I love receiving guest posts for I’d Rather Be Writing.  Just make sure it focuses on something related to technical communication, information architecture, usability, content strategy, visual design, or a related topic. In your guest post, please include a couple of lines about yourself, a photo, and a link back to your site or other online profile.

Why would I want to write a guest post?

Many times people have a desire to write a post, but either they don’t have a blog, or their blog doesn’t have as many readers as they like. When you publish on I’d Rather Be Writing, you put your content before more than 3,000 technical communicators. This can increase traffic to your own blog, if that’s your goal. It can also give you a larger audience for your thoughts.

Guests posts end up benefiting us both. Your benefit is greater visibility (for example, more comments, traffic, and SEO for your site). For my part, I get more traffic to my site through your post,  and I often expand my audience by connecting with your followers.

What guidelines should I follow?

Try to keep your post to about 800 words. It can be longer, but I’ve noticed that responses tend to thin out after that point. If it’s really good, you can double that length. But anytime you go beyond 2,000 words, you lose a lot of readers.

Try to structure your post with subheadings every several paragraphs. Images are always welcome, but even if you just include an image of yourself, that’s enough.

Do you have any sample guest posts?

Sure, here’s one written by Marcia Johnston. Here’s another by Keith Hood. You can see other guest posts here.

Are there any guests posts you won’t accept?

Yes, if your post is an obvious marketing ploy for a company, or if you ask me to link to an “online university,” or if your post lacks substance, I won’t publish it.

Should I contact you first?

Yes, before writing a guest post, check with me briefly about the topic and let me know your plans. You can contact me at tom@idratherbewriting.com.