TIPS FOR GETTING YOUR ARTICLES READ

This article is offered to assist Gather members who have thoughts, views, ideas, opinions or perhaps recollections, stories, or poems that they would like to share.   The purpose is to help garner the maximum number of readers and comments.  Perhaps along with comments comes points - maybe not.  If amassing points is your main objective then this article is not for you.  There are ways of gathering points, but that is not the purpose of this article.

I have been posting articles on Gather now for almost two years and I have discovered a few things just through personal experience.  I have never seen any tips to help me along.

1.     TIME     It takes time.  Don't expect a big readership right off the bat.  You need to build up a following of faithful readers.  So be patient.  A deficit of comments doesn't mean nobody wants to read what you have written, it just means few people know you yet.

2.     TITLE     The title of your article is more important than you may think.  With hundreds of articles posted on Gather every day nobody has the time to read every one or even the first couple of lines to see if they are interested.  Your title should be short - not more than one line of type.  It should be succinct and say just enough to give the reader a hint of what the article is about.  It should be provocative, reaching out to grab the reader's attention.  The title should NOT be full of gimmics such as symbols, characters and unnecessary punctuation marks.  Save the punctuation for the body of your article.  I prefer to use all upper case letters for my title so it will stand out from the body of the article.  If you prefer lower case letters at least the first letter of each word should be in caps.  And lastly use proper English - no spelling errors, typos or bad grammar.  I even shun slang or curse words in my titles.  See the title of this article as an example.

3.     LENGTH     Articles should not be too short or too long.  If too short you haven't fully developed your thoughts.  Give the readers more to work with.  If too long you stand the chance of boring the reader.  People's attention span these days is quite limited.  Break up your article into paragraphs with  blank spaces between.  Again this article will serve as an example.

4.     SUBJECT     Any subject is suitable as long as it falls within Gather's guidelines.  Write what you like - what interests you.  There will always be readers who are into the same thing you are.  But make it interesting and sincere.

5.     STYLE     We are not all great writers or college English  majors.  But we can all use a dictionary.  Keep a small paperback dictionary next to your computer and use it.  If you're not sure of a spelling look it up.  If you need to use the same word more than once look for a synonym.  When you're finished, before clicking on the 'publish' button, review your work.  Look for errors.  Look for places where a different word would sound better.  When you've finished reviewing your article review it again.  If you're rushed and don't have time to review your work click  'save as a draft' and come back when you have more time.

6.     ICON     You may think that your icon is not important - that any old thing will do.  No so.  Readers will identify your work with your icon.  Choose it carefully, and don't keep changing it.  It needs to be distinctive, to represent you.  Best if it is a clear, recent, close-up, color photo of yourself.  In any case it should be clearly identifiable as your icon.

7.     NETWORK  You need to build up a network of friends.  These are people whose work you like to read and comment on, and people who have commented on your work in the past.  You can invite people to join your network and you can join other people's network when invited.

8.     GROUPS     Don't join dozens of groups haphazardly.  Be selective.  Apply to join groups whose purpose is compatible with your interests and writing.  When posting your article to your groups be sure the subject matter of your article is in keeping with the purpose of the group.

9.     FREQUENCY     Don't try to flood the airwaves.  But do keep your work before the members' eyes.  Some prolific writers are able to post an article every day of the week; others can only manage one a week.  Whatever your capacity, be consistent  - keep your icon and your titles out there.

10.   COMMENTING     Read regularly the articles of other Gatherers, particularily those in your network, and comment on them as much as you can.  This will encourage others to read and comment on your work.  In addition it keeps your icon and your name before the Gather membership.