Let’s Get Personal: Submitting to Blogs & Blog Submission Requirements

As a blogger and a wedding vendor, I hold the unique perspective of being on both sides of the blog submission game. As a blogger I get to sift through endless entries of submissions that completely ignore my submission requirements, and as a wedding coordinator, I get to attempt to find time to sift through endless submission requirements of other blogs. Recently a photographer friend of mine submitted her first editorial to me and it made me realize that I could probably provide some interesting perspective to both sides of the blog submission game and hopefully make the process a better one for EVERYONE involved. Let’s do this, shall we?

Let’s Get Personal: How to Submit to Blogs & Playing the Blog Submission Requirements Game

[Image: Val & Sarah]

Let’s start with the blogging side of things.

As a blogger, I can’t tell you how frustrating it can be some times to attempt to streamline your blogging processes and tailor the content you want to share through submission requirements, only to have 75% of vendors completely ignore those requirements. On Two Bright Lights I get submissions daily of weddings that are from every state other than DC, MD, or VA. I get super traditional submissions and others that don’t at all fit my blog’s vibe/mission (outlined here!). I get submissions with only 1 vendor listed, and I get submissions with absolutely no information from the couple (which is one of my submission requirements – to have couples share their reasons for why they did things the way they did). I know that as a blogger, I am nothing without submitted content, however, I’d say half of my time spent as a blogger is responding to submissions, asking for vendors to read my submission requirements and get the required details.

Now that the frustrating rant part of this is over – let’s get on to the advice. Vendors, if you want to get published on a blog, I implore you to:

• At least check out and browse the blog you are submitting to see if your content is a fit
• Read the submission requirements. Seriously. Read them.
• FOLLOW the submission requirements. Seriously. Follow them.

These are the 3 golden rules of blog submitting – it’s really that simple. Now, whether or not you will actually be accepted is a whole other story (and probably whole other blog post). But doing these 3 simple things will at least increase your chances of publication ten-fold.

Now let’s move on to the submitting side of things.

As a wedding coordinator, I can’t tell you how frustrating it can be some times to attempt to submit to all these blogs with their crazy and different submission requirements (see what I did there?). I spend tons of time pouring over the 3 simple rules above, only to be rejected. Each blog has a different requirement of details, information, picture sizes, number of pictures submitted, and so on and so forth – don’t these blogs realize that we have other jobs to do?!

Now that the frustrated rant part of this is over -let’s get on to the advice. Bloggers, if you want great content published on your blog, I implore you to:

• Clearly define your blog submission requirements (and please make them as short and sweet as possible)
• Give us real feedback on why our submissions weren’t accepted, so we can do better next time
• Understand that your blogs are nothing without submitted content from other vendors

These are 3 rules that I try to govern Capitol Romance by. I try to give every submitter a real reason why their submission was not accepted. I give vendors 2nd and 3rd chances to get my submission requirements right and complete, and most importantly, I realize that Capitol Romance is nothing without all the amazing content that couples, vendors, and others send my way.

The bottom line.

Let’s be nice. Let’s try and make things easier for everyone on both sides of this process. Let’s try and be understanding – that both blogging AND submitting are time-consuming and oftentimes frustrating processes. Because really, let’s remember why we are all in the wedding game to begin with right?

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