Spread the love

Here’s The Buzz on our Writing Guidelines

 

The editors at HoneyColony are always looking for reliable and talented journalists with an interest in writing cutting-edge health articles and blogs. We prize actual journalists who care about accuracy and sourcing. Review our website, see what we do, and how we do it. Then contact Laurie@honeycolony.com/ chelsea@honeycolony.com, or maryam@honeycolony.com with writing samples and/or pitches.

We have assignments but are also open to your original ideas and pieces. 

We often pay per piece; our invoice instructions are given to writers after publication.

These are the sorts of articles we are looking for:

  • Investigative stories that feature original sources and a lot of well-researched, useful information. See Gut Check: H.Pylori, Stomach Havoc, And How To Fight Back.
  • Listicles such as 10 Reasons You Need To Incorporate Moringa Into Your Morning.
  • Curated/Breaking News stories that writers pull from other websites then add new, original, and interesting content/commentary, infographics, videos, etc. Curated pieces don’t require primary sources only since they’re pulled from preexisting articles. You may link to facts and commentary on other reputable sites with proper attribution. Read our Zika story. And here’s an excellent article about curated stories. Please note that although curated, HoneyColony isn’t about repeating the obvious. Our stories need some kind of interesting hook. Either something in the news, or a new discovery, or an insightful observation from a credible source or sources.
  • Buzzworthy Blogs that feature your personal tales of transformation, interesting life experiences, and op-eds on an array of topics — local and national legislation, headline news, social activism, and trends related to food, diet, water, air, mental health, wellness, disease, travel, and our changing world. We want provocative, irreverent voices. Feel free to contribute a relevant story, essay, or article to inspire us. Or make us think twice. We’d love to hear what’s on your mind. Authors, artists, and documentarians with relevant content are invited to submit as well.

*Stories are approximately 1000 to 1800 words

Writing Guidelines || Writing Style:

All articles on HoneyColony must adhere (mostly) to The Associated Press Stylebook. A quality and succinct reference can be found here. One glaring exception: At HoneyColony, we use italics for titles of books, poems, plays, films, speeches, songs, works of art, subjects or lectures, magazine articles, newspapers, and magazines. Also, we use the oxford comma, unlike AP Style. The best way to get a feel for HoneyColony copy is to read our previously published articles.

Format

  • Submission Format: Send approved assignments or Buzzworthy Blogs to Chelsea@honeycolony.com / Laurie@honeycolony.com via Google Doc with full editing access. 
  • Font: 12pt.
  • Spacing: Double.
  • Paragraphs: Flush left.
  • Write the title of your article in the subject line or file name, as well as on the document.
  • Write your name or pseudonym below the title. 
  • Write the keywords you are given under your name.
  • Write an excerpt for the piece under the keywords.
  • Hyperlink all facts to hard sources, such as studies or articles from experts in the field. When hyperlinking sources or other articles, hyperlink words that tell the reader what they’ll find when they click the link

Example:

No: In a recent study, 93 percent of Americans tested had toxic estrogen-mimicking BPA (bisphenol A, which is commonly found in plastics) in their urine and bloodstream.

Yes: In a recent study, 93 percent of Americans tested had toxic estrogen-mimicking BPA (bisphenol A, which is commonly found in plastics) in their urine and bloodstream. 

Numbers

  • Use figures for all numbers above nine; spell out all numbers under 10.
  • Use figures for ages, sums of money, time of day, percentages, house numerals, years, days of the month, degrees of temperature, proportions, votes, scores, speeds, time of races, dimensions, and serial numbers.
  • Spell out numbers, no matter how large, when they begin sentences except when a sentence starts with a year.
  • Always write out the word “percent” instead of using %.
  • Always use the $ symbol instead of writing out the word “dollar.”
  • Use 21 million instead of 21,000,000. Also, $39 million, $22.5 billion, etc.
  • Fractions standing alone are spelled out. Ex. One-fourth of the students.

