If you’re reading this New Author page, odds are you know something about California that we don’t, and maybe you’re ready to let your voice be heard… or your words be read, either way.
If you have a story to share and want to let the world read it, California with Kids could be a really great outlet for you. We’d sure love to have you and your contributions, and our readers will surely benefit from your contributions as well.
And if your community feels that it’s been underrepresented on our publication, your story submissions could be the difference it takes to tip the scales in your town’s favor. We try to cover as much ground as we can, but the state is huge and our resources are limited. We do our best, but we can’t be everywhere, try as we do.
ADVANTAGES | SUBMISSION GUIDELINES | GET STARTED
PRESS RELEASES | CONTACT FORM
Advantages:
We’re Legit – This site has none of those annoying pop-up ads or flashing ad banners, and we fully intend to keep it that way forever. They annoy us to no end, and we trust that, no matter how much they pay, they surely annoy you too.
We’re also a Google News accredited agency, which means that when we run a story, it immediately appears in the searchable news database. Stories published on California with Kids are available the world over for anyone seeking out the news, and this isn’t just a sign of professional credibility, but it speaks to the readership available to your article from the minute it’s published.
Experience & Exposure – If you’re looking to fill out your résumé to become a travel, parenting, business or other genre writer in the future, this is a great opportunity to get the exposure you might need to advance your career. You won’t just be “published online”, because anyone with a computer can be published at some random site. Instead you will be published by a known, accredited news site.
Author Page Credit – Contributors will be listed on the About Page, and once enough stories have been submitted and consistently published, you’ll be upgraded from “Contributor” to “Author”.
Links to Your Sites – If you’re looking to promote yourself, or your website, your articles appearing on California with Kids can be an easy way to drive relevant, targeted traffic. There are two ways you can do it:
- You can post a “Appears courtesy of…” type link at the bottom of the page. Our oil expert Bob van der Valk does that, and you can see an example of what it looks like at the bottom of any of his articles. You can say something like “Article courtesy of www.yoursitenamegoeshere.com”, or if you have something else in mind, just ask.
- You can post text links within the body of the story with keywords pointing back to relevant pages on your site(s), like Brendan Alexander does. (Items in Bold/Underline are these types of links, like the words “nouns” and “love”.)
You Still Own Your Work – Although we do ask for irrevocable publication rights (meaning once submitted, we can’t be required to go back and delete your stories), we do not assume any ownership rights over your material. If you want to republish them on other sites, or your blog, you are always free to do so. If we move forward with the book deal we’ve been negotiating, we will have to address your conditions for inclusion in that project separately. If we’re contacted about reprints of your stories, we will forward the request to you for your consideration. We will not request or accept any commission on such reprints, but we will offer industry insider advice if you request.
Submission Guidelines
Originality – Your story must be original, and not plagiarized. Any author found submitting a stolen story will be banned immediately, and your contact email, IP address and other relevant info will be shared with appropriate parties. It’s really easy to make a story your own, and if you want to submit to us, we hope you’ll do at least as much, but it has to be a legal story.
Honesty – Tell an honest story. If you run a business, please don’t slam your competitors. Don’t say unfairly nice things about yourself or your client, while telling lies about others. You don’t “have to be nice”, but your story does have to be entirely rooted in fact. Our news reputation is at stake, and we can’t afford to permit dishonesty. If you’re going to make an outrageous claim, please use as specific of details as possible (names, dates, citations from other sites, etc.), to avoid any appearance of unfairness as it might be perceived.
Relevant – You don’t have to write exclusively about California and kids, but that is our focus. We do run stories about “just” California and “just” kids, but we try to avoid stories that have no bearing for either of our themes. Certain exceptions can be made, but those stories will be considered on a case-by-case basis. The easiest way forward is to just keep the stories relevant so we can run them without edit.
Spell Check – You MUST spell check your stories before submission. Perfection is not required, but excessive errors cannot consistently be corrected. We do reserve the right to edit stories for length, format and content, though we try to avoid this whenever possible.
Style – Look at the general layout of articles on this and other news sites, and try to conform to the existing style. Paragraphs should never be as long as 8-sentences online, as an example. Try to mimic the presentation style of news, tour guide books, etc, to fall best in step with the genre you’re writing for.
Language – Harsh, inappropriate language cannot be used. Even PG-13 language should be avoided, when possible. Since we are first and foremost a family-oriented publication, please keep it clean.
Get Started
Send Your Sample Story – If you’re already ready to go, please send your story for publication. If you have a blog or personal web site with your stories on it, just pick the best one and send it over. The editor will personally review it and get back in touch with you (make sure to include your email address!) If there are pictures with your story, use the email address listed below and include them as attachments. You can use the submission form below, or you can email us at:
Publish Your Way – Once accepted as a writer, you can choose how you’d like to submit your work. You can email stories to the editor, who can put them in the system, if you like, or you can be given a login to the admin system to submit them directly. Submitting them directly will allow you the flexibility to see how they look before they are published, and also get your stories published more quickly. Ultimately, it’s up to you.
No Publishing Limits – If you have a hundred stories you want to submit, you can submit that many. If you want to run a story two or three times a week, as long as they pass editorial muster, we have room for you to do that. If you’ve spent the last three years writing 100 great stories, and want to submit them all today, we can dole them out periodically over the next year, if you like. We have the flexibility to accommodate prolific authors, and will gladly make that concession.
Press Releases
If you are a California organization responsible for publishing Press Releases, and you’re not in a position to rewrite them as news stories, please feel free to add our “editor” email address to your press release list. We will always consider your stories and publish them as time and reader interest allows us to. Our “editor” email address is listed below.
Contact Web Form
Use this form to contact us directly, or you can use the following email address:
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