Guest Contributor Policy

Dec 31
6 min read

Updated: Jan 17

For The Writers publishes occasional guest essays on the business and practice of being an author in a publishing landscape shaped by contracts, platforms, and fee-driven services. Guest posts document current issues in the industry, explain how specific systems work, and warn writers about predatory behavior.

What We Publish

Industry Problems and Casework: In-depth examinations of specific problems in publishing, such as fee-heavy contracts, rights grabs, deceptive marketing services, vanity presses, and related practices that put writers at risk.
Practical Guides to Systems: Concrete guidance that helps writers understand querying, submissions, contract terms, self-publishing decisions, platform structures, and marketing arrangements, especially where money, rights, or long-term consequences are involved.
Case Studies From Real Experience: Detailed accounts of first-hand experiences with companies, services, or processes, written with enough specific detail that other writers can see what happened and what they can do differently.
Analysis of Trends and Policy Shifts: A close look at trends, policy changes, or structural shifts that affect how writers work, publish, or get paid, supported by examples, data where available, and transparent sourcing.

We rarely publish work focused only on line-level writing craft. Guest posts must serve writers who are dealing with publishing as a system, not only the art on the page.

Expertise and Experience

Grounded Perspective: You must have direct experience or a professional vantage point that qualifies you to write on your topic. This can include being a writer who has gone through the process you describe, an industry professional, a legal or financial specialist, or someone with focused knowledge of a particular part of the industry.
Documentation When Naming Names: If you write about a company, service, contract, or individual, you should have first-hand documentation and be prepared to provide it confidentially if questions arise. This includes contracts, email exchanges, invoices, marketing materials, or similar records.

Editorial, Legal, and Safety Standards

Purpose of the Piece: The primary goal of your post must be to inform and protect writers. Any mention of your own services or products needs to be limited, clearly relevant, and secondary to the value you provide to readers.
No Advertorial Content: Posts that read like advertisements, listicles centered on a single company, or keyword-stuffed SEO copy will be declined without response.
Accuracy and Evidence: You are responsible for the accuracy of your work. Factual claims, figures, and quotations should be verifiable through documents, public records, or reliable sources that you can identify if asked. Where you conclude, state them plainly and separate them from verifiable facts.
Companies and Individuals: If you name companies or individuals in a negative context, you must stay within what you can substantiate. We may ask for supporting material, suggest revised language, or request that identifying details be removed or generalized. In some cases, we may decline to publish specific allegations if we cannot reasonably review the underlying evidence.
Anonymity and Pseudonyms: In some situations, we may publish work under a pseudonym or without identifying details where there is a meaningful risk of retaliation. If you feel you need that protection, explain why in your email. Even when a pseudonym is used, we may request documentation in confidence to verify the events described.
Conflicts of Interest: If you have a financial, professional, or other material relationship with any company, service, or organization mentioned in your piece, you must disclose it. We will include that disclosure with the post so readers can understand your position.
Links and Promotion: Outbound links should serve the reader, not a marketing plan. We do not allow undisclosed affiliate links. Self-promotional links belong in your bio, with at most one or two in the body when they are directly relevant to the subject. Any affiliate or referral relationships must be disclosed clearly.

Alignment with For The Writers

For The Writers is built as a working model of the publishing ecosystem, with tools, frameworks, and case studies that help writers see how money, power, and decision-making flow through contracts, platforms, intermediaries, and institutions. Guest posts should extend that work by giving writers practical insight into the systems that shape their careers, including how deals are structured, how services operate, where risk sits, how fees and royalties flow, and how choices made early in a project affect rights, reach, and revenue over time.

Strong viewpoints are welcome when they are grounded in evidence and lived experience. We do not host personal attacks, blanket claims about entire professions, or unsupported predictions. Posts should recognize that writers take multiple paths to publication and keep the focus on structures, practices, and outcomes. The aim is to help writers make informed decisions inside a complex industry, whether they are working with agents and traditional houses, independent presses, hybrid outfits, or self-publishing platforms.

Length, Formatting Guidelines, Rights, and Media

Length: Typical length is between 750 and 1,200 words. Longer work may be considered if the subject genuinely requires it and the piece holds together as a single argument or narrative.
Originality and Reprints: Content must be original to For The Writers at the time of submission and not previously published in substantially the same form. If you later repost it on your own site, we ask that you credit For The Writers as the original publisher and link back to the original post. We do not usually accept reprints, but you may query if you believe a prior piece would strongly serve our readers.
Exclusivity: We ask for a brief period of first-publication exclusivity after your post goes live. After thirty days you may republish the work elsewhere, provided you note that it first appeared with For The Writers and include a link to the original.
Rights: You retain copyright to your work. By submitting, you grant For The Writers the right to publish, archive, and share the post on our website, in our newsletter, and across our social channels, including occasional promotional excerpts with attribution.
Payment: We do not pay for guest posts. Contributors receive a byline, a brief bio, and up to two relevant links such as a website, newsletter, or professional profile.
Images and Supporting Materials: When helpful, you may include pictures, diagrams, or screenshots of portions of contracts, dashboards, or marketing materials. You are responsible for having the right to share any image you submit. Sensitive information and personal data should be redacted before submission. Please provide images as common file types and include short alt text for each image to support accessibility.

Submission Process

You may submit either a concise pitch or a complete draft.

We accept email submissions on a rolling basis. We do our best to respond to pitches and drafts within four weeks. If you have not heard from us after six weeks, please treat it as a pass. You are welcome to submit your idea elsewhere at any time before acceptance. If another outlet accepts your piece while it is under review with us, notify us so we can withdraw it from consideration.

What To Include in Your Email

Working Title and Summary: A working title and a short paragraph that explains the piece and the central takeaway for writers.
Type of Piece: Whether it is a reported article, a case study based on personal experience, or a first-person essay with concrete outcomes for readers.
Your Relationship to the Subject: A brief explanation of how you know what you know, including any company or process you dealt with, and any potential conflicts of interest.
Documentation: A note on what documentation you hold, especially if you are naming specific entities. You do not need to attach it at the pitch stage, but we may request it later.
Bio and Links: A short professional bio and links to your website, portfolio, or key platform, if available.

Attach drafts as a Word document or share a view-only link to a Google Doc. Avoid pasting the entire piece into the body of the email.

Editing, Publication, and Comments

We reserve the right to accept, decline, or request revisions.

Accepted pieces will be edited for structure, length, house style, readability, and legal risk. Titles, headings, and framing may be adjusted to fit the resource center. If the post needs extensive content edits, we will return it to you with notes and suggested changes instead of rewriting it for you.

Once a post is live, we may correct minor errors and update factual information as needed. Substantive changes that affect the argument or conclusions will be discussed with you when possible.

We ask contributors to be available to respond to reader comments on the post for at least the first few days after publication, subject to moderation. Comments are moderated. Harassment, doxxing, hate speech, and personal attacks will be removed, and we may close comments on a post if the discussion moves into unsafe territory.

Series and Follow-Up Posts

Some topics benefit from multiple installments. We are open to limited series on complex subjects such as contract structures, platform ecosystems, or in-depth case studies. If you want to propose a series, include a brief outline of each planned installment in your pitch so we can evaluate the complete arc.

How To Contact Us

To propose a guest post for For The Writers, send your pitch or draft to outreach@forthewriters.com with “Guest Contributor Submission” in the subject line. We look forward to reading work that helps writers make better decisions in an industry that often hides the stakes.

FOR THE WRITERS