Our publication process
- Submission: We welcome unsolicited contributions by our members to our publications. We also welcome guest writers whose content is relevant for PEG’s membership. Please submit your contribution to the relevant PEG member with a short author bio (see the guidelines below). For PEGboard contributions, send your contribution to janicehunt@xsinet.co.za. For PEGblogs, send your contribution to annedenniston2022@outlook.com or alexisgrewan@gmail.com.
- Editing: The PEGcomms subcommittee will arrange for your contribution to be edited, including applying PEG’s house style. We may ask you to clarify, review or amend parts of your contribution. We will add appropriate images if you haven’t supplied these, along with keywords, a short summary and other metadata for SEO.
- Translation: We will arrange for the blog post to be translated and copyedited or proofread into one of the other South African official languages, if possible.
- Approval: We will return the final copy of the contribution to you for your approval.
- Preparation: We will format the text for our platform, using our standard structure and layout.
- Publication: If you are a guest writer, we will let you know when your article has been published and in which publication (PEGboard or PEGblog). If you are a PEG member, you will be notified on the relevant platform in member communications (see next point).
- Promotion: We’ll publicise your contribution on the PEG Official egroup, LinkedIn and Facebook. You are welcome to promote your contribution through your own social media too.
Contributor guidelines
- Your contribution must relate to the editing, proofreading and revising of the written language or relate to language in general (reviews of books, courses, webinars, etc).
- It should be original and written specifically for our audience.
- It must provide interesting up-to-date information, actionable advice and/or add value to our audience.
- It must be well written, logical and easy to read.
- Write in your own voice, but ensure the content reflects PEG’s values:
o Simple and to the point.
o Motivational and persuasive.
o Show your expertise without being overly authoritative. - Use links to point readers to other PEGblog posts or PEGboard articles, the PEG website and other sources of additional information relevant to your content.
- External links must not be self-promotional or include affiliate links. Self-promotional links may appear in your author bio.
- Data, quotations, images and third-party content must be properly attributed. Any images in breach of copyright will not be accepted.
- If your contribution is for PEGblog specifically, please consider these pointers for search engine optimization (SEO) and readability (keeping readers on the web page):
o Apply Word styles: default heading levels 2 and 3, paragraph/normal.
o Avoid multi-level numbered lists.
o Don’t worry about typeface as this is automated.
o Watch sentence length (SEO likes 20 words or less, and only 25% of sentences to be longer than 20 words).
o Check paragraph length (SEO likes 150 words per paragraph).
o Include sub-headings.
o Change consecutive sentences starting with the same word.
o Keep passive voice to a minimum.
By submitting your contribution to us, you agree to the following:
- You are the writer of the content. It is not written by a ghost writer or published under someone else’s name.
- When submitting your article, you agree to the following:
o Our making changes to your contribution to bring it in line with our publishing style and to optimise it for SEO (search engine optimisation). We may ask you to make the changes, if necessary. We will send you a copy of the final contribution for your approval before it is published.
o Sharing your contribution or links to it on PEG’s social media platforms. We encourage all our contributors and readers to share PEG contributions on their own social media networks and personal websites.
Guidelines for an author bio
Your author bio should meet these criteria:
- It may be up to 150 words long.
- Keep it clear and precise.
- Write it in the third person (he, she, they).
- Focus on what you do and how you help the audience.
- Only share details about yourself that relate to the audience’s problem.
- Include a link to your website or your email address.
- Include a high-resolution headshot.
Length of contributions
PEGboard contributions should not exceed 1000 words.
PEGblog contributions should not exceed 700 words (but should be longer than 500 words).
Style guide
While we do not want to encroach on the author’s voice and style of writing, we do recommend that authors adhere to the PEG style guide as far as possible.
Author rights
PEG will retain the rights to articles which have been written specifically for PEG publications for a period of six months from the date they are published. Thereafter, the authors of the articles will be free to re-publish these articles in their own capacity, provided that it is cited that the article was originally published on the relevant PEG platform with the date of the original publication.
How to write a PEGblog
Click here to view our post: How to write a PEGblog in 5 simple steps.