Lifestyle Updated is a small magazine about health, fitness and smart living. We fully embrace the idea of lifestyle design, exploring personal development, psychology and everything that supports your pursue of a meaningful life.
The chief focus, however, is holistic fitness. It takes a healthy body to carry a healthy mind, and we believe that as soon as it starts to falter, life becomes less energetic, and far less exciting.
Promoting this idea, therefore, is our main objective, and writing stellar content is the best way that we know of.
So here is where you fit in the picture…
Although we are a small magazine, run by yours truly, my partner and my wife, we like to think and breathe like a big publication. That means, at a bare minimum, that I must share the stage with other folks who have something interesting to say. Our readership is ever growing, and with it the opportunity to attract prolific writers who’d hang their piece and leave their mark in our archives forevermore.
If you want to become a contributor to The Lifestyle Updated, the process is rather simple. There is an e-mail address at the bottom of this page where you can send your pitch, and we will do our best to get back to you within 48 hours. Not a single pitch shall go ignored, and you will definitely know whether we are interested in your contribution or not.
How to pitch to The Lifestyle Updated?
Send a raven, will ya! At least we will have something to cook and prepare if the pitch is not to our liking.
But other than that, here is a simple checklist to follow:
- Make sure that the subject of your email says “Contribution Pitch”
- Introduce yourself
- Suggest up to 3 working titles so we can choose the one we like
- If possible, send published samples of your work
- Wait for our reply (you’ll receive one within 48 hours)
If we like one of your ideas, the reply email will encourage you to start typing right away. We will also remind you of our guidelines, all of which are listed below. This way, you may know upfront whether to bother with that pitch or not.
Do not send a complete article. We only want the pitch!
Writing guidelines (after we approve your pitch)
We like to keep things simple, but we also like to uphold a professional standard of quality when publishing on the web. Therefore:
- Articles must be unique and past the Copyscape test
- Length is of no particular importance to us, but we believe that things that are worth saying should always take up at least 800-1000 words on the page. In order for an article to be informative it must be longer, or at least stretch within this ballpark.
- Mentioning or citing authoritative sources shows broader understanding of the topic. Plus, it gives our readers directions for further reading so they can delve deeper. The Lifestyle Updated appreciates sources like WebMD, PubMed, Harvard, The Scientific American, Psych Central, The Washington post, Shape Magazine, The Smithsonian, The Guardian, The Atlantic, or The Art of Manliness, to name just a few… We also appreciate hundreds of small blogs that uphold editorial standards and produce quality content.
- You can cite, mention or link to your own work, but only if it is relevant, informative, and of good quality.
- Articles must be well-researched and well-written, covering the topic in its entirety, or exploring it broadly while setting the tone for more detailed pieces in the future.
- Make sure to structure the articles in a way that information is easy to digest. Make it flow, as you connect one sentence to another, one paragraph to the next, evolving your idea throughout the piece. Make it actionable or inspiring. Share a story, a case study, or an idea worth exploring…
- Familiarize the reader with what the article is about at the beginning, and make sure to include a call to action at the end.
- List articles are acceptable, but only if they are exceptional.
- Product reviews are usually not accepted, but if you manage to write a solid piece about an attractive product that is really popular, or picking up steam, we might consider depending on the circumstances. Take for example our extensive review about Beachbody on Demand. It directly relates to the overall narrative of The Lifestyle Updated, and it is a legit product worth exploring.
- Adding a short bio at the end of your article, where you can say few words about yourself, and perhaps link to your website if you have one, will help readers learn more about your work. Note, however, that as each mention within the article must be relevant to the content, so must your website to The Lifestyle Updated – if this is not the case, your bio link will be removed (Social media links are accepted regardless).
And that’s pretty much the extent of it. Note, however, that we reserve the rights to edit your content, but won’t publish anything without your permission.
Once published, the content is owned by us and we keep the rights to copy and redistribute it as we see fit. Changes to the original text won’t be made without prior consultation.
Also note that we rarely (if ever!) remove content from our site, and it is in all likelihood that your piece will stay there for years to come – get comfortable with this idea, it’s your name on the page!
Now that you know the entire process, you can contribute to Lifestyle Updated by writing a stellar piece. Send your ideas to write@lifestyleupdated.com. Let’s make it happen!