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Terms & Conditions
Terms, Conditions, and How the Writers' Center Works
We require that all writers for Los Angeles Restaurants.com review and agree to the following terms and conditions before selecting a first assignment. Please read this information carefully! It is not your "standard" Terms and Conditions; it also explains how our assignment process works and what our expectations are for you as a writer.
Application
Any individual who meets the basic criteria posted on the write for us page may apply to become a writer for Los Angeles Restaurants.com. Application is a two-step process: First, we ask you to complete a brief questionnaire to provide us with information about yourself and to determine if you meet our criteria for writers. Completing this questionnaire will provide you with an account through our online Writers' Center. Second, we ask you to write and submit a sample article or restaurant review according to our article guidelines and review guidelines (which you will be expected to read after you complete step one). Once you log in to your account, you will have the option of selecting a restaurant to review from our list of available restaurants, or selecting an article topic from our list of available topics. You will then have one to two weeks to prepare and submit your writing sample. We will evaluate your writing sample to determine your knowledge of food and wine, your writing ability, and your ability to follow our guidelines. If we approve you as a writer you may immediately begin taking on additional assignments.
Approval as a writer for Los Angeles Restaurants.com does not guarantee that a writer will automatically get assignments or that his or her completed assignments will be published.
Internet Access and Writers' Accounts
Writers must have access to a reliable Internet connection, as all assignment-related activity is conducted through our online Writers' Center. An account through the Writers' Center will be created for each applicant upon submission and approval of the online questionnaire. Writers will be able to manage and update their account profiles and to select and submit assignments by logging in to our Writers' Center. It is the responsibility of the writer to keep his or her account profile and contact information up to date.
Selecting Assignments
All assignments must be selected through our online Writers' Center. Each writer is responsible for selecting his or her own assignments. Assignments will not be automatically assigned. Writers will be able to view the list of assignments at any time, although a writer will not be able to select an assignment that he or she does not qualify for. Information about assignment types and status is posted on our assignments page and is addressed in our frequently asked questions.
Before agreeing to an assignment, writers will be provided with complete information about the assignment including the assignment fee, the assignment deadline, and what the assignment entails. Restaurant review assignments will also provide information about the restaurant's location, cuisine, and price range. It is the writer's responsibility to review the assignment details and to determine that he or she can complete the assignment, fully and by the deadline, before he or she selects an assignment. Writers will be given two weeks to complete restaurant review assignments and one week to complete article assignments. Deadlines will automatically be set based on the date the assignment is selected by the writer.
It is the writer's responsibility to read the guidelines and F.A.Q. pages of our website and to ensure that he or she fully understands the requirements for each component of an assignment before selecting the assignment. If a writer does not understand any portion of our guidelines or an assignment, it is expected he or she will ask for clarification from our editors before committing to an assignment. Once a writer selects an assignment, it will be expected that he or she has reviewed the guidelines and requirements and is capable of completing the assignment.
The number of assignments a writer may take on simultaneously is determined by his or her writer level. Information about writer levels is available on the assignments page Once a writer selects an assignment, no other writer will be able to select that assignment. Conversely, one writer will not be able to select any assignments that another writer has already selected.
Writers will be provided with a 48 hour grace period after selecting an assignment, during which time they may cancel the assignment with no penalty.
Completing Assignments
After selecting an assignment, writers will be responsible for submitting the entire completed assignment by the assignment deadline. A writer may be asked to edit or revise portions of his or her assignment after this deadline, before the assignment is accepted. Once a writer's current assignment is completed, submitted, and accepted, he or she will be able to select another assignment.
All restaurant review assignments require several assignment components. Writers must visit the specified restaurant for dinner in order to write a short and long version of a restaurant review. Writers will be required to upload the restaurant's dinner menu and to fill out a checklist of the restaurant's features along with these reviews. Some assignments may require up to five additional components: a chef profile, signature recipe, chef photo, restaurant photo, and uploaded wine list. The writing guidelines posted in the Writers' Center provide specifications for each component. A writer should not select any assignment that contains any components that he or she cannot or does not wish to complete.
