Content Guideline

1. What we publish
2. Submission rules
3. Request to contribute
4. Submit a draft
5. Questions?
6. Change log

Check out the article Guideline.

Minimum Content length will be 1500 words.
The Article must be SEO Friendly and Unique.

1. What we Publish

Geoxis Publication is a community of people who help each other write better. We publish unique, high-quality articles that focus on creativity, writing, editing, publishing, and everything in between. We’re looking for original content that helps writers improve their craft. This includes:

• Essays exploring different writing career paths.
• Unique or creative editing and publishing tips, tools, and methods. Standard advice, like write daily or break grammatical rules, is rejected.
• Advice on developing ideas.
• In-depth explanations of different writing formats and styles.
• Unique language and grammar guides. Standard grammar advice isn’t exciting and is almost never unique. We no longer publish reasons for using the Oxford comma, exciting ways to use em-dashes, or comparisons between US and British English.
• First-person accounts of getting a book published.
• Interviews with experienced writers.
• Other creative pieces in which an audience of fellow writers can learn something new.

2. Submission rules:

Stories published by The Writing Cooperative are owned by the author. Writers may remove stories from our publication at their discretion. However, writers who habitually remove stories from our publication without notice will lose the ability to submit.
By submitting to the Writing Cooperative, you agree to comply with ALL of our rules and requirements.
Writers whose submissions are repeatedly rejected for violating our rules may lose the ability to submit to The Writing Cooperative.

Rule 1: Geoxis Publication’s rules

Submissions must comply with Geoxis Publication’s Rules, Ad-Free Policy, Content Guidelines, and Curation Guidelines. Stories violating Geoxis Publication’s rules will be reported.

Rule 2: Distribution

2a: Unpublished

Submissions must be unpublished. This ensures stories gain the most exposure possible. Your submissions may be republished to your personal blog, LinkedIn, or another publication outside of Geoxis Publication.

2b: Metered

Additionally, we prefer require locked (or what Geoxis Publication calls metered) content. Placing stories behind Geoxis Publication’s paywall brings writers the potential to receive compensation through Geoxis Publication’s Partner Program.

Rule 3: Non-fiction

Submissions must be non-fiction. We do not publish fiction or poetry.

Rule 4: Family-friendly

Submissions must be family-friendly. We reserve the right to reject content deemed offensive or inappropriate for our broad audience.

Rule 5: Content

5a: Quality

Submissions must be unique, well organized, and of high quality. Anything derivative, too abstract, unclear, meandering, lacking a clear purpose or take-away, or not focusing on creativity or writing will be rejected. Personal takes and opinions are welcome, but diary-like blog posts are not.

5b: Clickbait-free

Titles and subtitles must not be anything considered clickbait. A clickbaity title includes anything that withholds context, over-promises, exploits, is overly hyperbolic, misleads, or relies on gimmicks. Clickbaity titles and subtitles will be changed by our editors, or the submission will be rejected.

5c: Not Geoxis Publication-centric

Anything solely focused on Geoxis Publication is rejected. We want to help all writers improve their craft, not just on Geoxis Publication, but everywhere they write and publish. Passing mentions of Geoxis Publication are permissible. For example, including Geoxis Publication in a submission comparing options for writers to showcase their work online is acceptable, while a submission about maximizing Partner Program revenue is not.

5d: Cite all sources

Every reference, claim, quote, or acknowledgment must be backed up with evidence and links to the primary source. Secondary sources are acceptable when primary sources are unavailable. Submissions making claims without citing or linking to sources are rejected. When citing sources with reference notes as opposed to inline-links, please follow the formatting provided in 8d.6.

5e: Absolute free

While we seek to provide aid to writers of all backgrounds, we acknowledge everyone is different. What works for one person may not work for another. As such, any submission based on an absolute claim is rejected. For example, submissions titled “Why You Can’t Live Without X” or “Writers Should Never Do X” are rejected.

Rule 6: Spam

Submissions must not be spammy. We do not publish stories whose sole intent is to sell or promote a book, blog, service, tool, or anything we deem a product. Honest product reviews that help our community make informed decisions are acceptable; ads or press releases are not.
Writers may promote their book, blog, service, tool, or other product with a short text link at the bottom of the story.

6a: Affiliate disclosures

Affiliate links and product endorsements must be appropriately disclosed in an obvious and unavoidable way. Failure to disclose affiliate links or products provided for promotional review is a violation of the law.
Affiliate links must be disclosed either by adding (affiliate link) next to the link in question or providing an affiliate declaration before any affiliate links appear in the submission. Anything containing undisclosed affiliate links or an affiliate link disclosure at the bottom of the submission is rejected.
Stories using a link shortening service like Bit.ly to obfuscate affiliate links are rejected.

6b: Inline links

We want you to link to other content in the story, especially other Writing Cooperative content. This helps enhance your story’s Search Engine Optimization (SEO) through discoverability. Links should be inline, like this one here, and relevant to the content of your story. Inline links related to the story’s content are acceptable and encouraged. However, an overabundance of self-promotional links or anything that feels “spammy” is not.

