Welcome to TheBestStuffOnline.net! You’ll find on this page everything you need to get started.
Important Information
1. To remain active writers, all TheBestStuffOnline.net writers must submit a minimum of three articles per week.
2. Your first submission must be received within one week of receiving your site login credentials or you will have to reapply. Your site login is only valid for five business days.
3. Anything you write for us becomes our property, but you are free to reprint it wherever you choose as long as you put “first published at TheBestStuffOnline.net” in the article.
Getting Started — Steps for New Writers
Writing your first piece for TheBestStuffOnline.net
1. Review our sister site’s Style Guide and refer back to it as needed. You can find it here.
2. Using the login credentials that were emailed to you, log into the site and write a post that covers a human interest, funny, or inspirational-type story. Here are some good examples of what you can write as an intro piece:
Dolly Parton’s ‘Jolene’ Played At 33 RPM Is Surprisingly … AWESOME
Pavarotti’s Final Performance Of ‘Nessun Dorma’ Will Bring Tears To Your Eyes
3. Make sure your story’s not already been covered by one of our writers by doing a search of the site or by searching Google by site. In the Google search bar, type or copy and paste: site:thebeststuffonline.net airplanes (or whatever your topic is).
4. Create a new post. See instructional video below.
6. Add two to three relevant tags.
7. Find a featured image that is NOT AP, Getty, or Reuters. Be sure to credit in the image caption, as well as at the bottom of your article, the site where the image was found.
- The featured image needs to be rectangular in shape and at least 640 pixels wide by 400 pixels tall (instructions on how to resize an image are below), and not larger than 750px wide.
- Please do NOT upload huge images and resize them in WordPress. Resize before uploading and upload the size you need.
- A few sources for images that are free to use are found in this guide, and you can also find great resources on this site’s extranet pages.
- You can use images from Amazon, publisher websites, author websites, and author social media pages. Just be sure to credit them to the source where you find them.
8. If you use a video, put the link to the video in the body of your post where you want the video to be. YouTube videos work best.
9. Your article should be fully complete, with links embedded, tags, and categories.
10. We use the blockquote feature for all direct quotes.
11. All quotes or sourced verbiage should have correct citations.
12. Click “Submit” to put your article into pending.
13. Once your piece is edited and published, you’ll receive an invitation to join our Slack writer channel and our Trello board, as well as our Facebook HQ.
Next Steps
1. Review the rest of this page, especially the style guide at our sister site: AmReading.com Style Guide.
2. Set up your author bio in the WordPress dashboard. Be sure to include your social media links if applicable. If you want your image to appear on your articles, the email you use in your bio should be an email that is attached to a Gravatar account (optional).
3. HR will have you complete new hire paperwork that is made available via the Facebook writer group (HQ).
Extra Info: Creating a Post in WordPress
If you don’t know how to create a post in WordPress, there are many tutorials on YouTube. It’s not difficult. This short video will teach you the basics. We do not use the theme referenced, but creating a post in WordPress is the same across themes.
Resizing an Image
Your featured image needs to be rectangular in shape and at least 640 pixels wide by 400 pixels tall. The featured image should not be larger than 750 pixels wide. Please do NOT attempt to resize your image in WordPress.
Here is a list of numerous photo editing tools that are free to use.
- Be sure your images aren’t stretched out or skewed.
- Be sure they’re not blurry, as can sometimes happen with resizing.
There are several ways to resize an image.
1. One of the most common is by using Microsoft Paint, which comes free with all PCs.
Here is a video that shows basic resizing using Microsoft Paint.
Acceptable Submissions for TheBestStuffOnline.net
- Listicles, such as 15 Great Ideas For Organizing Your Home Office
- Picture collections, such as Stunning Photos Of Desert Islands
- Human interest pieces, such as Waitress Receives Stunning And Unexpected Tip
Some good examples of what we like:
This Little Girl Saved A Kitten Disgusted Adults Couldn’t Even Look At
AMAZING! NYC Uber Driver Gets 236 Green Lights In A Row – Is This A Record?
Basic Guidelines for Submissions
Length
The length of your article will depend on the content. Picture-heavy articles may be around 100 words or so, provided there is a clear introduction. Human interest pieces may be up to 600 words or so.
Formatting
We use paragraph and Heading 2 only in the article copy. If your piece calls for headings, all words in the heading should be capitalized. Direct quotes should be in blockquotes. Capitalize every word in your headline.
Every article needs some form of media – pictures, gifs, videos, etc.
Payment Information
Once your first submission has been accepted, you need to review the TheBestStuffOnline.net Payment Guide that will be provided to you by your managing editor. We pay a flat fee of $5 per published article. If your article performs exceptionally well, we provide bonuses (outlined in the Payment Guide).
AP Style
To try to maintain style consistency, TheBestStuffOnline.net follows the guidelines of Associated Press Style. You can find more information on our sister site: AmReading.com Style Guide. All writers should refer to this page when questions about usage arise. Leadership staff have access to AP online and can research in the case of questions that aren’t answered here.
We practice some exceptions to the AP Style guidelines. Please note these and work them into your writing for TheBestStuffOnline.net.
1. We use the Oxford Comma.
Example:
red, white, and blue (CORRECT)
red, white and blue (INCORRECT)
2. Many words used in English are in a transition phase. This is why you see some words written differently. Examples are e-mail (email) and on-line (online). We are jumping ahead on this issue for consistency.
Example:
email (CORRECT)
e-mail (INCORRECT)
Example:
online (CORRECT)
on-line (INCORRECT)
Example:
website (CORRECT)
web site or Web site (INCORRECT)
Example:
homepage (CORRECT)
home page (AP Style)
Other exceptions will be noted as they arise and can also be found in our Style Guide.
Associated Press (AP) Style Guide – the basics by AbrahamRosh
