In 2009, I posted monthly Constant-Content.com writing challenges over at the CC forum. These were a lot of fun. After taking a break, it’s time to start up once again. This month’s writing challenge is to learn a new writing trick or technique and then submit an article using that trick or technique to Constant-Content.com.

Challengers can pick anything they want to learn. Whether it’s a new SEO technique, something to do with grammar, or adopting a different writing style doesn’t matter so long as it’s something that you need to learn. Here’s what I want to work on for this writing challenge: Defining a voice.

This comes straight from chapter 3 of the Yahoo! Style Guide. The chapter discusses different voice characteristics and developing a unique voice for a website. It includes what it calls “voice charts” that you develop to ensure that everyone who writes for the site understands the tone and voice to use. I always meant to do this exercise and stretch myself by using an entirely different voice than I’m used to using. So, here’s my plan. I want to write an article using a completely different voice than I usually do.

If you’re a Constant-Content.com writer, head over to the CC forum and join the challenge!

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While I’m a firm believer that Constant-Content customers deserve to see the entire article before they buy, Constant-Content only requires that writers post one third of the article in the “content excerpt” (formerly called the “long summary”) section of the submission form. This excerpt can be the first third of the article or it can be a series of excerpts.

If you choose to post only a portion of the article, it’s smart to include a line that explains that the text is only an excerpt. For example, you might add a line at the end of the sample that says, “End of excerpt. Article continues to cover key point 1, 2, and 3.” Otherwise, customers may think that what they see is what they get. They may be unfamiliar with the Constant-Content system and unaware that excerpts are encouraged. By telling potential customers that there’s more involved, you’ll avoid having customers think that the article doesn’t have much substance or ends abruptly.

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This morning another Constant-Content.com writer mentioned that he had written a blog post about pricing articles on Constant-Content.com. Since he’s based in the UK, he has to deal with conversion rates from US dollars to pounds. I found that interesting. Here’s a link to his post in case you’re interested in a UK perspective:

Constant-Content Pricing Strategy for UK Writers

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By Celeste Stewart

Have you ever received an article rejection notice from Constant-Content.com that says, “We can accept only content that is able to be verified as original to the author”? That one’s frustrating because you know you wrote it. You know it’s yours.

Trouble is, Constant-Content doesn’t know it. This can happen if you originally published the article under a different byline or when a byline doesn’t exist at all. It can also happen when your article appears in multiple places online with several byline variations.

For example, let’s say you posted an article on EzineArticles under your own name and you think it would be nice to post for usage rights on Constant-Content. If you use a pen name on Constant-Content, the editors may not be familiar with your real name. Technically, they could look it up, but then there’s that finicky issue of allowing your content to appear with two different bylines. In addition, even if you use the same name for both submissions, if the article has been on the Internet for any length of time, it’s possible that the article appears some place other than where you originally posted it. In our EzineArticles example, people are allowed to copy and paste your article. While they’re supposed to leave your byline intact, it’s not unheard of for some publishers to omit it. Guess what? Your article won’t be easily verified as original to you the author anymore!

While frustrating when it’s happening to you, in a way, this is a safeguard against the content of all of us Web writers. I know I wouldn’t want someone copying and pasting one of my articles and then trying to resell it on a site like Constant-Content.

To avoid this issue in the first place, make sure that any articles you submit for usage only on Constant-Content are clearly attributable to you. Not that I’d ever try to submit this blog post to Constant-Content, but if I wanted to, I’d put “By Celeste Stewart” up at the top of the post as I did for illustrative purposes above. I’d also submit it to Constant-Content.com as soon as possible to ensure that I beat any content scrappers that might copy and paste the content and make the question of originality just murky enough to lead to a rejection.

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I stopped blogging regularly! I always thought the idea of setting up an editorial calendar was a great one (and for some it might be), but when I finally got around to sketching out a blogging plan, I ended up barely blogging at all!

I had it nicely laid out in Excel with specific topics to write about on specific days of the week. Since I have several blogs, I mapped out a plan for all of them. It looked great on paper but reality was a different story. Suddenly, whenever it was time to blog, I had to refer to my spreadsheet. Suddenly, blogging became overwhelming instead of fun. So, as of a few days ago, the editorial calendar is now history.

Just as it’s important to set goals, it’s also important to evaluate what isn’t working and adjust as needed. The editorial calendar simply did not work for me so it’s gone. How about you? What do you need to change this year?

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