Want To Contribute to The Leading Edge? README!

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Heya Crew!

As you know, FlyingGiants is about community, and the LeadingEdge news resource (homepage articles) has quickly become the go-to online spot for modelers to receive the latest news and information!

The LeadingEdge is more than just a cover page. We focus on community, new and upcoming product releases, and the best of the best in modeling. The format is loose, real, and written by passionate modelers just like yourself. From a pure statistical view, our homepage now receives over 10,000 unique viewers a day - yep, that's right, our little FG has grown dramatically, but we've got the same 'ole awesome vibe you've all come to love and enjoy.

Quite often, we receive requests from members who wish to post homepage articles, and we love it when they come through, and we need more! Myself, and our staff recently came up with the concept to opening up the LeadingEdge to the writing masses. Today we are proud to introduce something all new. FlyingGiants Members who wish, may join The LeadingEdge Editorial Staff as a Member Contributor!

Wanna be a online website keyboard bangin' stick huckin LeadingEdge superstar? Submit an article today! Once you make the homepage a few times, we'll decorate your username with a fancy "LeadingEdge Contributor" icon for all to know you're editin' talents.

The one and only qualification for being a LeadingEdge Writer, is the obvious. You need to know how to write, and have the ability proof read your own stuff.

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Some VERY important guidelines:

1. Find something to write about! Topics include: theme articles, killer new projects, human interest stories, local event coverage, guys from Sweden who eat japalenos while flying model airplanes, or someone at your field who makes a difference. You guys have been reading FG for years now, and get what The LeadingEdge is all about. If you need a reference point, check the "News Archives" link above.

2. Articles MUST NOT be product specific, unless used as a point of comparison for a larger topic. Articles submitted promoting products will be promptly bounced.

3. Articles MUST BE at least 3 THICK paragraphs in length. Thick means at least 5-8 sentences each. Write a novel if you wish, but make sure it's at least an article.

4. Articles MUST BE INTERESTING and LeadingEdge quality.

5. Articles must include visual eye candy, eg, a pile-o-photos, or other content. Videos may be uploaded as well.

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How to submit an article:

1. Prepare your article, and photos. It's time to submit.

2. Create a new thread in this forum. The title of the thread will be the title of your LeadingEdge Article.

3. Post the body of your article in the body of the thread

4. IMPORTANT! Upload ONE photo with dimensions of 435 pixels wide (maximum), and at least 400 pixels high. DO NOT upload more than one photo to the first post in your new thread.

If you do not know how to do this, no problem. We'll edit it down.

5. Hit submit, check for and repair any formatting problems by using the "edit post" function.

6. Reply to your original thread with additional photos and supporting media. Again, it is VERY important that the initial post in the thread contain ONLY the photo you wish to appear on the homepage.

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Once you have submitted your article, our staff will be automatically notified, and we will move it out of this forum, into our back-end staging forum. That's it! We'll handle any final edits to your content and place the article in our rotation upon final approval.

Please just do us one favor. If you're wondering if a topic is questionable, drop a PM to one of our staff members before you put a ton of work into an article. We have a pretty keep eye on what will work, and what will flop, just ask us. The last place we want to be in all of this is in the position to bounce articles. Just pleeeeeeease ask ask ask!!!!

If we run more than 2 of your articles, we'll tag ya with the super sweet icon.

Hope you guys like the new concept - we're really excited to see what's next!

Enjoy & Best--

You're humble hobby servants,
FlyingGiants Staff