Are you a homesteader, gardener, or do-it-yourselfer with something to share? Our site is built around the idea that our entire community has great advice to share with each other. We would love to hear from you with a proposal for a how-to article.
What are we Looking For?
Homestead How-To focuses on informative articles that help fellow homesteaders and others who are interested in similar topics to learn something new. We do not accept personal essays, recipes, or content that is not learning focused. Basically, your article should be able to be titled “How To __________”.
Articles should explore new territory or offer in-depth instructions. In other words, we probably won’t accept an article like “How to Grow Beans” because there are plenty of those around the internet, but we might accept an article like “How to Build a Creative Bean Tower that your Kids can Play In”. The idea is to get specific and peak our readers’ interests beyond basic homesteading skills. If you are wondering if your idea might be appropriate, just reach out to us with the contact form below and we’ll be happy to give you feedback or work through an idea.
What topic areas do we highlight?
Our “categories” tab is a great place to start to see the areas of homesteading that we currently highlight. That is not to say that we could not do more, but we encourage you to consider these categories when proposing an article unless you have something that doesn’t quite fit and is, quite frankly, too awesome to pass up!
What can you include in an article?
As a community-building site, we WANT you to include links to your blog and social media profiles so that other homesteaders can connect with you or read more of your work if they like your voice. You can include these links within the text of your article, and we’ll also invite you to submit a short bio with links to your sites and social profiles as well as a photo. These will be placed at the bottom of your article so folks can see from whom they are learning.
Personal experiences and perspectives are also welcome in your article; in fact, we encourage you to base your writing in your own experiences. We only ask that you make sure that the “knowledge” you are presenting is backed up by other reputable sources and isn’t only based on one experience.
What can you NOT include in an article?
We do not allow guest contributors to include affiliate links or advertisements in their posts. The one exception would be if you received a free product (like a book or tool) in exchange for featuring it in an article. You MAY include links to article on your own blog that contain affiliate links if they are appropriate to the content and not the full intent of your article (i.e. the article you submit should stand on its own without viewers having to click through to your site to get the information). Please contact us if you have a question about this policy. Homestead How-To may place appropriate advertisements within or in the borders of your article when it is published; this is how we generate income to keep this awesome site active!
We also do not allow any language in posts that is critical or insulting to certain individuals or groups; please be respectful in your language and in how you discuss others.
Can I submit something previously published?
We will not accept articles that have been previously published on your own blog or elsewhere online; this messes with SEO and does not meet our goal of providing original content. Likewise, we do not allow authors to re-publish articles that have been submitted on this site. However, we do encourage you to share your published articles widely on all of your social media channels!
How do you submit an article?
Please do not submit a full article until you have had a PROPOSAL accepted by one of our editors. To submit a proposal, please use the form below.
Technical Guidelines:
- Most articles are between 500 and 1000 words (unless you’d like to propose a detailed how-to of up to 1500 words);
- Please use high caliber references to support any research-backed claims (include a hyperlink to your source within the text);
- We encourage you to use sub-headers for sections of the article when appropriate;
- You will be asked submit up to 5 high-quality images to include with your article if accepted;
- You will also be asked to include a short biography (see our About Us page for examples), author photo, and social links (if applicable) upon acceptance.
Do we compensate for articles?
At this time, Homestead How-To does not offer compensation for articles submitted and published on our site. We hope that you will use our site as a forum for information exchange, contributing your ideas in appreciation of others who contribute theirs. We also hope that by contributing as guest writer on this site, other bloggers can attract viewers to their site thus driving your traffic higher and creating long-term fans of your work.
Who owns the article once published?
Once your article is submitted to the site and live, ownership and copy rights belong to Homestead How-To (a subsidiary of The Happy Hive LLC). We do not allow authors to re-post articles on other pages without permission, but we encourage you to link to your article on your own social media channels as much as you’d like.
Other questions?
Have another question that wasn’t covered on this page? Please contact us and we’ll do our best to answer it!
Proposal Instructions
If you would like to write for us, please email a proposal to: carrie@homesteadhow-to.com. Your proposal should include:
- Your Name
- Your website or blog address (if applicable)
- Your social media handles (Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter)
- Your email address
- An article Title or Topic (MUST be a How-To)
- Short Summary of your proposed article
- Statement that this article has not been published elsewhere