What exactly should you ask the author?

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What an author or copywriter needs to ask a client at the start of a project
20.09.2021
Reading time: 4 min
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Kateryna answered one of the questions asked in her Telegram channel "Not Just an Editor" .


The main parameters of the task are who the audience of the text is, where it will be published, where people will come to it from, what they should do or think in the end. This information is usually prescribed in the task, but if something is missing, it should be clarified.

Why do the task – what is the client’s goal, what effect does he expect, why does he do it this way and not otherwise. For example, why does he want to publish the article on this particular external platform and not on another, what does he expect from it, what result will be good and what will be bad.

What does the client expect from you – in what form they want to receive the text and how they will evaluate it. For example, the author may ask what format to send the text in, where is the best place to get illustrations for the article, or ask to see references of successful texts.

What are the exact deadlines – when does the client want to see the result and why? malaysia rcs data You can immediately discuss another deadline if this one does not suit you.

Where is it better to get an invoice for an article - is there internal information that can be reviewed, is it possible to contact a company expert or do you need to look for an external one, are there reliable sources of data that the client can recommend?

What are the limitations – what else should you consider? For example, if you were ordered a text for a landing page, there may be technical limitations – it is not always possible to implement what the copywriter came up with, or restrictions on the number of characters in the text, if it is an advertising brochure, or information that should not be written about, if it is an article.

What has been done in this direction before. For example, if you ordered an article for an external site, ask for links to past articles, specify what the result was. This is important to understand what works and how you can do better. If you are asked for an article for a blog, you can ask which ready-made articles worked best.

Who and how will receive the text – one person or several, and within what timeframe will you receive feedback?