So far, quite a large number of you have submitted entries to h2g2. We love you. We are putting these through our rigorous editorial procedures, and will be approving some of them just as soon as the coffee and liqueurs have been cleared away. Based on our experiences so far, whilst we have many intelligent, charming and truly shimmering entries, we do have some that are in need of attention.

In this respect, one of the most effective ways you can get feedback on your articles is to ask each other. Once you have created a user page, it will automatically have a discussion forum on it, so invite people to read your article and comment on it. Only once you have indulged in learned discourse, and honed and polished your article according to the feedback of your h2g2 friends, should you think about submitting your entry to the guide. Every time we have to reject an article, it breaks our fragile hearts, and tear-stained children flock around our terminals to exude sympathy. So be smart - ask your fellow hikers for help; they really know where their towels are!

Besides consulting the advice of your wonderful peers, in order to help you stand a better chance of your entry being accepted, we thought it would be helpful to give you a few pointers.

(1) This is the Earth edition of h2g2!

Many of you have correctly determined that this is the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - however, a small number of you seem to think that you are not from Earth. We feel obliged to inform you that we've checked your internet addresses, and you do in fact appear to be from Earth. No, really. Any extraneous tentacles or pseudopodia you may possess that lead you to think otherwise can be removed by a skilled surgeon, or, alternatively, my mate Terry.

We have seeded h2g2 with entries written by our 'stealth force' of crack field researchers just to get you going, and to inspire your creative juices. These entries are only slightly marred by the fact that these researchers are not from Earth, and hence understand little of our culture and customs. We are currently editing these entries into a more appropriate form for Earth-based readers.

What we'd like you to do therefore, is to write h2g2 entries for the rest of us, i.e. the people of Earth. Therefore, if you find yourself using any of the following words or phrases: "Terran", "Earthling", "Algolian Sun-Tiger", or "Arcturan Megadog", then you are heading for a rejection slip before you've even started. And you don't want that. We don't want that. Even the small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri don't want that. This guide will be used by people on Earth, so write for your audience.

(2) Write What You Know

And if possible, a little bit more. Some people seem to have concentrated on the "Field" part of "Field Researcher" a bit too hard, to the detriment of the "Researcher" bit. h2g2 is a repository of knowledge - but we'd quite like articles to be longer than one sentence each. Bear in mind that the 37th mildly amusing one-line definition of Microsoft is no more likely to be accepted than the previous 36. Write about a subject you are familiar with, and can give insight into - or even find out about something that is new to you, and share it with us!

(3) What's the difference between me and Douglas Adams?

A fair bit, actually. Hence I rarely try to write like him, because it usually results in pretty unedifying stuff, as you might expect. And then people throw garbage at me in the street. Or sometimes in my home. Or even in the kitchen. Or something. Nobody wins when that happens. Having learned this lesson the hard way, my children, I would pass on my knowledge to you, for your own sakes: You are yourself. You have your own thoughts, your own passions, you own feelings. You have your own voice - use it! h2g2 can become an incredible resource if we fill it with intelligent and/or opinionated articles.

Thanks for listening. In future we may produce more concrete style guidelines, if we feel that they are necessary. However, to get a feel for what will get accepted, take a look at the newest articles every now and again - you'll find them linked from the front page.

Thanks again for all your hard work - and always remember, even if your entry is rejected, it will still always be available for people to search for and look at on your own user page. One of our guiding principles is that we never throw anything away - you never know when it might come in handy!

Our net connection is under severe strain at the moment, and our web server, while struggling bravely on, is waving frantically at us and gesturing for Lucozade and Kendal Mint Cake - but the site is ticking over. It's just a little slow at the moment. Thanks to all the people who've managed to register and start contributing.

Rest assured we're looking into various strategies to improve the response times for the site under the frankly overwhelming response we've had. Some are short term, others are long term - these start to come into effect over the few days and weeks.

It is tricky. And we're going to have to think about it. But rest assured, it won't take seven and a half million years.

Check out her home page to see it.

Shush! Keep it dark. We're not really here. Someone pressed the button too soon. Or something. It's our own fault really. The inconceivable length of our lunches has caused a localised global schism in our regressive temporal distortion field, which means you can see us now. When we're not here. If you catch our drift. Which you might not, due to all the disturbances in the Sub-Etha-Net. Eddies in the space-time continuum, you see. And this is his web site.

So don't tell a soul. At least, not yet. Must dash. Cheese & biscuits are on their way. Sure you understand. Don't forget to tell your grandchildren that you were here when it all started.