Blog Posts
- 400 words per post
- Photo or graphic encouraged (.jpeg) – Must provide signed photo/graphic release form
- Links to other webpages for more info allowed except political endorsement links
- All submissions subject to editing, VSC does not guarantee posting
- Send to: SierraClubVentura@gmail.com
Think Local First
The more local the information, the more of a service to the group. Providing information about an upcoming rally or an educational article about some environmental policy that directly impacts the local community is great. Providing information about something nationally or internationally significant is less useful. This, of course, depends on the national issue, but readers generally turn to the website for local information first. Blog posts cannot contain political content especially endorsements for persons, legislation and other election issues. Links to websites for political endorsements are not acceptable.
Think Short
Long articles are hard to read. We’ll post our share of longer articles, but these are often the least read. Sometimes, a long article is critical to fully explain an issue. Sometimes it needs to be cut drastically.
Think Entry Points
Always try to include some type of graphic on most posts. Include as many entry points into the copy as possible. What's an entry point? Something that the eye is attracted to is an entry point. Include multiple places on the post--a quote, a bold sentence, a heading, a subheading. Try to include logical breaks and avoid long paragraphs. More than 4 sentences is often too long. Sometimes, just adding an extra line of blank space between two paragraphs can provide a good entry point. It can also make the article feel more accessible and readable (it gives someone a logical place to pause, get up and do something else before coming back).
Think Positive
Sometimes, particularly under the current administration, all things seem bad. Report on something fun. Talk about a positive happening in the environment. They do exist.
Think Action
People love to feel that they are being empowered to take action. Give them a phone number, give them something to clip out and mail in. People want to help out, but don't always know how. The job of the newsletter is to tell them how to help and let them do something quickly.
Think Organization
Having the information all organized before starting to put the post together is a huge plus. Place all the copy into Microsoft Word and then run spell-check and clean up the formatting--removing extra spaces and tabs, removing odd characters, etc.
Format
Approx 400 words is allowed per post. Send submissions in Microsoft Word format. Size of photos in jpeg files does matter. High resolution required. Photos and graphics must be directly related to and clearly portray the blog topic.
Photo Release Form
Written permission to use a photograph or graphic must be given for all images by the original owner as well as any persons in the image. Parent/guardian permission must be provided for any persons owning or in an image that are under 18 years old. Signed, scanned copy of signed Photo Release Form must be received at SierraClubVentura@gmail.com prior to any publishing.