Hello SEED Community,

SEED has been open for business for about two weeks now, and we've been thrilled with your response. We've bought - and started publishing – dozens of your articles. Here are a few that are already intriguing readers on some of AOL's top sites:

On Gadling: Eight Money Saving Tips for Your Next Road Trip
On Holidash: Macy's 2009 Holiday Window Display
On StyleList: Plane Pretty: How To Look Great While Flying

You've embraced our initial vision for SEED, writing great articles and submitting visually compelling photos. So much so, in fact, that we are still reviewing them all. Thanks for your patience as we deal with this wonderful dilemma. Once we finish reviewing this initial batch, we look forward to communicating with you more quickly with relevant information and feedback.

We want to address two main questions we're hearing from you:

Submission Status: Based on the volume of incoming articles, our editors are finding that they are hitting a comfortable stride in reviewing submitted content within 5-7 days after the listed due date. So, if you submit content earlier in the process, please know you may not hear from us until about a week after the deadline. This gives us the time we need to thoughtfully review your content and work to identify a good match for one of our sites.

Shared Earnings: We've heard your input about the aspect of SEED that is meant to offer writers a share of our earnings from advertising, rather than a fixed up-front fee. We think this is an exciting idea with the potential to let you earn money and engage readers in experimental or new content areas. So far we've not used this option; all the articles we've bought have been for the stated fee. When we do start offering to publish content with shared earnings, we will do so in a way that's clear, also giving you the choice to decide whether this arrangement is right for you and your work.

We are committed to making SEED the best online venue for experienced creators like you to develop your craft, reach the widest audience, and earn money for your efforts. No company will give you more opportunities to cover a wider range of topics in more ways than AOL. What you see on the site today is just the beginning of the exciting opportunities we'll roll out in coming months. So, check the site often.

We have big dreams for SEED, and they can only be achieved with you as our partners. You're joining our team, so please stay in touch. Write us with your feedback, ideas and dreams at contact@seed.com.

Our very best to you and yours this holiday season. We look forward to growing together in the New Year.

Cheers,

Saul Hansell, SEED Programming Director
Kristi Anderson, SEED Community Manager

Kristi Anderson is Managing Editor of the AOL Living sites, including ParentDish.com, Lemondrop.com, StyleList.com, and PawNation.com.


Since you've joined SEED, it's clear you're interested in being a part of the next phase of content creation -- where you can share your expertise, reach a large audience, and reap rewards for it. SEED offers an unrivaled opportunity for creative, passionate and qualified people (like you!) who have a voice and opinion to be seen, heard, and read.

At SEED, we are committed to enabling talented, professional writers, photographers, and content creators to produce quality content. SEED Academy represents our intention to meet that commitment, with our team of experienced editors offering you tools and insights to take your writing to new heights. If our goal is to help SEED grow, then think of the Academy as the greenhouse where we can nurture our writing community and watch good ideas take root.

We named this training effort the SEED Academy, because we realize that you are coming to us with a strong skill set to begin with. The word 'academy' connotes higher learning, with best practices and key learnings shared by voices of authority -- and that includes you.

John Neff is Editor-In-Chief of Autoblog.com.

While an article's title should grab a reader's attention, the first paragraph (or 'lede') convinces him or her to stay and keep reading. Generally, the first paragraph should begin with the central piece of news or information that your article is meant to convey. This sets up the reader with an expectation of what will follow.

Since each singular article is usually part of a larger story, immediately following the first sentence should be any background information that helps give the article context. One should never assume that readers are as well informed as you, the writer (why would they be reading your article if they were?), so use this space to answer any questions like:

• "What led up to this?"
• "Why is this important?"
• "Who are the players and/or organizations involved?"
• "What is this article about?"

Bruce Watson is a Features Writer for AOL's Money and Finance sites, including DailyFinance and WalletPop.

The key to constructing a compelling narrative lies in determining the part of the story that interests your audience and lopping off the parts that don't. This is particularly important when you're writing for the internet, as most of your readers will only give you a few minutes to capture their attention, make your case, and tie everything up. If your article starts to extend past 500 words, the narrative has to be vitally interesting or you will lose readers; by the time you get to 1000 words, even the most engaged audience will be getting antsy.

The Three W's
When narrowing down your story, ask yourself three basic questions:

• Who is my target audience?
• Why have they chosen to visit this site?
• Which part of this story will be most interesting or useful to them?