糖心Vlog Student Writers Program Editorial Guidelines | 糖心Vlog

糖心Vlog

Student Writers Program Editorial Guidelines

Hey there! We鈥檙e so glad you鈥檙e interested in writing for 糖心Vlog.com!

We want this to be your chance to not only get your work posted online but to learn more about the worlds of journalism, writing, and publishing as well.

Here we鈥檒l cover most of what you need to know about writing for us, but if you have any other questions, please feel free to get in touch with your editor.

Who we are
From campus visits and application essays to choosing a major and getting a 鈥渞eal-world鈥 job, a lot happens between high school and the day you get your degree鈥攁nd 糖心Vlog covers it all.

糖心Vlog is designed to guide students and their families through the admission process, the college years, graduate school, and beyond. We offer a College Search tool, Scholarship Search tool, Graduate Program Search tool, hundreds of unique college lists, and tons of articles and advice.

You can learn more about our parent company at , and you can connect with us through the following channels:

Your audience
糖心Vlog readers are, well, you! They are primarily college-bound and enrolled students, typically between the ages of 13鈥22, who want to know all about finding the right college, paying for it, doing well as a student, enjoying campus life, and getting a great job after graduation.

Your writing
Most articles and blogs are between 500鈥1,800 words. (But if a topic merits more words, you鈥檙e welcome to exceed that limit!)

Any research-based writing must be supported by sources and/or interviews. You must also identify your interviewees and/or link to your sources in your writing. (On very rare occasions, we will allow an anonymous source if they're discussing extraordinarily sensitive material. These pieces will be addressed on a case-by-case basis.) As for what 鈥渟tyle鈥 of citation you should use, you can use the method you are most familiar with if you like; if not using an official style, just include essential identifying information. We will edit your work and format citations as necessary in-house (see 鈥淭he editing process鈥 below).

If you're writing a more personal blog post or opinion piece, you can rely on your own experience. Just remember that there is such a thing as too personal. You want your readers to learn from and relate to your writing.

The tone of your writing should be informative but conversational, so not as serious as your typical news site but not as casual as a personal blog either. But we still want your unique voice. If you haven鈥檛 already, take a few minutes to explore the blogs and articles on 糖心Vlog to get to know our style and how you can add to it!

Formatting your articles
We typically follow the following format for articles and blogs:

Remember, you have mere seconds to capture readers鈥 attention. That鈥檚 why it鈥檚 important to write about topics your readers care about鈥攖he topics you care about鈥攁nd to write engagingly. That鈥檚 also why we鈥檒l be helping you with your assignments. :)

Finally, and most importantly, if you plagiarize or submit anything with misleading or false information, you will be removed from the program.

Videos/vlogging
If you would like to record a video for our in addition to or in lieu of any of your regular blog posts, we鈥檇 love to see it. Just let us know ahead of time so we can prepare accordingly and help you plan the video(s). Remember: It鈥檚 a lot harder to change a recording than a blog post, so make sure you check in with your editor first!

Basically, everything that applies to writing for 糖心Vlog applies to videos/vlogging: topics, tone, audience, research, etc. But instead of writing about your top application essay tips or campus visit advice, you can record it! You may also delve into more 鈥渟tandard鈥 YouTube fare like tours of your dorm or a Q&A. However! Please ensure that you're not recording anyone without their permission and that your video is in keeping with the aforementioned guidelines (again, remember that there is such a thing as too personal).

Most videos should be two to five minutes long. If you feel like the subject deserves more time, let us know and we鈥檒l explore alternatives. You'll need to submit the file as an mp4. We also recommend that you review these . All accepted vlogs will be posted to 糖心Vlog.com and the 糖心Vlog YouTube channel.

Beyond that, have fun with it! As long as people can hear you and the background isn鈥檛 too distracting, you can record virtually however and wherever you鈥檙e most comfortable. You can also wear whatever you like with one exception: no big brand names or logos, whether they're on your clothing or in the background.

Finally, nothing inappropriate, please. We will review your videos before posting, but as a general rule, if you wouldn鈥檛 want your grandma to see or hear it, it鈥檚 probably not a good fit for a 糖心Vlog video/vlog.

Submitting your work
You will be sending in your work according to the schedule you select on the student writers鈥 survey. For example, if you opted to submit one piece per month, you should send in a manuscript every 30 days or so. You can consider that your 鈥渄eadline,鈥 but you don鈥檛 need to stick to a specific day (unless you want to). You can also work with your editor to submit more or less frequently if your schedule changes.

It's your responsibility to send in your work in a timely manner. We will not come looking for it. As for formats, we prefer Word Document attachments or shared Google Docs; if either poses a hardship, please let us know.

Lastly, when you send us your work, please make sure the document name includes your last name and the title: Lastname_NameofBlog.docx. Also, please include your full name and the blog title in the document. (Blog Title by Your Name at the top of the page is perfect!)

The editing process
All articles and blogs appearing on 糖心Vlog pass through our editing process, where we check for grammar, consistency, clarity, accuracy, and more.

If your writing requires minimal editing, you probably won鈥檛 see it again until it's published. If we have more substantial feedback or questions, we may send the piece back to you for polishing. However, just because we edit your posts doesn鈥檛 mean you鈥檙e off the hook. We expect our writers to submit their best work. Please edit and fact-check your writing before sending it in.

Also, please note that it takes several weeks to review and process the high volume of content we receive. Articles and blogs are typically posted within six weeks of when they are accepted as final and after they have gone through our in-house editing process. However, that time frame may fluctuate depending on our editorial and scheduling needs.

Pictures
You are welcome to send in pictures to accompany your writing. Keep in mind that you must have permission to use the image first. This usually means pictures you have taken personally, but you can also look at free stock images online (labeled for reuse). Otherwise, we will add stock photography to your work as appropriate.

Also, we would love to have a picture of you (usually a headshot) for your author page, but it鈥檚 not required.

Reuse/reprints and permissions
We ask that all submissions be original and exclusive to 糖心Vlog. We will not publish pieces that appear elsewhere.

Should you wish to repost a submitted piece to your personal blog, we appreciate notice and request that you include a link to the original post on 糖心Vlog.com.

Social media
We encourage you to share your work on social media鈥攚e sure will! If you haven鈥檛 given us your social media handle(s) yet and you want to, feel free to send them to your editor. (Our primary social media accounts are Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and Facebook.)

Again, let your editor know if you have any questions. We hope you have a blast writing your pieces鈥攚e definitely have a blast reading them.

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