The GFP Blogger's Bible
This list of guidelines and requirements is a work-in-progress. If you need to contact us, please send us an e-mail at ja@goodforparty.com. But until then, there are a few things you should know before you start blogging for GFP:
Using Squarespace
The Squarespace User's Manual
Login: Modifying Your Password & Profile
Creating New Posts
Uploading images & media files
What is the GFP Publishers' Blog?
The Good for Party Publishers' Blog is an extension of GoodforParty.com. Its purpose is to act as our soapbox to the world to shine a light on all things Good for Party (and things Not Good for Party) on a daily basis. The GFP Publishers' Blog also serves as a perpetual brain-storming session of ideas for new articles in the magazine. One great blog entry could become the basis for the next great feature article in the print magazine, written by you!
The GFP Philosophy
This is the fundamental question we pose to all aspects of life: Do the things in your life increase your enjoyment of it, or do they decrease it? Do they enhance your happiness, fun, sense of fulfillment, your feeling of being free? Or the opposite? We encourage our readers to ask this question about everything: their job, their relationships, their politics, even their entertainment choices...everything.
What are the Benefits of Blogging for Good for Party magazine?
Free Advertising
If your are an entrepreneur or working professional freelancer, a blogger or a student, the GFP Blog is viewed by thousands of people a month and its subscribers are growing everyday. Blogging for GFP gives you the opportunity to exponentially increase your current brand reach in a matter of days. Like we said, free advertising!
Tap into the global GFP Network
As our network grows, the GFP Blog Team will be one of the key factors in attracting new visitors to the site. With each blogger added to our network, our collective influence spreads. We have GFP bloggers all over the world, and each one is a new direct contact for you. We're just like one big happy family, so don't be afraid to contact your fellow bloggers. That's why we're all here!
Become an Editor
Good for Party has 4 tiers of writers who work on our online and print publications. Although the first tier of contributors is are not paid, the upper tier contributors will be presented with excellent money-making opportunities as writers for Good for Party magazine. The tiers are:
- Tier 1 - Blogger
- Tier 2 - Writer (freelance)
- Tier 3 - Columnist (regular contributor)
- Tier 4 - Editor (staff)
We will provide more information on our Contributor Tiers shortly. In the meantime, blog like you mean it!
Writing Guidelines
Editorial Voice
Good for Party is: Assertive. Definitive. Edgy. Conversational. Humorous. Practical. Contentious. Informative. Down-to-Earth. Concise. We court controversy, as both an editorial principle and a strategy for success. In our blog, you will find frank, irreverent, politically incorrect discussions of hot-button cultural issues: relationships, politics, spirituality, sex, popular entertainment, to name a few. Good for Party tells it like it is. We are sure to offend a few, but we will entice many more. In short, as a GFP blogger, we want you to push the boundaries. And be hilarious while doing it.
Report & Investigate
As a GFP blogger, we ask that you refrain for delving too much into personal musings. Of course, your posts are about you and what you consider newsworthy, but the GFP blog is not a place for self-involved ramblings. GFP is here to serve our readership, so we must investigate and report on what is relevant to them AND to ourselves.
Frequency
We ask that all of our bloggers post 3-5 times a week. You can post more than 5 if you like, but please do not post less than 3. Think about it this way: the more you post, the most real estate you have on our home page.
Assigning Categories
Ideally, all posts will fall under one of 3 categories: Work, Revelry and Leisure. However, we have more. When assigning multiple categories, please include Work, Revelry or Leisure as one, but not more than one, of those categories.
Titling Posts
There are a few things to remember when giving your blog post a title. Please be mindful of the "clickability" of you post titles. If you refer to our home page, only the titles of your posts are visible as links, so the title of your post must make someone want to click on it. Be descriptive, be brief, be compelling, and be creative!
Profanity/Nudity
The Good for Party Publishers' blog shall eschew nudity, except where editorially appropriate. Also, Good for Party is a self-censoring entity. When using curse words, please replace the vowel of the word in question with an asterisk. For example: sh*t, f*ck, *sshole, bullsh*t, motherf*cker, etc. And use profanity sparingly, overuse robs them of their power.
Comments
GFP bloggers should encourage friends to comment on their posts. Send a e-mail to your friends list when you post a particularly good piece. Also, GFP bloggers should read and post comments to other GFP bloggers' posts. It is our intention to foster dialogue between each other in order to improve the quality of our content.
Linking
As far as we're concerned, the more links our bloggers have on their pages, the better. Fell free to be liberal with your links.
Sources & Citations
Although we are not an educational institution, citing the sources of your posts is always a good idea and increases credibility. It makes you the writer diligent and trustworthy. When using an image, please include a credit and a link to the page where you got it from.
Social Networking
GFP is a member of MySpace, imeem and flickr. If you are looking for an image or a media file for your post, try starting at one of these sites. If you're a member of a social networking site, use your friends' media to illustrate your posts. Then, make sure you tell them about it. They, in turn, will tell their friends about it. That is the very thing these networking sites were built for!
Promote Thyself
This is the cornerstone of the GFP Publishers' Blog. Please, by all means, tell everyone you know about your GFP blog posts. Also, don't be shy about promoting your latest projects through our blog. Our readers want to know about you and what you're working on: besides, if you don't say you're the best, tell me who the heck will?
Application Requirements
Brief Profile
This is for the public. A brief, lively description of yourself will not only look good on our Blog page but will also give our readers a bit of insight into who's posts they're reading and why.
Resume & Samples
You must provide us with samples of your writing and a resume to considered. This is for private use. Good for Party will keep a copy of your resume on file for administrative purposes.
Newsletter & Blog subscription
GFP produces a weekly newsletter featuring events, music, links and the latest GFP news. In the next few weeks, we will be expanding the coverage of our newsletter to include local retailer info, free downloads, a "move-shooter of the week" section, and a Latest Blog Entries section. So subscribe to the Publishers' Blog and our newsletter and encourage your friends to subscribe to stay in the loop on GFP happenings. You want to see the fruits of your labor, right?
May you blog in peace, forever and ever.