All work submitted through the Writers' Center must be original. We are unable to accept any reviews or articles that were previously written for or published in any print or online medium, including personal websites and/or blogs. To avoid any possibility of copyright infringement, if you select a restaurant review assignment for a restaurant you have previously written about, we will ask you to send us a copy of your previous writing piece upon submission of your assignment, so that we can compare the two. Once you submit your assignment it will become the copyright and property of Restaurant Agent, Inc., and you will not be permitted to submit any portion of your assignment elsewhere for publication.
Visiting Restaurants
Writers must visit the restaurant for each restaurant review assignment, regardless of whether they have been to the restaurant previously. Writers are expected to make their own arrangements and/or reservations to dine at the restaurant, and to provide their own transportation to and from the restaurant. If a writer chooses to drink alcoholic beverages during his or her meal, he or she will be responsible for arranging transportation after the meal that does not involve the writer driving.
With the exception of writers who have been told otherwise by our staff, all writers are expected to pay for all food and drink while on assignment. Writers will always be required to tip their server appropriately. Writers will not be reimbursed for these costs.
Writers are expected to act professional and courteous while on assignment, If a writer needs to identify himself or herself to staff members or interviewees, it is expected that the writer will clarify that he or she is writing an assignment to submit to Los Angeles Restaurants.com for approval, not that the writer is a staff member, staff writer, or other permanent employee of our company. Under no circumstances will writers be permitted to use their assignment to request or demand free or discounted food or drink; to treat any member of a restaurant's staff inappropriately; or to otherwise take advantage of a visit to a restaurant or other situation. If a writer's behavior is found to be unacceptable or if he or she is found to be using our company or website name inappropriately, he or she will not be allowed to write any further reviews for this website or any of our affiliated websites.
Late or Incomplete Assignments
An assignment is considered complete when all components are submitted by the assignment deadline. Late or incomplete assignments will not be accepted. If an assignment is incomplete or not submitted by its deadline, the assignment will be made available for another writer to select, and the current writer will no longer be able to submit any missing pieces of the assignment. We take timeliness seriously: a writer's account will be suspended for 30 days after the first late or incomplete assignment, and terminated after the second. We reserve the right to use and publish any portion of an incomplete assignment with or without attributing the writer.
Compensation
Some of our assignments are unpaid; others offer varying fees for completing the assignment. Writers are responsible for reviewing whether and how much they will be paid for each assignment. All writers must select an unpaid restaurant review assignment the first time they write a restaurant review; after a writer has one review or ten articles published he or she will be able to choose between paid and unpaid restaurant review assignments. All fees are paid in the form of a check in the writer's name, which will be mailed to the address provided by the writer within 30 days of the assignment being approved by our staff. No fees will be paid for late or incomplete assignments.
Copyright
All assignments submitted to Los Angeles Restaurants.com will be considered works made for hire and will become the copyright and property of Restaurant Agent, Inc. All work that is submitted must be original, previously unpublished, and free of plagiarism. Furthermore, all written material must be truthful and factually accurate. Writers who submit work that does not meet these criteria may have their accounts disabled without notice.
Once an assignment is accepted, the writer will not be permitted to republish any portion of the assignment elsewhere. Upon acceptance, an assignment may be published in whole or in part on any of the websites owned or operated by Restaurant Agent, Inc., and may be added or removed from these websites at any time. Published articles and restaurant reviews will be attributed to the writer. Acceptance of an assignment does not guarantee publication.
Continuation of Service
Writers may select assignments as frequently or infrequently as they wish. Writers may cancel their own accounts at any time by requesting so in writing. Any published assignments of writers who choose to cancel their account will remain published and remain attributed to the writer until Restaurant Agent, Inc. decides to remove or replace the work. Restaurant Agent, Inc. reserves the right to publish, edit, and/or remove assignments or portions of assignments at any time and for any reason. Restaurant Agent, Inc. further reserves the right to cancel a writer's account at any time for inappropriate behavior, unsatisfactory assignments, consistently late or incomplete assignments, or for any other reason.