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Write for Us Here at CYC


We are currently closed to submissions. 

If you would like to be notified when submissions reopen, make sure you are signed up for our weekly newsletter: The Writing Rundown (bonus: you'll learn lots about the craft of writing, mindset, and what we're reading!)

Please read through all the guidelines to learn how to submit a piece that has a better chance of acceptance.

Before we jump into the guidelines and details for submitting to Craft Your Content, we’re gonna be honest with you.

We don’t approve most of the submissions and pitches that come through. This is mostly due to the quality of the ideas and writing. 

It isn’t about the actual style and skill, it is about the obvious lack of effort and thought. If you are earnest about your pitch, and have taken the time to understand our site and audience, then we’re more than willing to work with you.

But if you send:

  • a thin pitch
  • nothing more than a title
  • a topic that is irrelevant
  • want us to advise on which topic you should send
  • do not follow the directions outlined below
  • can’t explain why you are the perfect person to write this piece
  • have not shown us how your piece will affect our audience
  • or many other lazy pitching mistakes

…we will likely reject your query without a reason.

Please understand, we love to work with writers who want to write exceptional pieces that are a great fit for CYC. We are looking for a reason to say yes to your submission!

So work hard to make sure that we don’t have a reason to say no, by reading through the guidelines below and sending us your best ideas and pieces.


Craft Your Content’s mission is twofold: to help our readers become excellent writers, and to help them do so while retaining their unique voice and vision.

But we need writers to do that.

Pitches and submissions should dive deep into the craft of writing and creativity; offering new ways for writers to approach their work and thinking.

Writing for Craft Your Content is a great way to gain experience and reach over 10K new readers per month. Our work has been featured in The New York Times, Forbes, and The Huffington Post, among others, and our clients have gone on to publish top-charting books and viral blog posts themselves.

That’s major credibility.

Not only that, but our editorial team will also be there to help you along the way, so you aren’t flying solo. You’ll be getting the same services that other writers pay us for, to learn more about your own writing. It’s a pretty great perk…and you don’t have to take our word for it! Here are some comments from past contributors:

Your suggestions make a lot of sense! Changes made. Very cool. This is my first time submitting to CYC, and I like that your editorial team is helping me work on craft at the same time as my piece is about working on craft. Ha! Love it.

Oh, and we pay; $75-150 per article, depending on the length/topic/quality.

A Few Things to Keep in Mind

  1. Here at Craft Your Content, we tend to be a bit picky. We expect that your content is creative, original, high quality, and useful to the CYC audience. So if you’re going to pitch us an article, tell us how it fills these requirements. Posts on CYC are at least 1000 words long, most are in the 1500-2500 range.
  2. We aren’t looking for how-to quick guides or marketing hacks. If you are going to pitch us about how to do something, include considerations for the actual writing. We aren’t looking to Optimize Social Media Updates or Sell Your First 50K eBooks. Well, we are if you are going to explain more about the writing involved, the mindset and perspective, the craft of it. After all, we are about crafting your content here, not just spitting it out and spamming it.
  3. Don’t just pitch us an idea, write the damn thing! While we value great ideas, we value great writing even more. We need to know from the start that you can pull off a stellar writing job, and that you aren’t just an idea machine. Detailed outlines or rough drafts are definitely a plus.
  4. A title is not a pitch … a title is not a pitch … a title is not a pitch. Not much more to say on this. We will not accept any pitches that contain nothing more than a title for a piece or topic. You will be immediately rejected.
  5. We don’t publish pricks. As much as we like grammar-savvy writers (it makes our jobs a whole lot easier), we LOATHE condescending pricks who get on a holier-than-thou grammar high horse and tell everyone else how stupid they are. So while we invite sarcastic, snarky writers, we don’t want you insulting our readers.
  6. Write for our audience. We are committed to helping writers preserve their own voice, but articles for the CYC should fit in with the tone and vision of our site and what our audience looks for. We write articles for professional writers and brands looking to improve their writing, so try not to pitch us anything focused on freelancing or cheap content marketing strategies. You can learn more about the style guidelines and writing for CYC here.
  7. We do not guarantee specific types of backlinks. And to be honest, we’ve only approved one article submission in memory from someone who is seeking a “do-follow” or other call-to-action link. If a backlink occurs naturally in your writing, that is fine. But do NOT try to hide that shit. We’ll find it and be very angry. You will not like us when we’re angry.
  8. You will, however, get an opportunity to sell yourself and/or your wares. As a CYC Contributor, you will get a full author bio at the end of the post to promote yourself and your brand a bit more. We are fine with backlinks here, usually to a site and a social network or two.

