Submitting a Guest Article to Dance Advantage

Thanks for your interest in writing a guest contribution for Dance Advantage.

Although Dance Advantage is written primarily by me (Nichelle), I welcome guest posts from other dance teachers, students, parents, professionals, or those knowledgeable in related fields. I am well aware that one person cannot be an expert on every subject and I enjoy providing space for others to bring their ideas, thoughts, and experiences to the table.

If you have your own blog, organization, or company, appearing as a guest is a great way to establish or advance your presence and authority within the online dance community or pass on or pay forward your wisdom to others involved in dance education.

If guesting at DA is of interest, here are some tips and guidelines for contributors. These guidelines are in place to help you write an effective article for this site and help me to quickly prepare your post for publishing.

What to Write About

Dance Advantage is written for those involved in dance education. Some posts are written with specific members of this audience in mind (This post, for example, is clearly for teachers/studio owners). Other posts are written to broaden or convey a certain perspective on aspects of dance or dancing. I cover a wide range of topics, but each guest post typically fits into one of the following categories:

For... Students, Parents, Teachers/Studio Owners
The Dance World – Historical Figures or Companies, Cultural Dance Forms
Toolbox – Career, Choreography, Performance, Technology, Music, Technique, Terminology, Wellness

(see the navigation bar above to view posts within these categories)

Who To Write For

Dance students (recreational or pre-professional – children, teens, college, or adults)
Dance teachers (teaching concert dance forms like ballet, modern, jazz, tap in just about any setting)
Dance school/studio owners (for-profit or non-profit)
Dance parents (with children of any age in recreational or pre-professional programs)

What I Am Looking For

VALUE! I am looking for articles that are practical AND educational for my audience. I want readers to be able to take away something that they can apply to their own dance experience. A “how-to” article, or a retrospective on what one learned (or is learning) from an experience that may guide others in a similar situation. Opinions are great but your approach to helping a reader take action will communicates your perspectives and values in dance most effectively. See more about providing value below.
I am looking for posts of any length – as long as they’re helpful to readers, I don’t fuss over word length.
I am looking for well-written, quality content. You need not be a professional writer, you need not have perfect grammar or spelling, you need not use big, flowery words. The best articles communicate clearly, simply, focus on one topic at a time, and provide a new spin or way of looking at a topic.
I am not looking for posts with a lot of self promotion. Let your content speak for itself. Unless it is really relevant, self-linking is best left to your bio (approximately 100 words about you that will appear at the bottom of your article).
I am looking for content not published elsewhere. Why? Unique content is better for my blog and better for your site. Readers that become familiar with you here will want to go to your site for what you offer there, and will not benefit from reading the same article twice. So, while you are more than welcome to write on the same topic elsewhere, I’m assuming that the post you are writing is exclusively for the use of Dance Advantage.
I am looking for posts that fit with the others on this blog. Every choreographer and dancer has their own style and signature. So, too, do writers. I encourage guest contributors to write using their own particular “voice.” However, it helps to be a reader, or at least familiarize yourself with past articles before submitting a guest article.

As editor, I have the right to refuse content and the right to make changes to anything appearing on the blog. Mainly, I will perform quality control (correcting grammar or spelling errors). It is your responsibility to properly cite sources and check facts. Major changes to the content will not be made without consulting you, the author. I will pull posts found to contain plagiarism and remove or edit articles with invalid information.

What makes a story or article valuable?

Sometimes value to the reader is about learning, but more often than not it is about action. Dance Advantage readers want content that provides them with immediate tools for improving or advancing their current situation whether they are students wanting to better their skills, teachers looking for methods to apply in the classroom, parents hoping to help their child succeed, or studio owners wanting to grow their business. If your story can provide actionable tasks and strategies, it gives value to the reader and adds value to this blog.

If you hope to benefit from exposure on this blog (without paying advertising fees), you must offer my readers something of value even if those readers cannot or will never do business with you. Realize though that in providing value, you are building a relationship with this audience of potential customers. A useful and enriching guest post or article can be a Win/Win/Win situation. Find out how here: How To Pitch Bloggers

How to Submit Your Article

Articles may be submitted in rich text, plain text, or in a Word document. Use the following address to submit your article to me, Nichelle, the creator and editor of this site. The address is an image, used to avoid spam, so please re-type the address carefully. Please use the word GUEST in your subject line.

☛ When formatting your post, please do not add inline images unless you are familiar and can provide WordPress-ready html. If you have your own copyright-free photographs/graphics for use in the article, attach these in an email. Copyrighted photos for which you’ve obtained permission must be sent with credits to the photographer (and subject where appropriate). I will add your images at my discretion. You might consider sending a headshot or action shot of yourself for the bio.

☛ Please don’t be offended if I ask you to tweak your article. I want your article to stand out and be the best it can be. If I am asking you to make alterations, or submit a new draft, it is because I see something special in what you’ve written so far.

☛ If your article is refused, feel free to go back to the drawing board. You may want to revisit this article.

Reasons I Might Refuse An Article

Your article isn’t what I’m looking for (see above).
Your article doesn’t fit within the focus or range of topics on this blog (see above).
Your topic is too close to something recently covered on the blog. I’m okay with revisiting topics, as long as they bring new perspective.
Your article is not engaging – this is the most difficult to explain but I get submissions that are one-dimensional and one-sided (i.e. lazy writing, lazy marketing, or both).

Here’s an example: You are a company that makes knee pads. You send an article to a skateboarding blog that extols the benefits of wearing knee pads while skateboarding. If I were that blogger, I would ask you to try again. Why? Because unless readers are daft, they know knee pads offer protection from injury – so what? Not to mention, they can see in your bio that you are in the business of selling knee pads. More useful to the reader would be “rules of the road” and other tips for staying safe, or how to tell if a knee pad is a proper fit, or even a list of common skateboarding injuries and their treatments. The key is to provide real value for the reader – it is better for me and my site and you will gain respect and authority for your company. Take the time to create a submission with tangible value.

What To Do If Your Article is Accepted

Do a happy dance and then wait. Sorry to say that, but it is true. This is a busy blog and I’m a busy gal. I generally schedule posts well in advance, so your post may not appear for a while on the blog.

Once I’ve given you a date for publishing, I reserve the right to reschedule. However, out of courtesy, I will do my very best to give you a heads up and provide a new date.

Once the post is published, I of course encourage you to promote the heck out of it. Talk about and link to it on your own blog, Tweet it, share it on Facebook, Stumble it, tell your students/co-workers… it’s no secret that a blogger is more likely to have you back if you’ve generated some good buzz.

Speaking of having you back… if you’ve been published here before you are welcome to submit again. The same criteria applies.

The above guidelines are not hard and fast rules, but suggestions to increase the likelihood of getting published here at Dance Advantage and to get your article the attention it deserves. If you have questions or concerns, you may contact me using the form below.

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