Guest Posts?

If you’d like to submit a guest post to Very Novel, that’s awesome. Thanks. Everybody needs a day off now and then. I know you are a really talented blogger and probably have guest posts all over the web, however, humor me and read this whole page before you e-mail me. I’ll know if you just skimmed it.

First!

• No spammers! This is not the place to  link to a product or service I’ve never heard of. Sorry.
• This is a writing blog. That means your post should be about writing or the business of writing. Appropriate content only.
• If you guest post here then you will receive nothing but the satisfaction of a job well done. Oh, and the chance for a link back to your blog or website. We could always trade guest posts as well which will push you up on my schedule of guest posts.

Be Correct.

• ‘Grammar’, for lack of a better word, is good. Demonstrate at least an eighth grade level of ability in grammar and punctuation. Use the spell check feature. Try to catch all the typos.
• Edit thoroughly. Then edit again. Read it aloud. Have a friend read it. Edit again. Then hit send.
• Clarity is priority. Bullet-points are a blogger’s best friend.
• Brevity is key. Word count policy? Use the Goldilocks Rule: go for “just right”.
• Fact check. Make sure any statistics, numbers, or other facts you use are correct. Use proper sources.
• Don’t be offended; It is normal if you get “red penned”. It is my prerogative to edit your posts for any of the above reasons. I reserve the right to present only material that I am comfortable with.

Be Relevant.

This blog covers topics on writing, novel writing, freelancing and marketing our writing to publishers and readers. It is important that you pitch relevant posts. I think for the time being I would like guest posts to be instructional essays or humorous observations about writing and the life of a writer. I may later post other author’s  flash fiction or poetry. Right now, this is where I want to showcase my own work.

Be Timely.

If we have agreed that you will write a guest post then please get me the post as soon as possible. We might set a deadline or we might not. Either way, please send it my direction quickly. I will have a queue of guest posts lined up and scheduled and will need to have your work to place you in the queue.

Be Useful.

Be an expert for a day. Guest essays should instruct,educate or make keen observations about writing and/or the business of writing.

• Have you noticed a common problem and discovered a way to solve it?
• Are there tips and tricks that you use in your writing or marketing of your writing that other writers would benefit from knowing?
• Observations from a fresh perspective especially if humorous, insightful, inspiring or persuasively arguing a unique point of view are more likely to make the cut.

Be Different.

• Be creative. There are millions of posts on the web about writing that all make the same points. Find a new way to say something old. Better yet…
• Be fresh. Write something that I haven’t seen a hundred times. This is hard to do but not impossible.
• Be personal. Use your own unique voice. Write in a style that is fresh and unique enough that no one would mistake the post as coming from me. A guest post is a good way to shake up readers and shouldn’t be so similar in style that people can’t tell I have a guest. Be yourself.

Know the Basics.

• Please include an author bio with your guest post, and make it interesting and fun to read. Include a few links back to your own blog and social media platform. That’s only fair.
• Use a few links to other posts on this blog, your blog or elsewhere on the web. Goldilocks Rule again. Not too many. Not too few. Just right. Be sure to credit people properly and give me a heads-up if your work is similar in nature to other work on the web.
• No affiliate links.
• Suggest a photo to use with your post if you like but ultimately I will decide which ones to use.
• Don’t double-dip. If the post has been used elsewhere then don’t send it here. Don’t print the post elsewhere-even your own blog for at least one full calendar year. You may of course link to it, however as many times as you like and in as many places as you like.
• Pitch me first. Don’t send me a complete post without sending me a pitch first. Just give me an idea what the post will be about and the angle you are going to take on it before you write it. It will save us both time and effort.
• A guest post is a gift. There is no payment except link backs to your own blog and my gratitude. I would be more than glad to trade guest posts with you as well.

Last!

Even if you do all of these right, I may not accept your pitch. Don’t take it personal. Easier said than done, I know. I am not rejecting YOU. I may be rejecting your work at that moment. Feel free to pitch that idea to me again in a few months or another idea immediately. I want guest posts. I really want guest posts. I want to be sure though that I am comfortable with everything that I include in this blog.

 

 

Send your pitch to: seanmurphy07@yahoo.com w/ the topic “Guest Blog Pitch:your name”