Punctuation

  • Put the period inside brackets or parentheses when a complete sentence is enclosed in the brackets or parentheses.
  • When the parenthetical expression forms only a part of the sentence, put the period outside the bracket or parenthesis. Ex. The day was too cold for football (or skiing).
  • Use curly quotation symbols, not the straight ones that look like this: ” 
  • Always put the period and comma inside quotation marks. Put other punctuation marks inside when they are part of the quoted material.
  • Use figures and spell out inches, feet, yards, etc. However, use apostrophes (5’6”) to indicate inches and feet in technical contexts.
  • Use only one space between sentences.
  • U.S. and U.N. (use periods) in the piece. You can write US and UN in story titles and headlines.
  • e.g., it needs a comma after it.
  • Ellipses and dashes have a space before and after (e.g., Today is our meeting … I hope I can make it — I’ve been really tired lately). At the end of a sentence: It’s just that …
  • Don’t assume the reader will know what acronyms stand for. Write the full words and then add the acronym in parentheses and thereafter without parentheses. E.g., Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Capitalization

  • Capitalize titles preceding and attached to a name, but use lowercase if the title follows a name or stands by itself. Long titles should follow the name.
  • Capitalize every word in your headline (e.g., Should You Invest In A Skin Care Device?). 
  • Capitalize specific regions, but not the points of the compass.
  • Capitalize common nouns and their distinguishing modifiers in names of associations, societies, companies, streets, etc.

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) & Readability:

If we provide you with a keyword phrase/keywords for your article, please:

  • Include it in the title
  • Include it in the first paragraph of the article
  • Include it in at least one subheading
  • Include it in the text as often as possible in an organic way (including in the last paragraph)
  • Please try to use the present tense when possible.
  • Avoid sentences that are longer than 20 words.
  • Break up articles with subheaders. Each section should be no longer than 300 words. If a section is solution-based and has multiple options, add a subheading for the solutions. See here

Sourcing Sourcing Sourcing

We like sources. This is an important part of reporting. Include sources in your copy, but please keep them limited. You should always identify the source of the information you are reporting. Furthermore, if you can find the source online, include it as a hyperlink in your text. For example:

“The drought seizing the United States from coast to coast has not been this bad in a generation, according to new data unveiled today by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.”  

When approaching a source, if you need to describe HoneyColony, please use the following blurb:

HoneyColony is a magazine and marketplace aimed at empowering you to be your own best health advocate. The site was co-founded by Maryam Henein, an activist, investigative journalist, and the director of the award-winning documentary Vanishing of the Bees, narrated by Ellen Page.

HoneyColony is dedicated to putting honesty back into mainstream health and our food supply! This 75-second animation explains our concept:

Expert Quotes

All articles require 1 – 3 expert quotes. Depending on your article’s topic, you’ll need a quote from a health expert with certain credentials such as Naturopath, Neurologist, Nutritionist, Scientist, etc.

A fast, free, and easy way to get expert quotes for your article is to post a query on HARO (Help a Reporter Out). Instructions are below:

  1. Go to Help A Reporter to submit a free query.
  2. Fill out the required fields, including putting HoneyColony.com as the media outlet and HoneyColony as the company (we don’t need to be kept anonymous). For the e-mail address, put your personal email address.
  3. The “Query” section starts by saying, “HoneyColony reaches 5 million readers per month, and any experts quoted in articles will get a do-follow link to their website in the article.” Then, ask the expert a specific question or set of questions that pertain to your article. Perhaps you want to back up a claim you made in your article with an expert’s input, or you need an expert to clarify something specific.
  4. The “Requirements” section details the type of expert you need and the credentials they should have. Remind them that they must answer your query with quotable content and remind them to provide their full name, credentials, their profession/company, and a link to their website.

Note: When quoting an expert, please use the present tense. “Dr. Jones says” instead of, “Dr. Jones said.”

***All material becomes the copyrighted property of HoneyColony.


Spread the love
Shopping Cart