Through Q&A Magazine, Quest brings you more of what you want — information that is unbiased, factual, relevant and useful, from user tips and best practices to implementation case studies.
Q&A deals exclusively with issues, events and announcements relevant to the Quest community everywhere in the world. We encourage users to submit an article to the magazine -- and if it's published, you'll get $500! Email editor@questdirect.org if you want to know more about Q&A Magazine.
I am not much of a writer, can I still submit to Q&A Magazine?
Absolutely! Sharing tips, techniques and case studies are an important way to help other users improve their experience. You don’t have to be a great writer to be considered for the magazine. The Quest communications staff will work with you to make your article sound like a pro’s. See the guidelines listed below can help you get started.
What type of article should I write?
Your articles do not have to be technical in nature – just relevant to the Quest community. Here are some examples:
User tip/technique – Have you discovered a shortcut or technique that has saved your company time or money? Write an article describing what the initial process was, what you discovered to improve that process, and detail the resulting improvement. You may not think your idea is unique, but someone else out there will!
Case study – Did you have an exceptionally fast, easy, or budget-conscious implementation? Or, on the other hand, did you experience some challenges that you would like to warn other users about? Write an article detailing what software was used, what strategies your company used, what went well for your company, what challenges you faced and how you overcame them, what you would do differently, and what advice you would offer users.
Personal/Professional Development – Do you have a tip that can help others grow personally or professionally? Submit an article describing anything from motivating teams, improving management practices, or boosting individual morale for the benefit of the team.
How do I begin?
First, determine what type of article you would like to write based on the types of article above. Start an introduction paragraph, which should be concise and include a brief description of your company and the issue/solution/tip you are going to describe. Next, answer some or all of the following questions (based on your story type) in paragraph form. Before you know it, you will have an article written and $500!
User tip/technique:
What process/strategy did we use initially?
What was the issue that my company faced?
How did we improve that process/strategy?
What has my company saved or earned since finding the new process/strategy?
Case study:
What product did my company implement?
When did my company begin implementation?
What strategy (team structures, business processes, etc.) did we use during implementation? What went well for my team? What could we have done better?
In hindsight, what would we have done differently?
What challenges did we face, how could they have been avoided? What advice would I give other users going through the same situation?
Personal/Professional Development
What did my team do to boost morale or motivate during a particularly difficult time?
What have I practiced as a manager to improve my team’s productivity?
What tools have we used to improve business practices (i.e. QuestDirect, Infocast, support line, etc.)?
For questions, comments or concerns about writing an article for Q&A magazine, email the editor at editor@questdirect.org.