We'd really love to consider using it!

Articles can be very beneficial, especially long term, to all involved - the publisher, the writer, the reader.

SIDEBAR
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WHAT??? You haven't written any articles?
Why not?
Yes, you CAN be an author!
Here's How You Start
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THE RULES
We don't have hard and fast rules, but, for the benefit of us all, we must have some guidelines.

Here they are (and always subject to change):

• Articles should be business or marketing related, especially pertaining to good, useful information for marketing "newbies" or struggling marketers in general. (It may also be generic in nature, but at least beneficial to newbies, like "How to set goals", "How to get past your fears", etc.).
• There's no specific word limit, but there is a practical limit to the size of each NewbieShock - The Ezine issue. So probably make it less than 1000 words. If it's longer, you may want to consider breaking it into more than one part.
• Feel free to reference people or products you believe in and that would be genuinely helpful to newbies, BUT -- we don't feel obligated to consider articles that are simply poorly disguised sales letters.
• We reserve the right to exclude any article or any author, based on the needs of this ezine. We'll generally let you know if and why we have excluded an article. If it's "fixable," we may suggest how it may be improved, especially if you are an article writing "newbie." (hey - that's why we're here. We're always learning, and we've have made most of the mistakes ourselves so you won't have to.)
• We don't expect or require an article to be submitted exclusively to NewbieShock - The Ezine.
• We do not pay for articles. They are directly for the benefit of NewbieShock - The Ezine subscribers, and, of course, indirectly, the author.
• Articles must be original. If not, you MUST have the permission of the author to submit it on his/her behalf.
• No profanity, ethnic, or racial innuendo, or blatantly insensitive language of any type will be allowed. We're all adults here, and I'm not at ALL into "political correctness," but some things are just wrong for so many reasons.

• Send them to me, Neil Shattles,
• As instructed, put them formatted in ASCII text (aka, ".txt") format, and attach them to your e-mail.
• In the subject line of the e-mail, put "Article Submission."
  In the body of the e-mail, put the usual personal identification stuff: name, e-mail address, and, if you wish, a little about yourself.

NOT ALREADY AN AUTHOR?
If you're pretty new at this, that's cool. Gotta start somewhere!
Trust me - it's not all that hard. There are too many benefits to being "published" to list here, but how about:
==> More website traffic
==> More sales
==> More exposure

YOU DIDN'T ASK, BUT...
Here are some pretty basic article writing how-tos you may be able to use.

SIDEBAR
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If you really want to learn from a master, you CAN'T DO BETTER than Turn Words Into Traffic, one "killer" resource from Jim Edwards, a mentor of mine.
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NINE Really Good Things To Know About Article Writing:

1. Everybody knows something (useful, that is) that someone else doesn't know. You can capitalize on that! You don't have to be a rocket scientist to write an article. You just have to be able to express something someone else can use!
2. In general, write the kind of useful, succinct information you'd like to read. It does not have to be just facts; It IS OK to inject your own personality.
3. The best articles are those which state a problem or a need and propose a viable solution. It can be something very specific and limited in scope.
4. Give it a really catchy title, like "101 ways To Get Your Mother-In-Law To Leave And Make Her Think It Was Her Idea." (Or even like the one I used above!) Jeff Paul says that an article's title is it's headline. The whole idea is to get them to read on!
5. Remember, it's an article, not a book. Create a book or special report if the subject is too long for an article (there are good resources for how to do that, too; contact me for more info), but use the article to set it up, to introduce it
6. Stay on topic. Don't ramble. If you must digress, do so with a purpose, and come back on topic quickly.
7. Articles should be in ASCII text format, with "standard" article formatting. i.e., 65 or less characters per line, hard returns each line. (A great text editor I use - as I write this, even - is found at TextPad. You can set it to do the right format automatically. They have a free version, but I went ahead and paid for mine. Doesn't cost much at all and you then avoid those irritating "Are you ready to buy yet?" popups).
8. Include a resource box at the end with a little snippet about YOU and what you do (this suggests that you know what you are talking about - which you do. You are establishing yourself, in the reader's mind, as an authority, and that's ALWAYS good.) Having a link to your web site or your e-mail address - or both - is fine.
9. It's quite OK to include affiliate links to products/services you use and endorse. Just don't make the article one long sales letter. Just tell how the particular product/service will help with the solution.

God bless and good writing to you!

Neil