Guest Article Guidelines

Thanks for your interest in writing a guest contribution for Dance Advantage. To help you write an effective article for this site and to help me quickly prepare your post for publishing, here are some tips and guidelines:

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 we are (and are not) looking for:

• VALUE! We are looking for articles that are useful AND educational for readers.
• We are looking for content not published elsewhere. The post you are writing must be unique and original content exclusively for the use of Dance Advantage.
• We are looking for quality content. You do not be a professional wordsmith to put together a strong guest post. 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. If you can write reasonably well, we can help polish your work.
  
• We are looking for content that does more than skim the surface. Our dedication to this helps us maintain great readership.
• We are looking for posts that fit with the others on this blog. Write using your own unique “voice,” but take time to familiarize yourself with past articles and create a post that will fit well among our other content.
• We are looking for first-hand experience. Accurate information and research is important, but writers should be able to offer some personal experience (their own or that of interviewed subjects)
• We are not looking for posts with a lot of self promotion. Let your content speak for itself. Self-linking is best left to your bio.

As editor, I have the right to refuse content and the right to make changes to anything appearing on the blog.

Guest Post Nuts and Bolts

☛  Images: When formatting your post, please do not add inline images unless you are familiar and can provide WordPress-ready html. Let us know if you have your own copyright-free photographs/graphics for possible use in the article. Otherwise, we will source images for your post.

☛  Bio: Author bios are not only welcome, but encouraged. We want readers to be able to identify the source of their information. Three or four sentences is preferred. A reasonable number of links (1 or 2) to your own website or social accounts are allowed. Please include your bio at the bottom of your submission. We will also require a headshot or author image prior to publishing.

☛  Length: Your post may be as long as it takes to cover you subject. Generally our posts rest between 600 and 1200 words. If your post is 1800+ words, you may be asked to edit it into multiple posts.

☛ Body Links: Hyperlinks in the article body are allowed but are subject to removal. All links should be relevant, add value to the content you offer, and link to high-quality sites not likely to disappear next week. Including links to other Dance Advantage articles is a plus. I prefer relevant/descriptive text to be used as the hyperlink, versus something like [link] or ‘click here’. Affiliate links will not be accepted.

☛  Editing: Please don’t be offended if you are asked to tweak your article. We want your article to stand out and be the best it can be. If we are asking you to make alterations or submit a new draft, it is because we see something special in what you’ve written so far. The editor will perform quality control (correcting simple grammar or spelling errors), and may occasionally make some cuts or rearrange copy. We will provide notice or request consent for any large changes.

☛  Facts and Attribution: It is your responsibility to properly cite sources and check facts. We will approach you with questions or concerns, should they arise.

Reasons we might refuse your guest post:

1. Your article isn’t what we’re looking for (see above).
2. Your topic is too close to something recently covered on the blog. We only revisit topics if a new article can provide new perspective or a different angle.
3. Your article has not been proofread or the English syntax is poor.
4. Your article contains irrelevant links, too many self-promotional links, affiliate links or links to websites with which you are found or suspected to have an undisclosed affiliate relationship.
5. Your article is not engaging – this is the X factor but it would be hard to create a post that meets all of the criteria mentioned above, and not have “it.”

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

Note: Guest posts by book authors or single-product companies will be considered for guest posts on a case by case basis. If you represent a for-profit company or organization, Dance Advantage would love to work with you to develop a successful native advertising campaign that informs and provides value to our readers.

What to do if your submission IS accepted:

• Do a happy dance and then wait. We generally schedule posts in advance, so your post may not appear for a while on the blog.
• Once we’ve given you a date for publishing, we reserve the right to reschedule, though we will do our very best to give you a heads up and provide a new date.
• Once the post is published, we encourage you to promote it. Talk about and link to it on your own blog, tweet it, share it on Facebook, Pinterest, 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. Guest posting is often the first step to becoming a regular contributor.

Following the above guidelines increase the likelihood of getting published here at Dance Advantage and getting your article the attention it deserves.

Ready to submit?

Please don’t forget to send your pitch along with a short bio and use the subject line “Guest Post.” If you fail to do so, your pitch will enter an inbox abyss from which little to nothing is ever retrieved.