Want to submit a guest post to MwP?
We’re looking for articles that meet our high-quality standards and that have good odds of surviving our challenging review and editorial process, fondly known as The Gauntlet. In fact, it’s been said that having a guest post published on the Men with Pens blog is a badge of honor.
Due to an overwhelming amount of poor-quality submissions, we regret to inform that Men with Pens is not accepting any new guest post submissions at this time.
We don’t pre-approve topics or respond to requests asking us to choose from a list of suggested titles. This really serves no purpose – we want to see what you can do, not what you plan to do. (Don’t worry; you’re surely a smart person who can choose a great topic on your own.)
Therefore, we only review posts that pass the initial gatekeeper test and meet our guest post guidelines. Please review them below – and we’ll know if you haven’t. We’re savvy that way.
We’re also picky. Really, really picky.
Here’s what you need to know to stack the odds of acceptance in your favor:
Your Guest Post Article Should Be Relevant
The Men with Pens blog covers the following topics: copywriting, content marketing, freelancing, entrepreneurship, business ownership, online marketing strategies, good business practices, and creative or consumer psychology.
This means we can’t accept posts about random topics like hair dryers, steel rods, or tequila jelly beans, unless you’ve somehow creatively managed to tie them into an article about a new, different or better way to succeed in business, earn more income or land new clients.
Our audience tends to have advanced-level knowledge – they’ve been around the block and are knowledgeable folk, so basic-level information tends to make them cranky. They appreciated in-depth, higher-level info that’s a cut above the rest.
Your Guest Post Should Be Practical
The Men with Pens blog provides our audience with useful, practical, actionable information that brings them immediate benefits.
- Noticed a problem you know how to solve? Teach people a better way of working, or how they can eliminate a frustration.
- Know any tricks, tactics or strategies that improved your business? Share them and challenge our audience to try it for themselves.
- Feel strongly about a situation? Explore the pros and cons, be contrarian, and present persuasive arguments for your opinion.
Your post should include examples and/or clear how-to steps so that people can apply your ideas or advice to their business immediately.
Your Guest Post Should Be Unique
If it’s been said and done a thousand times before, think outside the box. Write a new perspective on an old topic, or give our audience a different take or a fresh angle.
- Be creative. Plenty of posts talk about how to write a killer headline – find a new way to talk about headlines so that people pay attention.
- Be unique. Browse our archives, figure out what topic or angle we haven’t covered yet, and beat us to the punch
- Be interesting. Tell a story, use a great metaphor, or take an opposing stance. You can even write on controversial topics, if you’d like.
Your Guest Post Article Should Be Well Written
The Men with Pens blog is by writers, for writers. It makes sense that your post should demonstrate a good command of language, grammar, punctuation, organization, clarity, style and tone. We don’t expect perfection, but we also don’t expect to have to perform a major edit, rework your content and clean up your prose. (That would be silly; we get paid for that kind of stuff around here.)
- Edit your post. Set it aside for a day and come back to it with fresh eyes. Rewrite it a few times. Good posts take time and effort to create.
- Use an outline. Stay on track with your topic; don’t ramble. Don’t riff off the top of your head, either, as that shows through in writing.
- Have a well-rounded wrap-up. Write a good conclusion that ends with a nice bang to encourage sharing and discussion.
Post length is up to you – all we’ll say is that it’s very difficult to write a truly useful and engaging post in fewer than 750 words, and it’s very easy to start rambling like a raving lunatic when going over 2,000 words.
Extra Notes and Editorial Liberties
- Include an author bio and a link to your website or blog. Please make it fun, punchy or interesting.
- Links in your content may be acceptable if they point to resources or articles of value to our readership. We reserve the right to remove them if we feel they aren’t a good fit.
- Submit your guest post via our contact form in Word .doc or .docx format.
- Your post must be original work that hasn’t been offered or published elsewhere.
Whew! What’s Next?
Click here to send us your guest post via email.
In your message, tell us a bit about you, what you do, and provide a link to your site so that we can check you out.
Use the password “Maserati” in the subject line or in your message. Otherwise, we’ll know you didn’t pay attention. Tsk.
Please be patient – it may take up to two weeks for you to hear back from us.
If we accept your post for review, we’ll schedule its run through The Gauntlet. If it survives the process, we’ll patch up the scrapes and bruises, dust it off, polish it up and send it back to you with resounding cheers. You’ll have ample opportunity to review any editorial changes we made before publication.
When your guest post is accepted for publication, you grant a license for Men with Pens to be the exclusive publisher. You may republish extracts on your own site, but the article in its entirety should not appear elsewhere. You also consent to the full article, extracts, samples or examples appearing in other Men with Pens products and/or services.
Don’t worry – you’ll always receive author credit and accolades. We know that’s important to you; it’s important to us too.
For more good advice on guest posting, check out How to Guest Post for Success.
