Interested in submitting an article for our blog page? Then have a look at our submission and blogging guidelines below.
Creating a great blog post will enjoy an extended online life and will appeal to an endless stream of readers from all over the world. It will generate ongoing readership if it contains information that our audience will search for, such as sound advice and useful information about travelling through Africa.
Our blogs are marketed via our social media platforms, so always ask yourself if you would Like, Tweet or Share your blog with your friends and family.
Standard format
• Word count: on average between 250 to 500 words (800 maximum).
• Animal names written in lowercase except when the name includes a place, country or person’s name. For example: buffalo, elephant and wild dog are all lowercase, but Knysna woodpecker, Cape buffalo, and African wild dog begin with a capital.
• Numbers one to nine written out, 10 and higher expressed in digits.
A great picture is worth a thousand words and online media is a very visual medium, so include jaw-dropping, shareable photos and video clip links with your submission. If you have a really unique photo or video clip to compliment the story your blog post will most likely be shared more often.
Photos
Photos that accompany your article should be of the highest quality. Photos that are low resolution or out of focus will not meet our quality standards, and cannot be used.
- Recommended photo size: less than 1Mb
- Recommended dimensions: 675 x 450
Photos can be sent as email attachments
Videos
Video clips can be submitted as well to accompany blog posts. However, videos that are shaky, blurred or in poor light will not meet our quality standards, and cannot be used.
Keep in mind that very long videos will most likely lose the audience’s interest, so keep it short and sweet.
- Recommended resolution: 720p or higher
- Recommended length: 30 seconds to two minutes maximum
Video clip links to your YouTube page or a similar platform can be included in your submission email or attached Word doc.
A few blog post styles that do well
• Numbered, or listed posts: “Best of…”, “Top 10 reasons to go…”, “Unusual facts about…”.
• Useful, resourceful posts. For example, “What to pack…” and “How to get to…” if writing a travel/factual blog post.
• Opinion Editorial posts: If you have an opinion relating to African wildlife, conservation, and other-related topics then don’t be afraid to express how you feel.
• Decoding Science posts: Perfect for those who want to write about the science and research behind conservation and wildlife in Africa.
• Tell a story. Our audience loves a good story, and we know that Africa is not short of inspirational and entertaining stories.
• Chatty, conversational-style of writing. Blog posts tend to be a lot less formal than print.
• Urgent, current and latest news pieces do well as they are topical.
Citing sources and copyright
If you refer to someone else’s work please cite their name and provide a link to the original source. This relates to ‘copyright’ and ‘fair use’ laws. For all photos and video clips, please provide us with the necessary copyright information.
If you wish to use photos and video clips owned by a third party, please be sure to ask their permission before sending it to us.
Content review
We take pride in our publishing standards and so all content submissions are subject to quality review and possible edit. Content not meeting our requirements will not be published. We also reserve the right to publish content in the standard format that applies to all our blog posts.
We request that content is uniquely put together for Africa Geographic and is unpublished elsewhere.
Lastly, have a look at our blog posts for inspiration and guidance.
Please submit all blog posts as Word documents and attached images to editors@africageographic.com.
