to meet you
thank you for your concern but maybe I won't do as what you suggested
I log in from HP and when I log in, I just type my story up
but I'll try
thank you
your sincerely
~7stars~
We look forward to reading anything you'd like to share!
Tornado Dodger 
Excellent NL ~j. I do think newbies feel overwhelmed and find it hard to fit in at times. It's important to find their niche' and develop friends to really understand the community and all it has to offer. I really enjoyed your NL.
Thanks, Brooke! I definitely agree. I think we all have to find our place on this site and grow from there!
I look forward to hearing what you have to say this month!
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