Hi there, and thanks for your interest in writing for The STD Project. As we receive a lot of submissions, we’ve recently thought it helpful to outline our guest posting expectations – this is to ensure our time is well spent and you feel comfortable with the qualifications we look for in each of our writers. Our biggest concern is maintaining this website as a safe space for others to share stories, gather information, and grow from one another’s perspectives. If you have that goal in mind as well, we’ll probably love your submission.
STD Interviews
We accept all STD Interviews. Simply answer the questions and send them to us via the contact form. To maintain your anonymity (unless you choose to respond to the questions publicly/with your own photo), we chat very little with the individuals who message their interview answers, unless conversation is initiated by the poster. We also follow-up with a link to the interview once it is posted online, so the author can see how their submission turned out. So far, we haven’t had to turn away any interviews as they have all been authentic and honest. You can read some of the STD interviews to get a better feel for how they turn out. Lastly, we edit each interview for spelling and grammatical errors, however, we leave the majority of the context alone so as to maintain the author’s tone. Once you have submitted your interview, The STD Project owns all original publishing rights and the content cannot be posted elsewhere, unless we choose not to use your answers – at which point, we will let you know. Your comfort and privacy is our priority; we never share contact information or other defining characteristics unless you’ve explicitly asked they be included.
STD Short Stories
We accept all STD short stories. Some people are natural writers and are not daunted by a blank page. Rather, this helps them communicate their thoughts completely and without the constraints of the interview questions. Should you like to start with the interview and then move on to sharing your story in a more free-flowing format, we’re happy to accept both versions as well. So far, we haven’t had to turn away any short stories as they’ve all been well-written, authentic, and honest. We also edit all submissions before posting them online, but work very hard to keep your tone and writing style intact. Once you have submitted your short story, The STD Project owns all original publishing rights and the content cannot be posted elsewhere, unless we choose not to use your writing – at which point, we will let you know. Short stories can include a small bio line if you’d like us to link to your website or social profiles, however, they are often written anonymously, whereby, it’s up to the individual writer if they’d like to include a bio line sharing something interesting about themselves.
Guest Posters from Other Websites
We welcome collaborative efforts from other websites – specifically, guest post exchanges. Should you like to talk about a guest post exchange where your website writes an article for us and we write an article for you in return, please contact us via the contact form. Because we receive a lot of these requests and our team is very small, we expect replies within a 48 hour time period. Please also be mindful of misspelling errors in your pitch and email submissions. After we have decided on a date to swap posts and the article content for both websites, we do a final review and edit of the article to ensure grammatical errors are corrected and the article meets the parameters previously established. Once you have submitted your article, The STD Project owns all publishing rights and the content cannot be posted elsewhere, unless we choose not to use your writing – at which point, we will let you know. Lastly, please provide a short bio describing yourself, who you’re affiliated with and all website or social profile links you’d like us to include.
Guest Posters Seeking Writing Experience
Should you be interested in submitting relevant content for writing experience and for the benefit of our readers, please send your pitch to us via the contact form. Be mindful of misspellings while communicating with The STD Project and be sure to respond to our messages within 48 hours, else, you run the risk of us assuming you are not taking the opportunity seriously and thus, we will move on to other submissions. After we have agreed upon an article idea and submission date, we will do a final review to ensure grammatical errors are corrected and the article meets the parameters previously established. Once you have submitted your article, The STD Project owns all publishing rights and the content cannot be posted elsewhere, unless we choose not to use your writing – at which point, we will let you know. Lastly, please provide a short bio describing yourself, experience and all website or social profile links you’d like us to include.
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These expectations are not all inclusive and they are subject to change as necessary. We’re always happy to discuss writing opportunities or changes to our parameters. Don’t be shy or afraid to inquire via the contact form. These guidelines are intended to help you as much as they help to streamline our process. We’re always happy to chat and discuss ideas, writing opportunities, or new content!
