A Discussion with Looking for Clues Editor, Bill Kline

Bill Kline is editor of Looking for Clues (LFC). Looking for Clues is a Web site that offers a variety of articles on a spectrum of topics. Kline handles the query letters and submissions, and in this interview with Kline he tells us a little more about Looking for Clues, how he came to be editor, and shares some advice about the kinds of articles Looking for Clues is seeking. Here is the interview in its entirety:

Misti: What inspired you to start Looking for Clues?

Bill: I've always had great respect for those who are able to express themselves via the written word. A few years ago I met a woman online who is a gifted writer. I was captivated by her eloquent, heartfelt words, and I decided to create this Web site as an outlet for her work. I enjoyed editing her articles, so I mentioned on the site that I would be buying articles from freelance writers. Some of my early submitters discussed their positive experiences on Web sites for writers like Absolutewrite.com, which led to further interest. At that point, LFC began to be what you see today -- a collection of insightful and entertaining articles!

Misti: I visit LFC a lot, and the reason is because LFC offers a diversity of articles -- articles for just about any topic a person can think of. With that said, approximately how many visitors does LFC get on a monthly basis?

Bill: We get several thousand visitors each month.

Misti: Because the articles are published electronically, is preference given to freelance writers that include popular keywords in their articles?

Bill: We don't really require that our writers write Search Engine Optimized (SEO) articles, which repeat popular keywords over and over throughout the article. However, we do look for articles that we think will be popular online. We are still trying to determine what kinds of articles are popular online. Our plans are to publish on a wide range of subjects until we reach 100 articles. At that time, we'll try to become a bit more focused on the kinds of topics that readers seem to enjoy the most on our site. We do realize that there are techniques that will improve our rank in Search Engines. When I write the introductions to the articles, I use keywords that relate to the topic and I repeat them a few times.

Misti: How many freelance writers do you publish a year, and how many of those writers now contribute on a regular basis?

Bill: We publish articles from about 20 new writers a year and about half of them go on to submit again, occasionally under new pen names.

Misti: Does LFC ever search for writers through job sites that post writers' resumes?

Bill: We have not done that yet. We get a good flow of submissions from writers who have found our writers' guidelines in Search Engine results, heard of us on writers' forums or followed links on our writers' Web sites.

Misti: Do you have any advice for writers who are considering pitching to LFC?

Bill: We look for something more than the typical articles that one might find on Associated Content or Constant Content. We're looking for passionate writers who are able to communicate their enthusiasm for their chosen topic. We also encourage our writers to include a description of their personal experience with whatever they are writing about. For example, look at our most popular article recently, "YouTube Stars -- Video Blogs." It is obvious that the writer is a big fan of YouTube! He does a good job of explaining what YouTube is, and he talks about the videos that he really likes and why he likes them.

Two more pieces of advice would be to read the writers' guidelines and make sure you understand them. When sending a query e-mail, include the information we ask for in our guidelines and make sure that the e-mail's subject contains "LFC submission," along with a few words describing the topic.

Misti: Do you enjoy your job as editor?

Bill: Yes, I do. I enjoy reading all of the articles that are submitted. I follow links that writers provide to their previous work, and I've read a lot of great articles as well as short stories and poetry that way. I enjoy editing the pieces we accept. I try to catch grammatical errors and make small changes to conform to a uniform LFC style without changing the underlying content much. We have a system of color-coded edits that I've received positive feedback about.

Misti: What inspired you to become an editor?

Bill: When I started the site, I decided to do the editing myself in order to save money. Although my college education is in engineering, I've always enjoyed my English courses and I read quite a bit. I've read a few books on writing and grammar recently, and I do research online when I'm not sure about certain edits. I want to learn to be the best editor that I can be!

Misti: Which query letters are placed in the slush pile?

Bill: I treat all queries the same; I generally send an e-mail of acceptance or rejection within two weeks. The ones that are ultimately rejected end up that way for several reasons. The piece may not comply with our stated writers' guidelines. The article may need a lot of editing. The article may be too similar to one that we have already published. The article's subject may be one that we've already covered as much as we intend to at the moment. The article might be online already -- we only accept articles that have not been published online.

Misti: Can you remember one of the funniest query letters you received that even though it was bad you had to read it anyway? If so, can you -- without mentioning the writer's name -- share the moment with us?

Bill: One writer sent a query using stationary with distracting pictures in the background, making the text hard to read. I could see that this person had a passion for writing and felt that it was what they were meant to do in life. However, their writing was very poor; the article made little sense and was written at a grade-school level. In a sense, it was funny to think that this person would submit something like this. But my reaction approached heartbreaking agony as I carefully wrote the rejection e-mail. I could see this person's desire to be a writer and I didn't want to crush that dream. There are people with passion but no skills, and I believe that they can go on to be good at what they want to do if they put in the time and effort.

Misti: I see that LFC accepts articles on a variety of topics, but are there any specific topics LFC is seeking at the moment?

Bill: Our general plan is to acquire a diverse base of articles in the near term, then analyze our data to see what our readers have read the most. We'll then add articles on topics that have been popular on LFC while still accepting new topics, if we think they are potentially popular.

To answer your question, yes, there are a few specific topics that I would like to add to our collection. I'd like to hear of someone's experience with Internet gambling sites. I'd like to have an article on online video games or virtual communities, like "EverQuest" or "Second Life." I'd like to see a survey article on the most popular online message board/forums -- what they discuss and what makes them popular. Finally, I would be interested in an article on reality TV and what makes it so popular.

Misti: How much do you offer writers for their articles?

Bill: We generally pay $20 for the first article we buy from a writer. This may increase to $25 or $30 over time. The amount we pay for an article depends on the topic, the number of pending articles in our editing queue, the length of the article, and the number of articles the writer has successfully submitted to us in the past.

Misti: What rights do you buy, and are you willing to negotiate those rights?

Bill: We recently changed our policy on rights. Previously, we bought "all rights" unless we agreed in writing to leave certain rights with the writer. Now, we buy all online rights. The writer cannot sell, give away or self-publish an article after they have sold it to us, if it will appear online. However, they can sell the article to a print publication.

Misti: Do you have any additional comments?

Bill: I'd just like to thank all of the writers who have submitted their work to LFC. I have enjoyed working with each and every one of them. As I recently wrote in the writers' guidelines, we have the best writers in the world!

I'd like to say a word to anyone who might be thinking of submitting an article to us. I can't promise that we'll accept your article, but I can promise that I'll treat your submission with respect. Whether you are an experienced writer or someone who is submitting for the first time, please send in that article you've been working on if you think it meets our guidelines. We'll be happy to hear from you!

Finally, I'd like to thank all of our visitors! We love our readers and we're always working to bring them the best articles on the net.