Odyssey is awesome and you are too! Here's some information to show you everything you need to know to be a kicka$$ Creator for the Odyssey at Wake Forest!
First, if you're not a member already, make an account HERE! Your community will be Wake Forest.
Second, become a member of our awesome GroupMe to connect to other writers in the Wake Forest Community.
You're only responsibilities as a Creator will be to submit an article about anything you want by Wednesday at 5 (there's no word limit- this isn't school!), be vocal in the GroupMe, and share Odyssey with your friends! Your perks as a Creator will be to be published weekly and have the opportunity to move up from Creator to Content Editor, to Editor In Chief.
Now, who's who at the Wake Odyssey and what do they do?
Elena Kalodner-Martin
Our go-to gal at Odyssey HQ! She is a Content Strategist, a MA PhD student at University of New Hampshire and an avid Harry Potter and Food Network fan. She makes sure our Wake sect of Odyssey stays on track so far as page views and monthly goals go. I get to chat with her every week about how great our Content Creators and Editors are and she tells me tips that our team could use to get more page views! You can check out some of her articles HERE!
Bri Cicero
Our superstar Editor at the Odyssey HQ. Brianna is a journalism and pre-law major. She wants to be the Publisher or Editor-in-Chief of a major Publishing House. She loves helping people find their voice and passion for writing! So after your articles go through the CE (Content Editor) and then EIC (Editor in Chief) it goes to Bri who gives it the final say and publishes your work! She's here to make your article look the most appealing to the most amount of peeps. It's all about those page viewzzzz. Check her articles out HERE.Maggi McCann (me)
I'm the Editor in Chief, I go over all of your articles after the CEs do! I'm not sure what I want to do "when I grow up" but I love doing this so hopefully something similar to my current role! In this role, I relay information to the Wake Forest team from HQ, and I send crazy weekly emails to inspire and motivate my team to submit on time. I'm always here to answer questions or help you with anything you need! Check my articles out HERE.
Dani Soviero, Sam Smart and Roohi Narula
Our awesome Content Editors are your first line of defense when it comes to editing articles and answering questions. They get the first looks at what our Creators write. Check their articles out on theodysseyonline.com by searching their names!
Creators
Our weekly writers! Everyone submits an article every week, which is pretty impressive considering how much we have on our schedules! Mostly everything about the articles is in the hands of the Creators: topic, length, picture choice, etc. The only thing that is somewhat structured is the format.
So join our Odyssey team at Wake today!!!
The rest of this article is for current Content Creators and Editors. It'll be helpful when you join our team!
Let's talk about LISTICLESSSS!!!!
Something you might not have known about listicles is that they have a specific format. I know it hasn't been enforced, but this format really does help your article be more appealing to readers and get more pageviews!
1. Put your topics for each item of the list in the format of "Header 2"
You can find "Header 2" under the formatting icon to the right of the <> in the bar above. Then put the text down here under the topic sentence, back into "Normal text", which is also under the formatting icon. It usually goes back to normal automatically
2. Pictures in Listicles
Put your picture after the main item ^ up there in "Header 2" ^ and before the text down ~ here ~3. Typically listicles do best with 11, 13, 17, 21 or 36 items.
I know it's super weird but that's what has been found with previous listicles.
Got listicles? Cool! What's next?
Subheadings go in format Header 4 or Header 5 (I like four so I'm going to use that for the rest of the article!)
Attributing photos in the body of your article
People have been getting really confused on this so let's take it one step at a time.
There are two types of pictures that can go in the body of your articles: one you got offline or an original. ****Important note: both must be attributed****
An original photo is one that you or someone you know took. A non-original photo is any photo taken off of the internet or another external source.
****both need attributions****
How to attribute an Original Photo:
Insert Image in the top bar --> upload your image
Click on your image and press the button that says Edit
You can make the Title whatever you want.
There is no "Link" because it is an Original so leave this blank.
You don't have to check that little box that says "open image in new tab"
You DO need to Position your image to the Center. Every image needs to be centered in every article, listicle, everything, anything.
Always make sure to press the blue Save button!
Non-original photo attribution:
Insert Image in the top bar --> upload your image
Click on your image and press the button that says Edit, just like with an original photo.
You can make the Title whatever you want.
Then, for the link, go from google images and click "view image" then copy and paste the link from the page into Link in the picture.
You don't have to check that little box that says "open image in new tab"
You DO need to Position your image to the Center. Every image needs to be centered in every article, listicle, everything, anything.
Cover photos
Don't make your cover photos, photos with writing. We find that articles with cover photos that don't have writing are more popular than articles with cover photos that do.
Labeled for reuse:
Your cover photo needs to be attributed and "labeled for reuse"
On this article, since it is a screenshot, that is what I put in the attribution section.
To get a picture that is labeled for reuse, follow these steps:
Go to google --> images --> type in your key term.
tools--> usage rights --> label for reuse
If you don't like any of the photos, try typing in different key terms. Or, if you're talking about a show on Netflix or something, take a picture of the screen from YouTube!
Let's consider an article about cuffing season, because, tis the season
Bad cover photo (but might be good body photo!):
Wordy and not labeled for reuse
Good cover photo:
Labeled for reuse and no words
Have headlines with very clear identities.
Don't just say "Fall Stuff" or "Just College Things" be specific and creative! Instead of "Fall Stuff", try "XX Reasons Fall Is My Favorite Season". Instead of "Just College Things" try, "First Year of College Realizations" or "Advice From Freshman Year Of College".
Late Submissions
Not submitting weekly is not acceptable.
If you're in a bind you have to let me or your editor know by 5 pm on Tuesday, 24 hours before deadline.
Just because articles are due by Wednesday doesn't mean that you have to do your article on Wednesday.
Treat the Odyssey like a job. You need to meet your weekly deadline so the team can meet our weekly goal.
If you forget to submit, you won't be off the hook. You're expected to submit an article for the Wednesday that you forgot by Sunday at 5 pm. Remember if you submit on Sunday because you got an extension, you have to write another article right away for the following Wednesday deadline.
If you want more information, check out this Odyssey article "The Ultimate Guide To Being An Odyssey Creator", reach out to your editor, or reach out to your Content Strategists!