by Harpreet Bhagrath | Oct 14, 2011 | Sample Communications
Hi Anjali,
I am the (your designation) at (your company). One of our portals, (your portal’s web address, say abc.com) deals with monetary matters, financial advice to lay U.S. people, and then some.
With a mix of 30 odd news stories everyday on finance, business, money, entertainment, and just as many feature articles covered each week on popular finance and lifestyle subjects, this ‘infotainment’ portal is an abundant source of original, updated, and timely information.
We want to associate with (PR company name) in a mutually beneficial proposition. We are looking at some sort of arrangement whereby we could carry exclusive and timely features, interviews and news concerning your clients. These would most probably be e-mail and phone interviews apart from, of course, the press releases.
Kindly let me know your thoughts on this.
Thanks and regards,
by Harpreet Bhagrath | Oct 14, 2011 | Sample Communications
Hi Ankita,
I am the (your designation) at (your company). One of our portals, (your portal’s web address, say abc.com), is dedicated solely to the entertainment needs of the readers online. Here’s our organisation’s website: (your company’s website).
News, features, and reviews pertaining to movies, music, and TV world make up a majority of the content on (your portal’s web address). The portal covers India- and Bollywood-based content predominantly, but Hollywood and the Western music scene get a fair coverage too.
Abc.com clocks 300,000 visitors every month, and Alexa, the web information firm providing reliable traffic statistics, ranks totalfilmy.com at 3619 in India.
We want to associate with Sony Pictures in a mutually beneficial way. We are looking at some sort of arrangement whereby we could carry exclusive and timely features, interviews, and news concerning movies produced at your establishment. These would most probably be e-mail and phone interviews, apart from, of course, the press releases.
Kindly let me know your thoughts on this.
Thanks and regards,
by Harpreet Bhagrath | Oct 13, 2011 | Tutorials for Our Writers, Writing Tutorials
Here’s a bit on borrowing material from other sources.
Within the article, where you are talking about an idea — and the idea is not your own — you need to tell the readers honestly which source (website, book, magazine, paper, journal, etc.) the idea was borrowed from. You can write something like the following:
The Times noted in an article, article title here, that… (the idea continues here).
By doing the above, we are telling the readers that this idea does not belong to us. We did our research on the topic and borrowed the idea from The Times.
In case of quotes, if you did not take the quote first hand and borrowed it from a news site or magazine, you need to write a variation of the following:
“The quote here,” The Times quoted Mark Zuckerberg, CEO, Facebook, as saying.
So attribute all the borrowed ideas and information bits you put in the article to their sources (as exemplified above) at least three times throughout the article.
Because we expect the best from a writer of your caliber, you need to meet the following requirements towards researching and attributing the information:
ü Research on at least four good sources, and provide attribution to the sources of your information at least three times throughout the article.
ü Provide quotes from at least three speakers quoted in as many source sites.
- Link out to the source site, using the following HTML code: <a href=”URL of the source site”>The Times (website’s official name, not the home page URL)</a>.
- The attribution will typically read like the following: “The quote here,” The Times quoted Mark Zuckerberg, CEO, Facebook, as saying.
- With HTML coding, it reads like this: “The quote here,” <a href=”URL of the source site”>The Times (website’s official name, not the home page URL)</a> quoted Mark Zuckerberg, CEO, Facebook, as saying.
Any questions on the above? Just get in touch with the core team — shoot us a mail, message us on Yahoo Messenger, or just give us a tinkle.
Happy writing,
Cosmos Writers Editorial Team
by Harpreet Bhagrath | Oct 12, 2011 | Tutorials for Our Writers
Our freelance writers need to provide appropriate photos with their article. This post tries to clarify their doubts on the same.
Size of the Photos
Ideal size for image is 250x250px (Need not be square, but landscape format goes well with our layout).
You may use ‘public domain’ images or images selected from free as well as paid photo sites like Flickr, iStock Photo, etc. To cut the photo to right size, use a photo editing software, like the one at http://www.irfanview.com. Options to add canvas (border) and resize the image are available in the edit menu in Irfanview.
Copyright-Free Photos
Make sure you do not use any copyrighted images. Check for watermark and copyright inscriptions (at the bottom of the photo, in small letters); these two are the marks of a copyrighted photo.
Plus, far as possible, use photos available from free or paid images sites mentioned above. You will have to buy their membership, if it’s a paid site. Alternatively, look for ‘public domain’ images on the web.
Choice and Modifications of the Photos
The choice and the modification of photos are also important. The photos have to be of maximum 250 pixels in width and as square as possible. You can choose a rectangular photo (maximum dimension being 250 pixels again), but make sure that it is landscape (horizontally rectangular) and not portrait (vertically rectangular).
Grainy, unclear, or irrelevant photos will not be accepted. If you have the expertise, you can also modify the photos. What we mean by modification is performing graphics work on the photos, like joining two photos, using graphics, superimposing words, etc.
