Article Guidelines for Guest Contributors
We’re excited that you want to contribute an article to Thriveworks.com! Having articles published on our blog can be a great way to share your experience and expertise with others and could also help to grow your reputation or brand.
Keep in mind; we only want excellent content that our readers will be grateful to receive. Therefore, consider submitting to Thriveworks.com what you might offer to a national publication like Wired, Forbes, or Women’s Health.
Below are a few basic quality guidelines for writing your guest blog:
1. Choose a unique topic or angle.
For starters, your article should be unique, which means (1) it hasn’t been posted anywhere else on the internet and (2) it provides information or a slant on a topic that isn’t already commonly available in other places. As an example, here are some article titles:
Bad: The Five Symptoms of Depression
Better: 5 Ways to Identify Depression in Kids
Best: 5 Ways to Identify Depression in Autistic Kids, and How to Help
2. Do not bury the lead.
Be sure that the title tells the reader what they’re going to find. Elusive titles get passed over because people don’t trust that the article will provide them with value. For example:
Bad: The Relationship Struggle is Real
Better: Do This to Prevent an Affair
Best: You’re More Likely to Get Divorced if Your Friends are, New Study Finds
3. Provide value to the reader.
The article should also provide a great deal of value to the reader so that they will be glad they took the time to read it and will want to reference it again or even share it with others.
4. Write well; check grammar, spelling, syntax.
The article should have a thesis and flow that make sense. Also, your writing should be excellent. Mind common errors that include typos, run-on sentences, and bouncing from third to second person.
5. Make your article an appropriate length.
With rare exceptions, articles should be at a bare minimum 500 words. Longer pieces (1000+ words) can be excellent, but often benefit from some bulleted lists and section headings, to help readers digest the material.
6. Reference and link to authoritative sources.
Please cite relevant and authoritative sources where appropriate. For example, if you write an article titled, “Identifying Depression in Autistic Children,” you’ll probably want to reference some sources to back up your info. Adding in a few links isn’t just allowed, it’s encouraged when the sources add value to the article!
Terms of Use and Community Etiquette
This policy governs the relationship between you and Thriveworks (hereafter sometimes referred to as “Thriveworks,” “us,” or “our”). This policy covers the areas of the site where the community participates, including the Thriveworks Blog and other pages that allow user comments.
Incorrect or Defamatory Content
You may not use our site for personal attacks, defamation, harassment, spam, or any illegal activities. Any material you post or works you create on the site (hereafter “Content”) may not be unlawful, obscene, defamatory, threatening, infringing of intellectual property rights, or otherwise injurious. We reserve the right to delete any content posted without notice to you.
Content Ownership
By posting or contributing content (including blog comments), you are granting Thriveworks an exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, and worldwide license to use your content, including, without limitation, the rights to copy, distribute, transmit, publicly display, publicly perform, reproduce, edit, translate, reformat, and/or incorporate the content into a collective work.
Authorship
All articles need to be attributed to an author, and that author must provide a 1-3 sentence bio that discloses any qualifications, biases, or relevant affiliations.
Account Responsibility & Misrepresentation
You are responsible for all content posted and activity that occurs under your name, even if the content was posted by others who have access to your account. Also, you shall not misrepresent yourself or take on the identity of someone else. If you feel that someone has misrepresented your identity on the site, please contact us, and we’ll look into it immediately.
Promotional Content
Promoting a business, product, or service is permitted if the promotional content is relevant to the community discussion. This determination is entirely at the discretion of Thriveworks. Please disclose any commercial relationship you have with any business, product, or service you review, promote, or recommend.
Content Disclaimer
Thriveworks provides information, advice, and content based on our personal and professional experience. This content is, by-and-large, opinion, although we do our best to limit false or misleading information. Our content is not medical advice and does not replace or substitute a physician-patient relationship in any way.
The Thriveworks Blog is comprised of content from multiple authors; some are employees of Thriveworks, and others are guest contributors or community members. If you have concerns, comments, or problems with any of the material you find on the Thriveworks Blog or our site, please contact us.
