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. Bottom line: You can save us a ton of time when you submit items!

• 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.). When we include email addresses, we usually remove the "@" at sign, as well as any "." (periods) from the email address itself, then we follow the address with instructions on how to reconstruct it. This is designed to discourage auto-web-robot-scanners from picking up on your email address. So your address will look like ... "youraddress(at)yourdomain(dot)com" or something similar. We follow it with this text: "[As a means of preventing spam for our contributors, in the preceding email address(es), please replace (at) with @ and (dot) with .]" You're more than welcome to make the shift for us, but we'll try to remember to catch it either way. If you specifically do not want the address formatted in this way (for example, if you've created a special "disposable" address for this purpose, which you'll destroy in a week or two) just say so and we'll leave it formatted for email -- and spammers. Additionally, remember that some participants live miles away from any working post office. If the book or printed literature is available in PDF form or some downloadable resource, please try to provide that URL as well.

• 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! For example, you might say, "USA callers can dial toll-free (others can call via Net2Phone) 1-800-xxx-xxxx." 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) Because some participants reported trouble when writing email addresses enclosed in pointy braces, we no longer use them to surround email addresses. Example: We used to say <your@address>, but now we simply write your@address . To make sure these addresses don't "wrap" in the middle, feel free to add a carriage return (type "Enter") just prior to typing the address. So all email addresses should now start on a new line. Lately we've been trying to avoid posting the addresses on the web in "clickable" form, due to the amount of spam it invites. Now we say your(at)address(dot)com, then follow it with this sentence: "[As a means of preventing spam for our contributors, in the preceding email address(es), please replace (at) with @ and (dot) with .]"

• 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
  Even if the URL is at the end of a sentence, we still don't show a period after the URL, since some browsers reported trouble opening these URLs.

• 10) Suggest a title for the item in all upper case. Put it at the beginning of the item, followed by 2 hyphens (no space between them, but we leave a space before the pair and another space after the pair) " -- ". Please keep the title short. We have to put an item number at the beginning when we compile the text, and we like the title to fit on one line. So here's an example:
  WRITING AN ITEM FOR BRIGADA TODAY -- To learn more, just check out a current issue!

• 11) Start the text of your item immediately after those hyphens; See any Brigada Today for an example. No need to skip a line.

• 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. (They get archived on the Brigada site... and if we publish them, you'll probably see an increase in spam anyway.) When we include email addresses -- see #4 above.

• 15) Sorry -- we don't publish appeals for support (at least 1/3 of our readers are missionaries, so we'd be 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 <editor@brigada.org> (don't just reply to an issue of _Brigada Today_). In the subject line, please put: "Proposed Brigada Submission".

• 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 turn off all "publisher" characters (like fancy quotes). Use "Tools|Autocorrect Options" to uncheck nearly every option under "Autoformat" and "Autoformat as you type". If you'd rather not turn these options off, write your item, then use "File|save as" to save your item as ascii text; close the file, then open it up again, then copy the text to your clipboard, then paste it into your email before sending it. The reason we go through these extra steps is due to the fact that many users still don't use fancy email programs. For those who don't, those fancy publisher characters come across as empty rectangles in our item. Not good. Thanks for understanding.

• 22) Keep security and sensitivity as a high priority -- don't compromise the identity of those you love.

• 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: editor(at)brigada(dot)org
[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 include in the email the full text of your research. (That's better than sending an attachment, which we won't open.) 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(at)YahooGroups(dot)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

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