Title of the Photos
Also, we need to name the photos (don’t confuse ‘name or title’ of the photo with ‘caption’, which is something else) we choose for our news and features appropriately. If you cannot think of a name, then choose the headline/heading of the news or feature itself as the title of the photo. The photos’ labels are apparent to the readers, and it will be a mistake to think that the readers are not able to see what we have named the picture. Pointing the mouse on the photo provides them the name. So kindly be careful.
Photo Captions
You need to provide captions too with the photos. There is a slot within the “Create Content” on TJ (TJ is the contraction for The Journeyer) page where you can write/paste caption text. Try to describe what’s happening in the photo. Or link the photo with some interesting fact within the article. With people in the photo, you need to identify the chief characters within the photo. Provide, in parentheses, how the names are identified in the photo, like this: (from left).
Any questions on the above? Just get in touch with the core team — shoot us a mail, message us on Yahoo Messenger, or just give us a tinkle.
Happy writing,
Cosmos Writers Editorial Team
by Harpreet Bhagrath | Oct 10, 2011 | Dealing with Writers/Columnists, Sample Communications
The following post tries to clarify doubts of freelance writers working with Cosmos Media, explaining all the vital components of our articles to them.
Headings
First, we write article headings in title case rather than in sentence case.
Second, we expect witty and sharp titles from our writers, so that the readers feel compelled to click on our features and articles. Here’s a site that carries catchy titles: http://www.mgid.com/. From this source, you can pick ideas on the kind of headlines and feature titles we are looking for. Of course, we cannot hype the gist of the article or feature, but we can still capture the Wow! factor in most informal features and some (not all) formal features.
Blurb
With blurb, we tell readers what they can expect to read. In the blurb, we don’t beat about the bushes and come straight to the point directly after the heading. Here are a few ways to write a blurb:
– Just try to summarise in roughly 15-25 words what you have written in the whole article
– Or, instead of summarising, you can also mention something interesting from within the feature and leave it for the readers to guess what the focus of the feature is going to be
– Another way to write a blurb would be to try and sell your article to the readers in 15-25 words; just think how you can do that
– To get a practical idea, go through the blurbs on the features published on our sites
Lead
This is the first paragraph — or, in some cases, first few paragraphs of the feature — that makes the angle or the focus of the feature known to the readers. It comes directly after the blurb and is the device feature writers use to attract the attention of the reader.
– Usually just one or two graphs long
– Different ways it can be written:
- You can make the reader curious; explain what’s in store for him; ask a question or questions; make an unusual statement; provide surprising or alarming statistics; write a quotation, adage or proverb; or state an unusual opinion
Sub-Headings
You have to provide sub-headings within the body of the feature; we do not accept a feature without them.
– Make sub-headings bold this way: <strong>Text to be made bold</strong>
Within the body of the feature, we try to write at least 30 words under a sub-heading. This is to give the feature more body as well as for the sub-headed part to justify having a sub-heading.
– Sub-headings having hardly any matter in them or those having just a one liner are not acceptable (like the one below).
- <strong>7. Take a Small Nap</strong> Studies reveal that a small nap during the day helps our mind and body recover from energy loss.
Box
The information in the box is not really central to the feature but is still germane to the topic, in that it throws a sidelight on the issue, or provides something extra to the readers that they will appreciate. To get ideas for the box material, kindly go through published features on our sites.
Authenticating Arguments and Ideas
Statements in any publication have to be backed by research, data, facts, and further information to acquire credibility. We would require you to not only cross-check facts and figures (that they are authentic and are coming from reputed sources) you may furnish in the article, but also make sure that every premise and argument you bring up is backed by logical reasoning and ample knowledge to expand on the argument.
Condensed Information
Contain all the researched information within 300-400 words. We need condensed information rather than verbose prose. So from your researched material, choose the most enlightening information bits, the most informative nuggets, if you will, the kind that spark an epiphany in the reader. You can discard the less informative stuff, as we are trying to provide the maximum value to the readers in a ‘tablet article’, so to speak.
Also, to further cut down the number of words, check verbiage, repetition, or wordiness in your writing style.
Portals’ Target Audiences
Also, kindly keep in mind that we write for the U.S. audience (in case of The Journeyer), and whatever research you do and whatever facts you choose to mention in the article are supposed to be relevant to the U.S. audience predominantly. For Brisvaani, the target audience is Indians living in Australia. Check with your assigned portal’s editor on the target audience, if you are not sure.
Formatting
You need to format the write-up this way: single line spacing between paragraphs, first word aligned left like the rest of the para, font style ‘Times New Roman’, and font size 12.
Any questions on the above? Just get in touch with the core team — shoot us a mail, message us on Yahoo Messenger, or just give us a tinkle.
Happy writing,
Cosmos Writers Editorial Team