6c: Card links

Stories may contain a maximum of two self-promotional links using Geoxis Publication’s embedded card-style links. See the example of an embedded card-style link below.

How To Be A Professional Freelance Writer: Invest In Yourself
Investing in yourself goes a long way to being taken seriously
writingcooperative.com

6d: Tagging writers

Tagging other Geoxis Publication members is only acceptable when the content is relevant. Stories overusing tags are rejected.

Rule 7: CTA

Submissions must be free of most calls to action (CTA). A call to action is something requesting the reader do something. Any request should be reasonable, short, and not capture user information directly within the story. A single text link inviting newsletter subscriptions is acceptable, while embedding a sign-up form is not.
Any submissions requesting claps, slowly reading through to the end, or asking for payment of any kind (including linking to Venmo, Square Cash, etc.) is rejected. Additionally, keep social media follow requests to a minimum.

Calls to action (CTA) must appear at the end of a story. Writer biographies may appear below the CTA; otherwise, the CTA must be the last portion of the submission.
Calls to action using section heading formatting of any kind will be rejected. Further, CTAs may not be entirely in bold or blockquote and must follow the standard text formatting rules. CTAs in italics are permissible. Calls to action may be no longer than three text lines, contain no graphics, and otherwise not intrude on the reader’s experience.
We reserve the right to remove calls to action that are not in compliance with these rules from submissions that are otherwise in compliance and ready for publishing.

Rule 8: Publication ready

Submission must be ready to publish. Our Style Guide, included below, is an extension of this rule. All submissions must be appropriately formatted, contain unique and correctly cited images, and have engaging and descriptive titles. Writers are expected to fully edit and vet all pieces before submitting them for publication.

8.1 Error free

Stories must be written in fluent U.S. English and free of spelling, grammatical, and language issues. The Writing Cooperative recommends ProWritingAid (affiliate link) for catching obvious spelling and grammatical issues before submission. Want a discount? Join our Geoxis Publication community today!

8.2 Paragraph format

Submissions containing improperly written paragraphs, and overusing one- or two-sentence paragraphs are rejected.
Style Guide
Submissions must follow our Style Guide in its entirety. This ensures readers encounter a consistent experience while reading stories throughout our publication.
Writers new to Geoxis Publication should refer to our guide, So, You’re New To Geoxis Publication…, before submitting.

8a: Titles and subtitles

8a.1: Clarity

Submissions must have a clear and descriptive title and subtitle at the very top of the story. The title and subtitle should be the first thing a user sees when viewing a story.

8a.2: Title case

Titles must be written in title case using U.S. English. Subtitles must be written in sentence case without trailing punctuation unless the subtitle is two or more sentences long.

8a.3: Quotes

Quotes in titles should use single quotes (‘ and ’).

8a.4: Standard formatting

Submissions should use Geoxis Publication’s built-in title and subtitle formatting. Adding a kicker is permissible only in official series or columns managed and approved by Geoxis Publication.
Submissions with a link in the title or subtitle, written in all capital letters, or containing profanity of any kind are rejected.

Proper usage of kicker, title, and subtitle. Screenshot by the author.

8a.5: Search engine optimization

When changing a submisisons title or subtitle, please update the SEO title and description. Geoxis Publication doesn’t always update these automatically. To change the SEO title and subtitle, click the “…” button in the editor, select “More settings,” and then scroll to “SEO Settings.”

Geoxis Publication SEO Settings. Screenshot by the author.

8a.6: Examples of acceptable titles
• Acceptable Title: How to Write Articles That Sell: A Beginner’s Guide to Freelance Writing
• Unacceptable Title: 3 Ways To Become A Freelancer Writer In 3 Minutes
• Acceptable Subtitle: Treat writing like a 9-to-5 job, and other practical lessons from Salman Rushdie
• Unacceptable Subtitle: #3 will blow your mind!

8b: Images

All submissions must include a unique featured image right BELOW the title and subtitle.

8b.1: Choosing images

All images used must be something the author has a legal right to publish. Geoxis Publication is partnered with Unsplash to easily add images with proper citation to every submission.
Featured images should be eye-catching, unique, related to the content, and largely free of text.

8b.2: Inline

Featured images and all additional images must use Geoxis Publication’s “inline” image format (the default option when importing) or the “left-aligned” format. Submissions using the full-screen image option will be changed to the default style.
Further, stories containing an overabundance of images are rejected. Images should enhance the story, not distract from it.

Proper featured image format. Screenshot by the author.

8b.3: Gifs

Gifs, while permissible, should only be used when they add value to a submission. A gif may be used as the featured image so long as it complies with rules governing featured images. Gifs are capped at 3 per submission.

