Posting a Profile

We're proud of NowPublic's contributors and want a click from your byline to showcase your qualifications. This is no time to hide your light under a barrel - tell us everything you've published - ok maybe top 5 - brag about awards, contests you've won, boards you sit on, relevant work experience (with regard to what you're writing about) and anything else that polishes your pedigree. Boast about what makes you the expert worth trusting above and beyond the mass of other impostors (too harsh?).

So, not that we want to tell you what to do, but we'd both look better if you included:

your industry and subject-specific experience;
the names of publications you've written for;
the years you've worked in the field
your academic degrees or certificates;
relevant credentials, awards, and associations
and sites on the Web where your work is on view.

Don't discuss private details - your marital status, names of children, where you live, secret dreams and ambitions - this is Facebook material and while we know you have a life outside the site, we're more interested in your career profile than your social one. Think of this page as a version of LinkedIn for freelance journalists of every stripe.

Building Site Profile: Staff Recommendations

Everybody likes a challenge, so we like to throw down the gauntlet early and give you something for which to strive. Articles worthy of a staff recommendation are the perfect specimen - quality content, excellent presentation, and a post that typifies the high standard we are striving for at NowPublic. We silently do the happy dance when we read these and we'd like to be doing it non-stop so try to meet the following criteria:

original and specific information for the searcher in a hurry
useful tips for those in need of breaking stories and under-reported news
fresh, detailed content rather than generic or tired overviews
comprehensive explanations or handy references for further reading
a witty and entertaining voice that does not rely on tired language
content that inspires trust and confidence in the credentials
substantiated ideas validated by reputable factual sources

Reader Recommendations

NowPublic loves a love-in and nothing says "you made my day" more than paying it forward and patting a contributor on the back by clicking the "recommend" button. When readers do this you've really spoken to them and they've gone the extra mile to let you know. Makes you walk with an extra spring in your step, doesn't it?

Member Ranking

There are plenty of activities on the site worthy of points that will boost your Member Ranking, but here are the top 5 in our opinion, as they'll earn you readers as well, and that's what it's all about.

Earning a Staff Recommendation
Posting Original Stories
Posting Videos
Posting Photos
Posting Comments

Down the road, we'd like to reward you for sharing NowPublic stories offsite through your social network - re-Tweet it, update your Facebook page, digg it, link to it from your blog, you get the picture. We'd also like to know if you think a story is trendworthy (gathering traffic) and of course if you want to recruit someone for NowPublic, or for our sister site Examiner.com, we wouldn't say no :)

Anyway, enough of about you - back to the matter at hand... reporting the news. For some help in this department, check out our A-Z on the subject, namely our guidelines. Need help with tools? No worries, we've got a step-by-step tutorial. Want to see what other contributors are saying? Visit the forum. Other than that... the world is your newsroom.