• Always Enter the Artist/Band Name: Enter the artist or band name in the Artist Name box on all article submissions. We associate the artist's name with their profile page upon publication so that a link to your article can appear on the musician's profile page under Related Articles.

• Article Name Format: The proper format for an article that contains the artist name is: Artist Name: Title, not Artist Name - Title, or having the artist's name embedded in the title.

• Add a Star Rating for CD Reviews: Please add a star rating to your CD reviews. It helps the editorial staff determine what gets featured on the home page.

• Remove Leading Paragraph Break: Please do not open your article with a paragraph break. It alters the spacing and we always remove it.

• Uploading CD Sleeves: Check to see if the CD sleeve exists in our directory prior to uploading your version. If not, click here to access the page to upload the sleeve.

• Check Your Publish Date: Check your article's publish date by going to your profile page and clicking the "View Your Pending Reviews/Articles" link under "Private Contributor Information."

• Verb Tense: Use the past tense when writing a live performance review. Past tense establishes the performance in place and time and reminds readers that it was a unique, one time only event.

• Communicate With Editors: A box on the article submission form allows you to pass along special notes or instructions to the editors.

• Use an EM Dash: Do not use a single dash to separate a sentence (ex: " - "), rather use a double dash ("--") with no space between the two words. The website will automatically convert the double dash to an emdash when the article is viewed by the readers.

• Concert/Festival Reviews: It's essential that you provide the following information at the start of your review:

  Artist/Group Name
  Venue/Event
  Location
  Date

• Personnel and Track Listings: The proper way to format personnel and track listings is identified to the left of the individual boxes on the Article Submission Form. Note that in cases where individual performers only play on certain tracks, a detailed listing is required. For example:

  T Lavitz: piano, bass (3); Dave Weckl: drums, percussion; Frank Gambale: acoustic guitar; Jerry Goodman: violin (2, 5, 8); John Patitucci: acoustic and electric bass; Steve Morse: acoustic guitar (3, 4).

• Conflict of Interest: Writing liner notes or press releases for an album release (or being involved with a release in any way that results in financial remuneration from the artist, publicist or label), disqualifies you from writing an album review for the website. You can, however, facilitate the arrangement of a review through another All About Jazz contributor. And posting the liner notes to the AAJ News Center is acceptable.

Next: Interview Guidelines  

last update: June 28, 2008