This is your chance, your opportunity to begin a new career. It's a chance to contribute back to the SQL Server community. Perhaps it's the beginning of a career as a writer.
SQLServerCentral has been supported by various members of the SQL Server community. It was started by six individuals who had decided to build their own SQL Server site that reflected their community. Originally all articles were original content produced by the founders. Over time selected individuals were asked if they wished to contribute articles and we all thank them for their time and efforts.
Currently, SQLServerCentral would like to offer the opportunity for everyone to contribute their original thoughts, ideas, tips, whatever they would like to offer to the SQLServerCentral community.
Check out the Author List and get motivated to get your name on the list.
Also, there are writing tips in the Authors Guidelines.
Writing is an effort. It takes time, requires patience and work, and you are subjecting yourself to criticism when you publish something.
It's also tremendously rewarding. It can be therapeutic, and it shows the world a part of you that they might never see. People you never have met, never spoken to, will gain an understanding of you. They will learn about your skills and abilities.
They might even hire you.
They might applaud you. Who knows, you might be the next Kalen Delaney, Joe Celko, Stephen King. Give it a try today.
It can also be financially rewarding. A few of the founders have expanded on their writing to publish articles in print and even author books on SQL Server. While none of us has retired, it has been a nice financial bonus for our families.
So why should you write for SQLServerCentral? Well, there are quite a few benefits that we can provide.
Payment - We currently pay $25 per published article via PayPal. It's not much, but it's something.
We do not pay for Questions of the Day, Scripts, or blogs.
Note that we do pay a bit more for regular authors, and while it won't pay your mortgage, it might cover your lunch bill for the month.
OK, the boring stuff: rules and regulations.
We are a SQL Server based community. As a result, we like to see articles on any subject dealing with SQL Server. Any version. DTS, T-SQL, OLAP, administration, whatever your specialty is, your source of knowledge, pick something you think you're good at and send it to us.
Reviews are handled differently. If you want to review a product (and we always have a list of products needing review), please email articles (@sqlservercentral.com) for pre-approval. The process is slightly different and we'll provide a separate template.
If you have a question, feel free to query the webmaster via email about your topic.
Everyone asks, so I'll put it here. We process a bunch of payments every month and it is time consuming, so we can't process payments as we receive articles. It would be a nightmare.
Instead we pay based on publication date for your article. The last week of the month, the editor will gather up payment information and the first week or two of the month following publication, we send out checks and process Paypal payments.
We can send you a check, drawn in US dollars, or use Paypal. Let us know which one you want to use when you are contacted by the editor.
Unlike some publishers, SQLServerCentral does not ask for copyright to your work.
You retain copyright, but give us the distribution or publication rights on this site in perpetuity. You also give us the right to publish the information in print in any of our publications. No additional royalties are paid for this, but you will receive credit and 2 copies of the publication.
This does mean, however that this is YOUR ORIGINAL WORK. No plagiarism. If you're unsure, give credit or a reference to something else. This also applies to images. If you want to reuse something to provide clarity, be sure that you provide a reference and credit to the source.
A tricky topic. Digital Rights, copyrights, Intellectual Property, whatever you want to call it.
We want to give you your flexibility and freedom, but we need to balance this with the need to promote and grow our site. Any articles that we pay you for, you agree to give us 90 days of exclusive distribution rights, meaning you will not publish them elsewhere for 90 days from the date of publication. Since we may not publish it for a few weeks after we get it, be sure you account for this.
We are happy to accept articles that are published elsewhere, but we do not pay for them and the author is responsible for ensuring he is not violating any other agreements.
And you are free to re-publish or submit the article to any other site after it has been released on SQLServerCentral for 90 days.
You do agree to give us perpetual publication rights, both on the web, and in print. We usually republish articles in The Best of SQLServerCentral.com about every year and we'll send you a couple free copies if we include your work.
So how do you go about getting started? You can submit articles, scripts, or suggestions for "Question of the Day" online. Just click here and be sure you read the Authors Guidelines for writing hints.
Alternatively, you can email a draft to any of the the articles (articles @ sqlservercentral.com). We'll be happy to take a look and let you know what we think.
