Submission Process
Here is how the submission process currently works.
#1. Apply To Contribute — We want to hear YOUR Story!
We’ll talk briefly about what to submit in this post, but once you’ve been accepted, go here for a deeper dive into the stories we’re looking to feature on our publication, including specific examples and resources to help get you started.
#2. Create Meaningful Content
Words like meaningful, authentic, real, and compelling have almost no meaning anymore thanks to marketing and PR professionals. They have gotten so watered down that hearing them generates an instant eye roll from the masses.
But we want meaningful content. It doesn’t have to be big or flashy. A hike in your local state park can be just as interesting and important (or perhaps even more so) than an epic trip to Patagonia.
We want visuals and words that stir the human spirit. Stories that mean something to those who appreciate what wild places and experiences in nature can do for the soul of a person.
If you have a story that speaks to that, you’re well on your way and you’re exactly who we’re looking for.
#3. Submit Your Draft
After you’ve been accepted as a writer, submit your draft for review.
The process is very simple. Before you click publish, click the … button to the right and select Add to Publication.
You will see a list of available publications that you are a writer or owner of. Select us (Wilderness Wire) from the list.
Then click Add Draft. That’s all you have to do. We’ll be notified of your submission and in most cases, we will review it within 24 hours.
If you don’t see your content on our page or haven’t heard from us within that time span, assume your submission hasn’t been selected.
Please note: rejected submissions are not a comment on the quality of your work. In most cases it will simply mean your story didn’t mesh with our current vision, and that’s totally fine. Keep submitting!
If you’d like to contact us about a submission, please reach out to wildernesswirepub@gmail.com or DM us on Twitter or Instagram and we will do our best to answer your questions.
#4. Content Published! Be Proud, Tell Your Friends
Once your content has been accepted, we will hit that publish button and feature it on our publication. Be proud and celebrate a little! Tell your friends and loved ones, Tweet it from the mountaintops! Share it all over social media.
#5. Some Notes About How Our Editors Handle Content
It is important to note that we will never claim ownership of your work. It is yours and yours alone. Our editors do reserve the right to correct spelling and grammar mistakes as they see fit.
They may also make small changes to tags to optimize exposure, the subtitle, and the header image. Please use Unsplash for free, high quality images and remember to give the proper credit to the photographer. They make it super simple (see feature image for this post as an example).
EDIT: 8.15.2018 — The following is no longer entirely accurate… “But they will never dramatically alter the content of your piece. If massive changes were necessary to publish, they would simply reject the submission.”
This is not meant to be a content farm, churning out any and all content that fits into our niche and might help drive readership and traffic through the sheer volume of topics and pieces. I don’t want that. I want and demand quality.
After some thinking, it might be more accurate to say that we would prefer, when necessary, to work with you on pieces that have tremendous potential but are just rough around the edges and in need of refinement. This might include a lengthy editing process and suggestions for substantial changes that might dramatically alter your content…for the better.
We encourage you to submit pitches and drafts to us via email (WildernessWirePub@gmail.com) so that we can work closely together on developing quality content. This is a publication with editors for a reason.
All writers need editors. We reject this new idea that editors have no responsibility to get involved with the content their writers produce and publish on their platform.
You would of course still retain all rights and credits associated with your story or content.
We do ask that once you have submitted your content to us and it gets published, that you don’t remove/delete it or submit the same piece to a different publication.
Please feel free to submit to as many different publications as you can, just make sure each submission is unique. Per Medium guidelines, posts can only “live” on one publication.
And that’s it folks. For now anyway. Thanks for reading and we look forward to your submissions!
