A Winged Pen New Year’s Resolution: Boosting Conversation with Readers Including Guest Posts

The picture depicts someone writing in a notebook with a blue pen.

Happy New Year! At the Winged Pen, we have a couple New Year’s resolutions, and here’s the first we’re rolling out:

We’d like to make this site more of a conversation among our writing community.

On many posts, we ask for comments because we’re interested in hearing from YOU about your thoughts and experiences. Thank you if you’ve commented in the past! If you haven’t, consider commenting on a post that interests you.

Our writing will grow stronger together.

If your thoughts don’t relate to a specific post, you can write to us at info @ thewingedpen (dot) com. We’re open to your feedback or ideas on topics you’d like to see covered in future posts.

And, we’re open to your posts on writing craft, the writing life, or other topics on kidlit writing. If you’ve made a New Year’s resolution about getting your words out to the world, consider writing a guest post.

Our new Guest Post Guidelines are outlined below. You can also find them here.

Guest Post Guidelines

At Winged Pen, we believe it takes a flock to get a story aloft. We love sharing our writing journey with other writers. We’re also open to guest contributors who have something to share.

What Types of Posts Are We Looking for?

The Winged Pen is written by kidlit writers for kidlit writers. Our primary focus is on young adult and middle-grade fiction.

We’re open to guest posts from writers or publishing professionals on:

  • Writing craft
  • Writing life
  • Recommendations or tips on using writing tools (written by writers who use them, not marketers)
  • Book marketing and publicity

We’re looking for a new and fresh take on the topics kidlit writers struggle with. That could be an aspect of craft you’ve thought about deeply because you’re wrestling with it in your work-in-process. Or it could be an aspect of the writer’s life you’ve dealt with and have advice on.

We love tips and takeaways that our readers can take from a post.

What Are We NOT Looking for?

  • Marketing and ads for books, products, or services.
  • Requests for backlinks.

Our main focus is to publish posts of value to our readers, not promote products or services.

Guest contributors can link to their published book or personal website in their bio on the post.

Do I Need to Be a Published Author to Write a Guest Post?

No. We weren’t published when we began this blog, though it’s good if you’ve given posting a shot on your own blog or another group blog.

How Do I Know if My Post Idea is a Good Match for Winged Pen?

  • Take a look at our last few posts or our Top 10 Posts page to find out what subjects we cover.
  • Search our site to see if we’ve covered the topic you’re thinking of writing about before. If we have, do you have a new spin or angle? (The search button is on the top right of the home page right under the blue Winged Pen banner.)
  • Our posts tend to be 800-1500 words in length.
  • Posts should be edited, proofread, and ready for publication. We can only publish a limited number of guest posts, so take your time to make your post as strong as possible before you submit.
  • Please keep in mind that we’re all volunteers. We’d love to publish more guest posts but our time is limited.

Does Winged Pen Pay for Guest Posts?

No. We don’t make money on this blog, so we can’t pay for posts. But we can help you get your words out to a wider audience.

Expectations for Post Day

We’d like guest contributors to be available to respond to comments on their post on the day it’s scheduled. Please also share the link to your post on social media so we can continue to build our community and the conversation on kidlit writing.

Apply to Submit a Guest Post

Thanks for your interest in submitting a guest post to the Winged Pen!

Please fill out this form to help us to get to know you and your idea for a post. Then  give us a few days to get back to you.

Thanks for considering writing a guest post!

The Winged Pen

2 thoughts on “A Winged Pen New Year’s Resolution: Boosting Conversation with Readers Including Guest Posts

    1. Caroline,

      Thanks for your interest in writing a guest post and for letting me know the form wasn’t working. I think I’ve fixed the link. Feel free to let me know if you have any more problems!

      Rebecca

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