--- name: guest-contributor-article description: End-to-end workflow for ghostwriting SEO articles in a guest contributor's voice. Covers source gathering, voice analysis, anti-hallucination sourcing, drafting, and quality gates. Use when writing an article under someone else's byline for the OpenEd blog. --- # Guest Contributor Article Ghostwrite an SEO article in a guest contributor's authentic voice. We do 80% of the work, they get the byline and a plug for their platform. **Core principle:** Every claim, recommendation, and story in the article must trace to something the contributor actually said or published. If you can't source it, flag it or cut it. --- ## When to Use This Skill - Writing an article for the OpenEd blog under a guest contributor's byline - The contributor has agreed (or is being pitched) to lend their name - You have access to their source material (blog, podcast, articles, talks) **Prerequisite skills loaded automatically:** - `ghostwriter` - AI pattern detection, voice transformation - `quality-loop` - 5-judge quality gates --- ## The Anti-Hallucination Rule This is the #1 risk in ghostwriting. The LLM will confidently fabricate: - Book titles the contributor never recommended - URLs that don't exist (Bookshop.org, Amazon links) - Quotes they never said - Statistics they never cited - Programs or organizations they never mentioned **The fix:** Every section of the outline must cite its source BEFORE drafting begins. If a claim has no source, it gets one of three treatments: 1. **[VERIFIED]** - Traced to a specific blog post, article, podcast, or talk 2. **[INFERRED]** - Reasonable inference from their body of work (flag for contributor review) 3. **[PLACEHOLDER]** - Marked with `[NOTE FOR CONTRIBUTOR]` in the draft Never invent links. If you want to link a book title, use only: - Links the contributor uses on their own site - OpenEd internal links you've verified exist - Leave the title unlinked if no verified URL exists --- ## Phase 1: Contributor Brief Create `README.md` in the contributor's folder. ``` Guest Contributors/[contributor-name]/ ├── README.md # This brief ├── sources/ # Their actual content │ ├── articles/ # Blog posts, written pieces │ ├── podcasts/ # Transcripts │ └── youtube-transcripts/ ├── seo-research/ # Content briefs from /seo-research ├── drafts/ # Article versions └── images/ # Thumbnails, infographics ``` **README.md must include:** | Section | What Goes Here | |---------|---------------| | Relationship context | How we know them, warmth level, last contact | | Why they fit | Their expertise area, audience overlap with OpenEd | | Source material inventory | Checklist of content to gather (blog, podcast, YouTube, social) | | Expertise areas | Their topic domains | | Potential angles | 3-5 article ideas before SEO research | | Draft strategy | Voice approach, what to plug, how to differentiate | | Next actions | Checklist with status | --- ## Phase 2: Source Gathering Collect 3-5 pieces of their actual content. Read them. This is not optional. **Priority order:** 1. OpenEd podcast appearance (if they were a guest) 2. Their blog / newsletter (primary voice source) 3. Other podcast appearances or talks 4. Social media posts (LinkedIn, X) 5. Books or courses (note key chapters/sections) **What to extract from each source:** - Direct quotes worth preserving - Personal stories and anecdotes (with source citation) - Frameworks or terminology they invented (these are their fingerprints) - Data points or statistics they cite - Specific recommendations (books, tools, programs) - note the EXACT source where they recommended each one - Tone markers: sentence length, humor style, how they use "I", capitalization habits, rhetorical patterns Save source material to `sources/` folder with clear attribution. --- ## Phase 3: SEO Topic Selection Run `/seo-research` with their expertise area. **Criteria:** - Volume: 500+/month (flexible for niche topics with high CPC) - Competition: < 0.5 - Their expertise genuinely maps to the keyword - OpenEd doesn't already own this keyword - SERP gap: no practitioner/personal voice content ranking **Output:** Content brief saved to `seo-research/` folder. --- ## Phase 4: Voice Analysis Study their writing and document patterns in the README under "Voice Notes for Drafting." **Document these specifically:** | Pattern | Example from Janssen | Example from Mason | |---------|---------------------|-------------------| | Sentence rhythm | Short declaratives, dashes for asides | Longer paragraphs, systems-level then personal | | Signature phrases | "I LOVE" (caps), "I promise we'll get there" | Bloomer/Doomer/Gloomer/Zoomer framework | | How they use "I" | Frequently, personal anecdotes | Rarely, except for personal anecdotes | | How they cite data | Specific numbers ("between 2,000 and 5,000 books") | One or two stats per section, always contextualized | | Humor | Self-deprecating, permission-giving | Dry, intellectual | | What they DON'T do | Preach, lecture, use jargon | Oversell, ignore tradeoffs | | Typical headers | Descriptive, conversational | Descriptive, not clever | | How they close | Permission-giving ("even Dog Man, even for seven minutes") | Forward-looking, optimistic but not naive | --- ## Phase 5: Source-Mapped Outline