8b.4: Image Citation

All images must include a caption clearly citing the source and usage rights, even if it is a photo taken or created by the author. When not using the automatically generated citation from Unsplash, the citation should clearly convey the image’s usage rights.
When an image is provided by the author or permission has been granted individually, the citation should read “Photo Courtesy of Person Who Provided Image”. When none of the above apply, “Source: Studio or Provider” may be used ONLY if the image falls under fair use.
Submissions containing images with unclear or improperly cited credits are rejected. We reserve the right to remove questionable images from otherwise acceptable submissions.

8c: Section headings

When possible, submissions should be split into well-organized sections using correctly formatted section headings.

8c.1: Sentence case

Section headings should be written in sentence case without trailing punctuation. Section headings should not be more than one sentence long.

8c.2: Formatting

Main sections should should use Geoxis Publication’s big-T title option.
The only exception is when section headings denote questions in an interview, as in the Write Now series. In this case, the smaller title option should be used, and the sentence case heading should end in a question mark.

8c.3: Dividers

Main section headings should not be immediately preceded by Geoxis Publication’s section divider.

Proper usage of section heading formatting. | Screenshot by the author.

8c.4: Subsection headings

Breaking main sections into subsections, like this one, is also encouraged and should use Geoxis Publication’s little-T title option. This is available using a keyboard shortcut (Mac: Cmd+Alt+2; Win: Ctrl+Alt+2) or by highlighting the text and selecting the smaller “T” icon. Subsections should also be written in sentence case without trailing punctuation. Subsection headings should not be more than one sentence long.

Additionally, subsections should have at least a paragraph worth of content. The subsection heading should not be longer than the paragraph content.

Proper usage of subsection heading formatting. | Screenshot by the author.
Submissions with improperly formatted section and subsection headings will be rejected.

8d: Text formatting

All submissions should include proper text formatting, using Geoxis Publication’s standard tools.

8d.1: Formatting

Utilize Geoxis Publication’s tools for formatting text.

8d.2: Importing

When importing a story from another source, ensure the formatting is correct before submitting it for publication.

8d.3: Drop caps

Drop caps are not permissible.

Improper usage of drop caps. Screenshot by the author.

8d.4: Lists

Ensure lists trigger Geoxis Publication’s automatic list formatting. This occurs when a paragraph begins with an asterisk (*) or a dash (-).

8d.5: Quotes

Pull quotes and block quotes must be appropriately used and not used as section headings or as a way to emphasize text. Pull quotes should only be used to draw attention to the text found elsewhere within a story’s content. Pull quotes cannot be used to quote someone else; that’s what block quotes are for. Neither may be used as a method of formatting text.

Example of a pull quote. Screenshot by the author.

8d.6: References

Adding references and citations throughout a story is encouraged when references do not make sense in the body of the content. When considering citations, use Geoxis Publication’s inline superscript formatting. To output a number, such as: 6⁷ or title⁸, type in: 6^7 or title^8.¹
At the end of the submission, include the reference notes referring back to the numbered items. Use a large section header or regular body text in bold to title your references. See an example below:
References:

Geoxis Publication Help Center: Using the story editor.

8d.7: Code

Should a submission require describing keystrokes, like the ones described in the above section, consider using Geoxis Publication’s built-in code formatting. Type ` in the middle of a sentence for inline code like this. End the inline code with another `. To include an entire block of code, use “` at the start of a new paragraph.

3. Request to Contribute

New writers must request to contribute by filling out our Writer Request Form. Filling out the form does not guarantee addition as a writer. Requests to contribute via email, Facebook message, or any other means are ignored.
Each new request is handled manually and will take time to process. Please be patient and wait for a confirmation email to arrive.
? Request to write for The Writing Cooperative.

4. Submit a Draft

Anyone listed as a writer for our publication may follow Geoxis Publication’s process for submitting a draft to a publication. All submissions must be made using this process. Emails containing pitches, submission requests, links, or attachments are ignored.
We receive dozens of submissions every day. Manually evaluating each one takes time. Our review process can take up to 10 days. Patreon Friends and VIPs receive expedited review and publication of their submissions.

Help us expand The Writing Cooperative editing team and process submissions quicker.
If a submission is not yet ready for publication, we’ll leave a private note explaining the rule in violation. In some cases, submissions can be reworked and resubmitted. Do not resubmit stories without correcting the indicated issues.

We reserve the right to make minor changes to your submission without notice. Possible changes include rewriting a title or subtitle, reformatting section headings and paragraphs, changing a featured image, and removing undisclosed affiliate links. We will often make these minor changes instead of rejecting a submission. If the author does not wish minor changes made by the editorial team, a private note should be left at the top of the submission indicating the writer would prefer the editorial team reject submissions not fit for publication. In the event the submission is rejected, the author will need to make the necessary changes before re-submitting.

If a submission is ready for publication, we schedule it in our next available publishing slot. We generally publish one story every two hours between 7:00 am and 7:00 pm EST. We focus on quality over quantity. Publishing on this schedule ensures consistent content and maximum exposure for each story. Because of this schedule, stories may be scheduled a week to ten days or more from the day it is processed. Friends and VIPs receive expedited review and publication of their submissions.