Article Submission Guidelines

Peaceful Willow welcomes all article contributions. You don't have to have writing experience, simply a desire to share your views, knowledge and/or experiences about any of the topics covered on our site. We have monthly website themes (click here) or you can choose your own topics to fit within one of our article classifications (see the 'Articles' menu above).

For further enquiries or to send your article submission, please Contact Us.

General Article Submission Information

Word limits: None (extra long submissions may be split into two parts)
Format: You can submit your article as a Word or text document attached in an email. You can even place the content straight into an email but please be sure to save your work as we'd hate for you to lose what you've written!
Style: Don't feel you have to write in a formal manner. Readers actually enjoy the personal touch that comes through your own natural expression so feel free to just get your words down and send them through. Humour is most welcome, but it must be general and not offensive to any group.
Editing: Please SPELLCHECK your submission before sending it through. Our editor will fine tune your submission as needed. If any major changes or additions are desired, we will seek your confirmation before publishing.
Images: At Peaceful Willow we include a small image (100x150 pixels) relating to the article theme. We usually find a suitable image for you but you can include one of your own if you'd prefer. If you'd like additional images to be added to your article please ensure there is no copyright infringement. We prefer to limit such images to 1 or 2 and they should directly relate to and enhance your article, such as diagrams that help to illustrate your topic. Please send any images in JPG or GIF format along with your article submission. If the images are within your Word file we will not be able to extract them, so make sure to attach them separately. Images may be resized by the editor if necessary.
Links: Links to other websites should be limited to two, if used at all. They should directly enhance your article in some way as links that are considered advertising for another site may not be included when published.
When will I be published?: As soon as your article has been checked by our editor, we will let you know if your article has been chosen for publication and when. We will send you an email with the link to your article so you can see it 'live' and pass it along to your family, friends and colleagues.

Some Helpful Tips for Article Layout

Our editor is here to fine tune your article submission but you may find these tips helpful for the writing stage:

Ideas, Ideas, Ideas: Getting your ideas down in writing is the most important part of the writing process. So when you feel inspired to write about something, just let it all flow as if you are talking to someone about your topic. A first draft is never a final draft so don't pressure yourself to create a perfect article as you go. When you have your ideas written down, then you can come back and organise it in a more logical way, make adjustments, fix typos and add additional details if necessary. At this stage you would consider the following...
Title: If you can't think of a suitable title, one may become clearer after you've written the article, or you could leave the title up to the Editor. The title should reflect the article topic so readers can quickly determine what your article relates to.
Introduction & Conclusion: The first paragraph should give readers an indication of what the article will be about - like an overview. The final paragraph should sum up your article in a positive way. Sometimes it's helpful to finalise the introduction and conclusion after you've written the main body of the article. Consider how the topic you are talking about might be useful to the reader and perhaps mention this in your introduction and conclusion.
Sub-headings: It may help you write the main body of the article if you break it down into sub-sections. We welcome the use of sub-headings because they allow the reader to get an overview of the article content at a quick glance. However, you are not obliged to use sub-headings, so go with whatever feels right to you.
Questions: Sometimes it can be useful to list some questions that you yourself would ask if you wanted to know about the topic and use them to guide your writing and/or research.

Technical Stuff - Referencing Other Authors

This is the most technical aspect of article writing but must be covered so as not to infringe copyright of another author's work. Plagiarism is a serious offence and will not be tolerated at Peaceful Willow as it leaves us (and you) open to legal action (see our Disclaimer notice for further information).

In most cases, general article submissions won't require any referencing at all, but research-based articles must include acknowledgement of any references to other peoples' work. Please refer to the following:

Please ensure you acknowledge all ideas and words that are not your own.
If you do reference another author, please include the details of those references - author's name, book title, year of publication or alternatively the website address if that is the source.
Direct quotes must be contained within quotation marks followed by brackets containing the author's name and page number of the quote (or url of the website page). For example: "This is a fictional direct quotation" (Thomson, p.4). Then provide the full source details as mentioned above so we can include them at the bottom of your article. It ensures readers can acess that quote should they wish to.
General references to other authors and books don't require acknowledgement within your article but the details of the sources can be included at the end of your article. Just send us the details of those books or websites as mentioned above.
If you need more help with referencing other authors, we'll be happy to help - just email us.

We look forward to receiving your article soon!