Bloggers4Labour: Essays update

Thanks to all who volunteered to contribute to our essay series (by the way, if someone can think of a catchier name, or phrase, please let me know!). We've already reached our target of 10 and I expect that others will notice in time and also want to get involved. If nobody grabs "Fair taxation" and I have time, I might have a go at that myself...

So, what's the next step?

Well, I plan to start publishing the articles from Tuesday, 16th August (which is exactly six months since Bloggers4Labour got started).

You can submit articles now, if you like, and I'll put them "on the pile" for publication.

Ideally, I'd like to release one per day, and ideally in the order in which they're submitted. So, in answer to the question, "How long do I have?", the answer is "a minimum of a week", but obviously if everyone takes two weeks then I won't have a pile on my desk (so to speak) that I can spread out daily.

If you've forgotten to spell-check the thing, I can handle that, though if much more work than that is required, I may have to delay publication, or return it for fixing.

Submission Details:

Ideally I'd like to receive a file, by email, in a readable format, and with the minimum of funky formatting that I'll have to strip out. Microsoft Word (any version), Claris/AppleWorks, RTF, HTML, or plain text, I can easily handle.

I'd rather not have articles posted in the body of email messages, as the text often needs to be rewrapped, which is not a pleasant task to do manually.

Style and length...

Obviously when I say "essay" or "article", I don't mean just an ordinary blog post. On the other hand, this isn't (necessarily) a competition, and there isn't a University tutor marking these. All the same, try to be even-handed, cover a wide range of views, even if you don't agree with them, and try to look forward, not just sticking to conventional political wisdoms. As for length, I'd say 1000 words is a rough minimum.

Copyright, etc.

Bloggers4Labour will merely syndicate your article (assuming it has been approved). You retain your own rights over the original article. Publication doesn't imply any particular endorsement of any views expressed, but we will do what we can to publicise all the essays equally and ensure that your work is recognised.

Reader Awards

I'd encourage as many people to constructively comment on all the submissions. Perhaps at the end it may be possible for us to choose a favourite, or, perhaps, three articles especially worthy of praise.

I certainly wouldn't rule out a prize (or prizes) for articles that get thumbs up from people.

Proposed Essay List

Here's what I'm expecting from people (not in any order). You're not committed to doing them, but it would be nice if you could: