Contributor’s Guidelines

 

1) Your blog // article should always point the reader back to the Lord. While we understand that it is your story, your accomplishment and success, your journey and experience, your hardship, burden, or lesson learned; it was ultimately God, through the Holy Spirit, who gave you what you needed to accomplish, learn, or overcome. This point (directing the reader back to Jesus) is what makes our publication different from the others.

It is our responsibility as Christians to share the Good News. At COURAGEOUS & KIND, we believe that Jesus Christ is the Agent of Change who breaks fear and destructive strongholds to bring freedom and peace in our hearts and lives.

Good ol’ advice doesn’t have the power to change our hearts and lives, but Jesus Christ and scripture does. This is the reason why we ask our contributors to include a  Bible verse reference with each submission.

2) Within your post // article give the reader a “call to action” or talk about the “how to”. How did you overcome or break the harmful habit? What steps did you take to get accomplish your goal? How did God speak to you? What led you to that conclusion?  How can the reader get involved? Tell us, please!

As women who want to be courageous overcomers, we need to know how to do it. Your submission will tell, inspire, and encourage readers to seek God for help, answers, and guidance.

Consider using a list within your “call to action” or “how to” to make the steps or guiding points easy to read. Listing action steps can help readers clearly and easily understand what they should do to achieve the desired results. Be sure to make all lists are clear and consistent in the expression and format.

Example: To be considered for publication as a COURAGEOUS & KIND Contributor, you’re expected to submit:  

    • Information about yourself: Contact Information, Profile Picture, Website and Social Media Handles, Short Bio

    • Information about your work: Submission Summary, Article // Post Category, Title, Graphics, Bible Verse

3) Help us avoid too much “Christianese” speak. Although our target audience are women who identify themselves as Christians, we want our content to speak to those across all stages and religious denominations of their Christian faith journey. Think #TeamJesus!

Example: You heard God’s voice tell you to do something. How did you know it was God’s voice? Was it audible? Was it a distinct and unique thought? Was it a Bible verse that stood out to you? Was it lyrics in a Christian worship song? Did you see or hear a recurring theme applicable to your situation or circumstances throughout a sermon, Bible study, or advice of godly friends? Tell the reader how you knew it was the Holy Spirit helping or prompting you to action.

Example: With God’s help, you were able to get rid of the negative self-talk in your head. How did you do that? Did you “google” Bible verses on “negative thinking”? Did you write them down and carry 3x5 cards in your purse or post those verses somewhere in your house or office?  Tell readers about the “how to” of your transformation or story.

4) Please be mindful of grammar, punctuation, and spelling. We will use APA writing style guidelines to edit and grammatically guide your submission. For any biblical reference, please use these guideline:

Always capitalize pronouns referencing God, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit (He, Him, His) and the Bible (God’s Word). When directly quoting the Bible, italicize the verse(s) and place them in quotations. Always include the full name of the book in the Bible with reference to the chapter and verse(s). Please include the translation used in parentheses after the cited Bible verse(s).

“Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6 (NIV)

When referencing a Bible verse(s), please follow these guiding points:

A chapter (John 14)
A single verse (John 14:6)
A range of verses (John 14:5-14)
A range of disjointed verses (John 14:6,14)
A reference for a partial verse (John 14:6a)

5) We only accept original pieces of work that haven’t previously been published. COURAGEOUS & KIND requests exclusivity of the published piece for five days. Once a blog post // article has appeared in COURAGEOUS & KIND, you can republish the piece in part or in full with credit to C&K and a link back to the original C&K publication as a reference.

6) Make your submission easy to read. Submissions must be between 500-1000 words. Avoid using dense paragraphs and always include the hyperlink whenever referencing something online (product, organization, website, etc.).

7) We reserve the right to edit your piece of work. Our goal is to edit minimally, but please keep in mind, we may edit your submission as needed.  

8) As a contributor, you are serving as a non-paid volunteer of COURAGEOUS & KIND. You will not be financially compensated for any of your submissions. You will own and retain all intellectual property rights in any and all of your blog // article submissions.

Magazine Article Submission Deadlines
Magazine Publishing Annually: Spring/Summer

Website Content & Blog Submission: Revolving

All blog and website // social media content submissions will be reviewed weekly on Wednesdays.

9) You will receive an email once your post // article is published. We expect you to interact with readers. Please respond by liking, replying, reposting any positive comments and answering any questions. For negative, hurtful, or harmful comments, please alert one of the C&K editors immediately.

Once you are a published contributor of COURAGEOUS & KIND, you will receive access to the C&K Contributor’s Corner featuring an encouraging community of Christian camaraderie, special devotions, contributor hints and tips, gifts and giveaways.

CONTRIBUTOR CONTENT CATEGORIES

Heart: Contributor’s Corner (Q&A w/ Contributors), Courageous Celebrations (Success Stories), Seasons of Life (Stories from Empty Nesters, Mamas, Careerist, Singles, etc.), Guy’s Guide (Guy Advice & Perspective)

Soul: Devotions, Verse of the Day, Worship Welcome (Music, Books, Art Reviews & Recommendations), Pastor’s Wife Life (Advice to/from Pastor’s Wives)

Strength: Eats & Encouragement (Healthy Food Tips & Recipes), Physically Fit (Fitness & Body Image Guidelines & Tips), Addressing Aging, Fashion Forward (Personal Fashion & Home Decor Tips)

Mind: Book Club (Book Reviews & Discussions), Trends & Tips (Career, Life, Community), Lessons Learned (Life Lessons & Stories), Tough Topics (Addressing Social Injustice), Life Leadership (Leadership Tips)

Love your Neighbor: Community Spotlight (Recognize a Community Organization), Call to Action (C&K Reader’s Project), COURAGEOUS & KIND Highlights (Feature Story), Grateful Giving (Microgrant Giving)