Brigada Composing Guidelines

YOU CAN SAVE US TONS OF TIME WHEN YOU SUBMIT ITEMS -- If you would like to submit a resource or other item for _Brigada Today_, please follow these simple steps. If you're hoping to ask a question or post an inquiry of some kind, we'd request that you follow these guidelines, plus read the additional section at the end:

1) Write the item in 3rd person (don't use "I", "me", "we", or "us"). We write the articles as if Doug is speaking... so it won't make sense if you say "us".

2) Keep it short . . . 8-10 lines max please

3) Keep it simple . . . please don't send your submission as an attached file. We don't open them. Sorry.

4) Provide an email address in addition to a web URL (some subscribers don't have web access.)

5) Remember you're writing to an international audience (40% of our readers live outside North America).

6) If you provide a toll-free number (for USA subscribers), please provide a normal number too. Write with an int'l reader in mind! Here's a great way of saying it: Call toll-free from the USA or via Net2Phone from elsewhere 1-800... When you write in such a way, you avoid alienating those from countries other than the USA . . . and over the years, that's been a constant goal of Brigada.

7) Make it interesting, but don't go overboard with too many UPPER CASE words or !!! exclamations!!! And please, don't use sentence fragments or "classified ad language". For example, instead of saying, "Transfers accepted. Seating limited.", talk in plain English please: "The school accepts transfers, but you'd better apply soon because seating is limited." Also, please steer away from using passive voice. Use active voice. (So instead of saying "transfers accepted", please write "The school accepts transfers.")

8) Enclose email addresses in pointy braces; Example: <your@address>. Make sure they don't "wrap" in the middle. If necessary, start on a new line.

9) We love web addresses (URLs); please supply the "http:" on the front and put the address on its own line. Example: "Check out http://www.brigada.org ." If the URL is the end of the sentence, include a space after the URL before the period. Please don't drop the period all together.

10) Suggest a title for the item in all upper case. Put it at the beginning of the item, followed by 2 hyhens, with a space on each side " -- ". Please don't make the title too long. Remember, we have to put an item number at the beginning when we compile the text.

11) Start the text of your item immediately after those hyphens; See a _Brigada Today_ for an example.

12) Please hit the space bar only *once* after a period (not 2 or 3 times)

13) Be sure to tell us if you don't want your name mentioned

14) By default, we mention only first names and by default, we usually don't publish email addresses of contributors

15) Sorry -- we don't publish appeals for support (at least 1/3 of our readers are missionaries, so we're preaching to the choir!)

16) We emphasize items with broad appeal (as opposed to a narrow focus or single people group). We do publish mission opportunities, but usually only those aimed at a *group* rather than a job opportunity for just one highly focused individual. Our audience is close to 10,000... and we only publish up to 20 items per week... so we're looking for items that interest the most people.

17) Send your submissions to <DLucas@TeamExpansion.org> (don't just reply to an issue of _Brigada Today_)

18) Make sure you note any deadlines you're working under... Most of the time we're backed up two or three weeks on nondated items

19) Please don't indent or center any lines in your item; *especially* please don't let your email client indent *every* single line!

20) Please remove all formatting from the text; Keep it simple.

21) If you write in Microsoft Word, please use "Tools|Options" to turn off all "publisher" characters (like fancy quotes)

22) Keep security and sensitivity as a high priority -- don't compromise

23) If your name or email address doesn't reveal your gender, please tell us if there's any doubt, in case we refer to you later as a "he" or "she"

24) We try to major in items relating to unreached peoples and/or the challenges of reaching them

25) We simply can't include everything that is submitted; we reserve the right not to print it all. Much of our international audience is paying by the byte!)

Thanks!!! When you're done, send your item to: <DLucas@TeamExpansion.org>.

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[additional section for those hoping to post an inquiry of some kind:

Thanks for the interest you've shown in your quest. Your inquiry might make an excellent study for _Brigada Today_, with a participating family of well over 10,000 subscribers. If we post your question in an upcoming issue, you might get 3 responses, or you might get 30 (most inquiries would fall in that range). Would you be willing to compile those responses into a kind of report for us, then mail us a copy of it no later than 2 weeks after your inquiry appears? If so, let's do it! After two weeks, please follow the guidelines again to put together a short summary of your findings, then email them back to me. But you may also feel free to attach a file with the full text of your research. We might then be able to configure it as a Brigada "auto-responder", so that interested parties can download the complete file for more information.So... next steps... If you aren't already subscribed to Brigada Today, send a message to <brigada-today-subscribe@YahooGroups.com>. Then follow the instructions today to write up a brief query about your quest for information. Thanks for your partnership in Brigada!

Doug Lucas
Brigada

Brigada "OPC Protocol" -- Origin, Purpose, and Closure.

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