Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Invitation to Diabetes Writers

Coming on the heels of several online chats with several prominent diabetes authors (with more to come, see my previous post for details), one of the things I notice when reading the profiles of my fellow diabetes-bloggers is how many writers (or would-be writers) there are among us. That's great, as the popular press seldom tells the story from a patient perspective. Of course, getting published is another story, and even then, success is usually defined by book sales, the possibility of bestseller lists, not necessarily how good your book actually is. However, having been published in mainstream magazines lends to your credibility, builds your experience and resume on the subject. In fact, many people find freelancing that way fits their need to write with the content needs of various mediums.

Today, blogging enables virtually anyone to begin writing (often completely uncensored). But what about online venues for diabetes-oriented magazine articles? As Amy Tenderich recently highlighted some "chronic bits", this post serves let my readers know about and hopefully serve as an invitation for all of you diabetes writers. A few months ago, a website called DiabetesThought emerged and they are seeking your articles on the subject of diabetes! They have partnered with another diabetes message board which you may not have heard about called diabeticdiscussion.com, another site also worth checking out.

Naturally, I immediately challenged them to accommodate my article on the subject of generic insulin (which, for those of you who already read it, contains a postscript written in April on legislation now pending in Congress), and that was recently published. DiabetesThought relies exclusively on its readers and those who are actively researching Diabetes to contribute their content. In exchange, DiabetesThought gives you a great audience who is looking for reliable, trustworthy information, as well as the possibility of earning some money for your efforts via advertising. While they cannot promise you'll make a fortune, if you're looking to write and have the opportunity for some revenue, why not?

DiabetesThought.com is looking for you!

What They Are Looking For

Their scope for this site is fairly wide: DiabetesThought is seeking anything that deals with diabetes. This can range from medical information, reviews of products that make your life easier, nutrition, exercise, and advice to help others lead a happy, full life with diabetes.

Is there any topic that is especially near and dear to your heart? Any idea that you've been thinking about for a while that you'd love to explore more? Any product that you've tried and are extremely excited about (or misses the mark)? These are all great starting points for writing a fantastic article. Even if your idea is not fully formed, please contact Mark Doust and Christopher Berry who serve as editors. They will work with authors to help develop ideas, proofread documents, and help in revising materials.

About that Money Thing

Yes, there is the ability to get paid with DiabetesThought. While they can't promise a lot of money from it, over time, it can add up. DiabetesThought offers certain authors the opportunity to share in the revenue on the articles they write. This comes in the form of AdSense sharing. Basically, they will put your AdSense ad on their site so you can get paid by people who visit those ads. If you are already blogging with Google's Blogger, its a piece of cake to apply for an AdSense ID. The process takes a few days to set up, and ideally if you have done that beforehand, then you can provide info. at the time you submit your article. Be sure ask about this, they'd like to share their revenue with you! Right now, the website is still in its infancy, but as word spreads, I hope it will become regular source for articles covering the spectrum.


How to be Considered


To be considered, you should send an e-mail to mark- at -diabetesthought -dot- com (They have broken the e-mail address down to avoid massive amounts of spam, so I have complied with that request). In your e-mail, please answer the following questions:

  • What Is Your Name?

  • What is Your Occupation?

  • Do you currently have an article topic in mind (and if so, what is it)?

  • What makes you qualified to write on this topic?

  • Do you have a website and if so, what is the URL?

  • Please provide your phone number and a time when they can call you.

  • Finally, if you wish to participate in revenue sharing, please provide your AdSense ID.
Just send this information to mark -at- diabetesthought -dot- com and someone will be in touch with you as soon as possible.

1 comment:

manny hernandez said...

This is good stuff, Scott. I just wrote to Mark.