Create the article outline with every section mapped to its source. This is the anti-hallucination gate. **Format:** ```markdown ## [H2 Title] (~word count) **What goes here:** [Description] **Sources:** - Personal story about X → from [blog post URL] / [podcast timestamp] - Statistic about Y → from [their article title, date] - Book recommendations → from [specific blog post where they listed these] **Voice note:** [How this section should sound based on voice analysis] ``` **Before drafting, verify:** - [ ] Every personal story traces to something they've told publicly - [ ] Every recommendation traces to their content (not your knowledge) - [ ] Every statistic traces to something they've cited - [ ] Sections where you're inferring are marked [INFERRED] - [ ] The OpenEd plug feels natural, not grafted on --- ## Phase 6: Draft ### Structure Template ```markdown --- title: "[Title]" author: [Contributor Name] byline: "[One-sentence bio with company and credentials]" status: draft-v1 primary_keyword: [keyword] secondary_keywords: [list] slug: [url-slug] date: [YYYY-MM-DD] sources: "[list of source material used]" --- # [Title] *[Contributor Name] is [credentials]. They [what they're known for]. [Link to their platform]. [Link to their OpenEd podcast appearance if applicable].* [Article body] ``` ### Drafting Rules 1. **Write in their voice, not OpenEd's.** Use their sentence patterns, their frameworks, their humor. The ghostwriter skill's "Charlie's Signature Moves" do NOT apply here - those are for Charlie's voice. 2. **Italicized intro paragraph.** Before the article body, one paragraph introducing who they are with links to their platform and OpenEd podcast appearance. This goes below the byline in the frontmatter. 3. **OpenEd internal links.** Weave in 3+ internal links to existing OpenEd content. These should feel like helpful references, not promotions. 4. **Contributor platform plug.** Include naturally - usually through their personal story leading into what they built. Don't make it an ad. The Janssen piece does this well: her daughter's reading struggle story naturally leads to why she started Savvy Learning. 5. **[NOTE FOR CONTRIBUTOR] placeholders.** When you want a personal anecdote but aren't sure they have one, or when you're inferring rather than sourcing, mark it clearly. Example: `[NOTE FOR JANSSEN: Do you have a specific student/family story that illustrates this?]` 6. **No invented links.** Do not create URLs. If you want to link book titles, either use the contributor's own links from their site or leave titles unlinked. 7. **Word count.** Target the SERP-recommended range from the content brief, typically 1,500-2,500 words. --- ## Phase 7: Source Verification Report Before sending to the contributor or publishing, create a verification table. Append to the draft file or save separately. ```markdown ## Source Verification | Claim / Recommendation | Source | Status | |------------------------|--------|--------| | "tested at 12th-grade reading level in kindergarten" | OpenEd podcast Dec 2025, 14:32 | VERIFIED | | Dog Man recommendation | everyday-reading.com/books-like-dog-man | VERIFIED | | The Wild Robot recommendation | everyday-reading.com/books-for-reluctant-readers | VERIFIED | | "between 2,000 and 5,000 books" | 3 in 30 podcast, episode X | VERIFIED | | All Thirteen feedback claim | [could not find specific post] | INFERRED | ``` **Rules:** - Every book/tool/program recommendation must trace to the contributor's content - Every personal story must trace to a public telling - Every statistic must trace to a cited source - INFERRED items get flagged for contributor review --- ## Phase 8: Quality Gate Run through `quality-loop` with one modification: **Modified Judge 2 (Accuracy Checker):** In addition to standard accuracy checks, verify: - [ ] All claims trace to the contributor's published content (not general knowledge) - [ ] No hallucinated URLs - [ ] No book/program recommendations the contributor hasn't made - [ ] Contributor's bio details are accurate - [ ] OpenEd internal links are valid (not 404s) **Modified Judge 3 (OpenEd Voice):** The article should NOT sound like OpenEd's usual voice. It should sound like the contributor. Judge for: - [ ] Voice matches contributor's documented patterns - [ ] OpenEd strategic narrative woven in subtly (not imposed) - [ ] The plug for their platform is natural All other judges run as standard. --- ## Phase 9: Delivery & Collaboration **If pitching (they haven't agreed yet):** - Send draft with pitch email (use `Outreach Templates/Guest_Article_Pitch_Template.md`) - Frame as "we did the heavy lifting, you polish and approve" **If agreed (they said yes):** - Send draft for review - Note what's sourced vs. what needs their input - Invite them to add personal anecdotes at placeholder spots - Make their edits, run quality loop again **Publication:** - Publish on OpenEd blog via Webflow API with full byline (see Webflow HTML Rules below) - Create social assets via `newsletter-to-social` - Send contributor share-ready posts with @handles --- ## Webflow Rich Text HTML Rules **CRITICAL: Webflow's CMS rich text field silently drops or fails to render certain HTML. These rules are non-negotiable when pushing content via the API.** ### Never use `