Opportunities on this blog

Due to other commitments (client editing, my writing, competition judging, Writers’ Forum column etc.,
I’m not currently taking any guest spots but will update this page when I am

I welcome new submissions for everything below but PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE read the guidelines before you submit anything, take a look at at least one example of the format you’re considering writing and please don’t just send the content; I am human, please say “hello”!

• Please include all the text as one document (.doc or .docx ideally), not pasted into the email, and the photographs as separate files (<200kb .jpgs ideally) within the same email (as attachments please, not links to external files such as Google Drive or Dropbox, or embedded into the document). Thank you.
• I would ask that you read an already-posted item to get a feel for the layout of the item you plan to submit for. It really does make all the difference. All content has to be family-friendly so no strong violence / language etc.
• Please also read through and spell-check your text before sending it to me. You’d be surprised how many submissions I get where I have to proofread it first (I read them all anyway but not having to make corrections is much appreciated!) as this means unnecessary work for me.
• If you have any queries, please email me. To ensure you have the correct format for each item you wish to do, please look the existing pages (in green) / previously-posted items (listed on the pages) as examples.
• I get a lot of emails so if you send me content, please allow a minimum of two weeks after submitting for a reply before chasing me!
• I welcome writers of any genre (providing the content sent to me to go on this site is ‘family friendly’, especially for the Flash Fiction Fridays) as it’s more about you as a writer than your books (although you will of course have plenty of opportunity to mention it / them). I no longer accept content from online bloggers with links to non-writing websites.
• Each new posting on all the WordPress sites I have (listed below) is linked to Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Path and LinkedIn, with a combined 5,000+ subscribers, followers, friends etc.

I offer the following choices (feel free to do any / all) – timings are UK:

• (a) Author Spotlight; made up of 1,000-word max. third person biography, 1,000-word max first-person about your writing / anything interesting writing-related, then full website links to you and your work (see the already-posted spotlights listed below, the green links, as examples) and your website / book purchase / social networking (etc) links (full links please, no tinyurl.com etc) – ideally the text together in one document please. You can also provide a photograph of yourself and your book cover(s) to add some colour to the post. Please email me as attachments rather than email-embedded text / photos and no more than 200kb in size (250 pixels max at shortest length). FONT: Please use Times New Roman size 12, single-spaced. Thank you. These are run c. 7am UK time on Saturdays and they usually stay at the top all weekend.
• (b) Guest Blog Post – provide a writing-related non-fiction guest blog post of a topic of your choice but should be of an informative / educational format, and only about the craft of writing (not beauty, finance, sport etc!) – please discuss topic with me in advance) 500-1000 words, ideally ending with a question, or equivalent statement, to encourage the reader to comment, 250-500 word third-person biography, 250-500 word synopsis one of your books, and your full website / book purchase / social networking (etc) links (full links please, no tinyurl.com etc) and optional photo/s (no more than 200kb in size (250 pixels max at shortest length), photo/s as separate attachment/s within the same email please, not embedded into the document. FONT: Please use Times New Roman size 12, single-spaced. Currently running c. 7am UK time on Saturdays and they usually stay at the top all weekend. These can be done as often as you like (up to one every 2+ weeks) providing they have a writing-focus, ideally of an educational nature. Further details on the guest blogs page. The content remains yours and I have no issues with you using content you’ve previously posted elsewhere or posting it again elsewhere. It’s your writing after all. There have been many topics covered to-date and I have produced a list of them on the topics page which may help you decide what to write about. Please note: I am not longer accepting submissions from online bloggers with non-writing-related site links (especially those who are just looking for links and do not respond to reader feedback!).
• (c) Flash Fiction – <500-word flash fiction, together with the inspiration behind it, your full website / purchase links (full links please, no tinyurl.com etc), photos (no more than 200kb in size (250 pixels max at shortest length). FONT: Please use Times New Roman size 12, single-spaced. These are posted every third Friday of the month (and fourth if five Fridays in a month) – see Flash Fiction Fridays for details. These can also be previously-published pieces.
• As part of Flash Fiction Fridays, I also welcome 6-word stories (with a 6-word biography!) which run on the final Friday of the month – click here for the guidelines. The results of the 500-word challenge (free) competition run every first Friday and the results of the 100-word comp (free) competition run every second Friday. If there are five Fridays in the month, it’s another opportunity for your <500-word story on the fourth Friday!
• (d) Poetry – <40-line poem posted every Monday (when I have poems to run) with a few words on the inspiration for the poem, third-person biography, your full website / book purchase / social networking (etc) links(full links please, no tinyurl.com etc), and photos (no more than 200kb in size (250 pixels max at shortest length). FONT: Please use Times New Roman size 12, single-spaced – see Post-weekend Poetry for details. Again this can be a previously posted item and you can do with it what you wish thereafter. Poetry runs on a Monday morning (UK time).
• (e) advice / your experience for the Marketing and Publishing pages.
• I get a lot of emails so if you send me content, please allow a minimum of two weeks after submitting for a reply before chasing me. Thank you.

