First things first.
THANK YOU for all the great submissions and participating in 29 Guests! It was great to have the month off, but also, it was great to see so many voices from so many places all here on my little blog. Wow. That was an awesome potluck. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did and didn’t leave hungry. Oh, and hey, is that your casserole dish? We’re keeping the beer and wine, but you should really take that nice bowl home with you or you’ll never see it again.
As for what I did last month, I worked. A lot. As in butt in the chair day job stuff. I have been really grateful for the work and grateful for the generosity of my guests in keeping this little blog lively while I was away.
Now, on to business…
I sent you something. Where’s my post?
It’s one of two places: Lost in my inbox (I got one that I deleted because I thought it was a PR pitch!) or sitting in the queue. I was just short of swamped with submissions and I made the mistake of saying I’d hold slots for a few folks. In short, I got more submissions than I could run in a month and I had to leave some out. I’m sorry I couldn’t run them all.
Are you going to do it again?
Yes! I’ll do a guest post month again, but I’m also going to hold the 29th of each month for a guest post. If you sent me something and it didn’t run, look for it on upcoming 29ths. And if you’d like to be a 29 Guest, read on.
What are you looking for?
Travel stories. Sure, there are loads of how to articles. There are lists of things that might be important if you’re going to a specific destination tomorrow or planning a trip. There are trip reports by the mile — went here, did that — but that don’t present much beyond an itinerary. I am interested in stories. You know, with characters and places where things happen or are at least evocative of place. 1200 words, maximum, and I will run word count. Don’t submit if it’s too long. I won’t run it.
How do I submit?
Email me your story as text only. You can include one photo, but do not send it as an attachment. Send me the URL for the image and I’ll link to it in your post, I will not host your image. Include how you’d like to be credited — Pam Mandel blogs at Nerd’s Eye View — for example. HTML is a-okay!
What about other media?
Sure! A slide show or video is fine, even a single stellar image. Why not? Same guidelines, just send me the embedding code. Your submission must be under 500px wide if it’s video or a picture. Please note: You need to send links, not media. I won’t host your video/image/some third thing.
What kind of stuff is in the reject pile?
Not much, really. Things to keep in mind? Word count. The instructions listed above. The fact that I want a story, a narrative. It doesn’t have to be linear, I’m good with the written equivalent of a snapshot, but I’m looking to be transported to the place you are writing about, this is travel, after all.
Any questions or feedback on 29 Guests?
In the comments, please. And again, thanks.
Thank you for 29 Guests. It has inspired me to start my own blog (in
Spanish). Some of the stories took me to places I never thought that I could visit. It was a wonderful trip.
I enjoyed reading the guest posts in April, Pam! It was a quick month though!
it takes time to build subscription based businesses. You may not think of blogging for profit as a subscription based business, but in a sense it is
Thanks for the opportunity not only to be a guest, but to read all of the stories the others shared. That was one good potluck. (And not one bowl of red jello to be seen.)