Want some extra special insights what our Founder and Managing Editor Elisa Doucette loves to see in a pitch (and what drives her up a wall?) Check out this post she wrote on that exact topic, or follow this thread on Twitter where she regularly updates with examples of automatic rejection situations.

We do not publish sponsored content or paid articles. Nor do we offer placed links.

What We Look for in a Writer

Writing for CYC isn’t like writing for snooty, academic types. Our content encourages dialogue between the writers and their readers. Over the years, we’ve compiled a list of characteristics that make for a great blogger. While you’re writing, keep these guidelines in mind:

  • Keep it Conversational: Speaking in first or second person helps keep the article casual, and the tone inviting. Think of your guest post as a personal blog, then write it.
  • Simplify it: Though you are encouraged to support your arguments with facts and statistics, keep the writing simple and to the point. Keep paragraphs short and break sections up with headers.
  • Tell a story: The main reasons why we write are to inform and to entertain, so entertain our readers. Keep your posts interesting and relevant.
  • Do some research: It's great to include your own personal experience and opinions - it is another way to show why you are the perfect person to share this insight! But back that up with research and information. Explain how and why your knowledge might apply to others.
  • Know how to start and know how to end: It’s important for our readers to know what to expect at the beginning of the article, and what they’ve learned at the end. Be clear and be concise. But don’t flat out say, “In this article I will show you...” or “In closing…” —instead, make sure to include solid introduction and conclusion paragraphs.

We're looking for pieces that speak to our audience.

And who are they, you may ask?

Our Audience

  • Professional writers: Professional writers are committed to their personal brand, blog, and community, but often don't have the editorial support and partnership that often comes with writing for publications. Different from freelancers, they create content for themselves, rather than chasing down clients and bylines. They choose to write for a living (those poor souls), so they're interested in relatable, realistic advice based on the experiences of other people who write all the time.
  • Entrepreneurial writers: These readers don't just run their own business; they also do all of the writing for their business. And the writing that they do is the centerpiece of their marketing plan. Whether it's blog posts, Kindle eBooks, or product copy, if it's for their business, they are (or their team is) writing it, and they want to learn how to do it better. More efficiently. More creatively. With better engagement and interest. You get the idea.
  • Solopreneurs: These are the folks who work their hands to the bone to build their own business, and they love reading productivity and creativity tips - not shallow "hacks" or listicles, but meaningful ideas and inspiration to help them improve. They've built something they're proud of, and want to show it (and themselves) off to the world. They're busy people, so they like actionable items to take away and apply to their lives.

As such, we do not accept most pitches with a content marketing or freelancing focus. Those pieces absolutely have worth and interest, but fit better on other sites and with other publications.

If you can follow these guidelines, you’re on the write (see what I did there?) path to getting published.

Some Topics We like to See

While we fully acknowledge that we are a collective in the business of marketing (and, more importantly, helping to improve) content, we do not accept articles focused on freelancing, or on online or content marketing . If you are going to pitch a piece related to either of these topics, please make sure it has a very unique and quality-focused take.

Last but Not Least

Now you’ve learned the know-how’s and no! don’t!’s of writing guest posts for CYC. Feel free to email us with any questions you may have about the process. (We are unable to accept unsolicited submissions, and we WILL NOT advise on topics, via email. You will be directed back to the request form on this page.)

~ Elisa Doucette and the Craft Your Content Team