Please note: any content posted on these blogs counts as being published (great for your CV but don’t send anything you want to submit to exclusive outlets / competitions.

You are welcome to offer a giveaway of any of your books on any of the above (main blog) options. The usual format is for visitors to leave comments then you choose a winner (or you can offer giveaways to anyone who leaves a comment if you wish) and I send you their email address for you to liaise with them directly.

• (f) Book reviews – I no longer review books but if you do book reviews, I also post guest book reviews (of other people’s book, not your own!). See book-reviews for the guidelines (ideally sending me a Kindle mobi but I can accept pdfs or Word documents). Feel free to email me your book and / or link with voucher code. The book must be available for readers of the review to buy (or download for free) when the review goes live.
• (g) Book listing – I can also list up to five of your books at Other writers’ books. I just need – within an attached document please, not in an email – your published name, a contact website e.g. yours, your publisher’s website or Facebook / Twitter account (just one, whichever you prefer), book title/s (in alphabetical order please), full book link(s) (where it/they can be bought from – full links please (i.e. include the book’s numbering for Amazon/CreateSpace listings, no tinyurl.com etc, not to your author’s page, your publisher’s general page but to the books themselves, visitors won’t usually spend time trying to find them), genre(s) and summary in no more than 15 words (a test of your editing skills) per book. FONT: Please use Times New Roman size 12, single-spaced. You can send this to me any time.
• (h) Interviews – If you have been interviewed elsewhere, you can run them on this blog (providing you have permission from the original interviewer) see the interviews page for full details.
• I get a lot of emails so if you send me content, please allow a minimum of two weeks after submitting for a reply before chasing me. Thank you.

I’ll leave it up to you which one(s) you go for but if you want a specific date (to coincide with launch dates etc.), I will need plenty of notice. If you go for more than one option you can send them back individually or together, whichever is easier for you. I don’t mind what font style or size you use (I convert it to Times size 10 single-spaced anyway) but would appreciate no indenting wherever possible (saves me pulling text to the left-hand margin). Also please no coloured font other than the default blue for website links to avoid me having to pick through the text and change to black and finally (sorry to be fussy). Also please send files as attachments wherever possible. If in any doubt, email me first. Thank you.

Due to some content not arriving in time and me having to chase and re-arrange the schedule at the last minute, I book dates when your content is sent to me. I’m sure you appreciate that I wish to avoid extra work, given that I post at least two items a day. Thank you for your understanding.

Whilst the above are opportunities to tell readers of your new book, and each posting will provide links on your website / sales areas, they have been designed to tell visitors about you as a writer or how you write, rather than being too much ‘please-buy-my-book’ and it’s a format that works better than a hard sell. The copyright for any fictional content you send me remains yours – I do not use it for any other purpose, unless agreed with you in advance, and it should be family-friendly please, no overt swearing, extreme erotica etc. Please ensure you own copyright of (or have permission for) any photographs you send me. Thank you.

Please ensure that you send everything to me, e.g. full and correct content for each item, third-person (not first person viewpoint) biography of yourself, together with any photographs you wish including. Please don’t direct me to websites where I might find the information. Sorry if that sounds harsh but I really don’t have the time to go looking. And all website links to be included should be writing-related only. FONT: Please use Times New Roman size 12, single-spaced.

Finally, everything offered here is free of charge (although I do have a donate button should you ever feel so inclined). I am grateful for your time and the content you will be providing me for me and the 200-800+ daily visitors (over 400,000 hits since March 2011) spread around the site. If you’d like to see what I write, I have a list on Books: mine and My writing.

Thank you again for your interest in my site and I look forward to hosting you.

Kind regards

Morgen Bailey

• morgen@morgenbailey.com
• morgenbailey.wordpress.com