Biochar Today Post Requirements

These guidelines are for writers wishing to write and submit short articles to Biochar today for publication. We receive many posts in many different formats and styles, and while we do try to retain the author’s voice, we have some fundamental points that we would urge writers to consider. Below you’ll find a series of tips and suggestions to help writers communicate in a manner most effective for themselves and our audience.

Basics

Length: Between 700 and 1,000 words. Longer is okay if it justifies the space, but we will probably split it into two (or more) parts.

Audience: Biochar Today has an international audience consisting of researchers, businesses, and enthusiasts. In order to maximize reach and impact, submissions should be written for a general audience, keeping jargon to a minimum. Where it is important to introduce jargon and/or complex concepts, please explain and provide definitions.

Style: Thought leadership-style, not marketing or product-focused. Business tone but relaxed (not too chatty); we want to engage our audience with everyday language they can relate to but in a professional and authoritative manner. For guidance on clear writing, we highly recommend The Elements of Style by Strunk and White. (This blog post includes a good high level summary of key considerations)

Format: Submissions should include the following elements:

• Draft in MS Word or Google Docs format (including recommended title)
• Related charts or images. All photos/media and intellectual property cited from external sources must be licensed or have written permission for use.
• Author name, title, company name, and short bio (100 words max) in addition to links to any relevant websites or social media profiles

Remember that Biochar Today is a resource for many researchers, companies and individuals. Keep keep marketing lingo to a minimum and stick to the grit of the issues so content is of benefit for the entire community.

Submission Terms

• Posts must be created and submitted as original content that must remain exclusive to Biochar Today.
• Once submitted, content may not be repurposed in any way or posted elsewhere online. You are, of course, welcome to link to the post and excerpt a sentence or two when sharing on social media.
• Contributors must submit all sources used and/or referenced in the post submission. This includes internal and external reports, press releases, news articles, etc.
• Posts are typically published within 2-3 weeks of submission. We may do some light editing prior to publication. If significant changes are required, authors will be notified and asked to revise and resubmit.
• Biochar Today reserves the right to reject any submission that it does not feel is a good fit for our audience.

Best practices

Regardless of post type, all commentary should be applicable to the sector (so tailor your writing to accomplish this). Like all good articles, posts should always inform the reader:

• Who or What – it is about
• Where – consider the audience, time zones, locations and differing cultures (be specific: ‘on the continent’ ‘abroad’ might not be meaningful to all our readers)
• When – past, present or future; all are relevant, whether it’s something the industry needs to be on the lookout for, or lessons to learn from the past, or current situations; but remember to give dates/time frames seasons are not compatible around the globe and Biochar Today writes for an international audience
• Why – (most importantly) why they are reading it, what makes it relevant to them and the wider audience, preferably always relate to the bigger picture
• All content ideally should be interesting for, and relevant to, a wide audience ranging from researchers to DIY enthusiasts – however, our readership is relatively ‘top heavy’ so most posts aim at a quite experienced audience. Content should be useful – advisory, informative, challenging, debate provoking – tips, concerns, forecasts, advice, guidance, calls to action are all good tools to engage a diverse audience
• As word count is limited, focus fairly narrowly and get into some detail rather than try to cover a huge topic thinly.

A few considerations for a more widely read post:

• Consider engaging our audience with a bit of quirkiness, provocation or humor, within reason. A more light hearted approach, while retaining expertise and authority, will contribute to obtaining a higher readership level
• Make it challenging for a well-informed audience; don’t be afraid to be controversial (but not libelous please). Biochar Today welcomes inspired debate
• Numbers create interest. ‘4 steps to …,’ ‘10 reasons why …’ etc.
• Remember SEO when writing headlines/titles: Include keywords there and in the lead.

How to submit

Please submit posts to Biochar Today via email to hello@biochartoday.com.