Writer Central
We've opened up Newser to anyone who wants to contribute! With Newser by Users, you pick the story and use our tools to give it the Newser treatment -- a headline, picture, and short summary in your own words. All it takes is a few minutes and 60 or so words. Need help getting started, or have questions? Use these tips as a guide:
A good summary isn’t just a cut-and-paste job; it’s your chance to get rid of all the fluff in a story and tell the Newser community what's really important, in your own words. If you write a lively, enticing summary with a good, bold headline, you’ll get many more readers and likely catch the eye of an editor, who may promote it to the main grid - giving your summary even more exposure. (Learn more about what it takes to get promoted below). Some tips from our editors on how to make your words really count:
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Be concise and snappy.
- Don't try to summarize the whole lengthy article; cut to what happened or what’s most compelling about the story
- Include details that matter or that provide color, but don't sweat over including every interesting argument or point of view that appears in the story
- Make sure every sentence tells readers something new and moves the story forward
- Write active, readable sentences
- Choose quotes that are succinct, juicy, surprising, etc. Don't waste your time with the boring stuff
Don’t be formal. Loosen up.
- Try not to lead with the name of the source; it’s stuffy and formal and not Newser. Examples: "According to the New York Times," or "The New York Times reports." Zzzzzz
- Skip full names if other readers won't recognize them ("a state trooper," "a biofuels expert," etc. instead of "Researcher Jane Smith")
- It's perfectly ok (encouraged, even!) to add a little humor or attitude to your summary, but don’t force it or sacrifice information to get jokes in
Be sure to:
- Include the name of the publication being cited
- Be clear in an opinion piece or analysis about who’s saying something so you’re not portraying an opinion or interpretation as fact
When you're finished writing your original summary, it will immediately appear in the User Grid under the Latest tab. Approved writers – those we know who do a great job summarizing news articles – will have their stories appear on the Front Page.
On our Front Page, you’ll find stories by approved writers - those who do a great job of distilling the news into lively and efficient summaries. What you won’t find, among other things: copy and pasted stories, one-line “summaries,” or spam. It’s part of our effort to make the User Grid a smart and snappy destination for our readers.
If you want to see everything that’s being produced by our users, check out the Latest tab on the User Grid.
To become an approved writer, one of your stories must be approved by our editorial staff; writers of all user stories are automatically considered for approval. Our editors will take a look at your first submitted story (after the Front Page’s Oct. 27 launch) to see if it’s up to our standards (see below to find out what we don’t allow). If it fits the bill, we’ll make you an approved writer, and it and all subsequent stories written by you will be automatically posted to the Front Page. If your first story isn’t approved, don’t worry; you’ll still have two more chances to become an approved writer. If after your third story you’re still not approved, all of your subsequent stories will post only to the Latest tab of the User Grid, though we may occasionally check on them to see if you’re ready for Front Page status. (If you think a non-approved writer deserves Front Page status, let us know.)
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The best way to get more eyeballs to your summary is to have it promoted by one of our editors. Promoted summaries have, on average, about 8 to 10 times the number of views as unpromoted ones. We promote stories that we think will appeal to a lot of Newser readers and be a good fit with the Newser personality. Here are some things that pique our interest in a story:
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Sometimes a user will put a great story on our radar through NBU, but it's not quite promotable so we'll write our own version and give the user credit for suggesting it. Here are some reasons why we might say "suggested by" on a user story:
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- The user story is copied and pasted, which isn't kosher for us at Newser (we write our own content!)
- The story you wrote is composed of a snappy lede (nice!) but then just excerpts another source (ie, Writes the WSJ: "Blah blah blah.") This falls under the heading of "copied and pasted"
- The story is original, but there's new information that's vital to the story, which isn't included in your version. Know that you're able to edit your story (using the edit story link up at the top) to include new information should your story be developing
- The story you wrote is actually more of a glorified comment. We do our best to stick to the facts, so if there's too much bias, we'll have to write our own, more objective version
- The story is 8 words long (or a few more or a few less). Sometimes we can tack on a sentence or two to give it enough substance, but if you haven't given us enough to work with, we'll write our own version
If your story provides the best and most current information, we'll promote it. Otherwise, we have an obligation to our readers to provide them with the most complete story we can and with appropriate sourcing.
Have more questions? Visit our FAQ page or head on over to our NBU Forum. We're eager to help!
