Saturday, January 16, 2010

Life Love Beauty Writer's Guidelines

Writer’s Guidelines for Life Love Beauty (www.lifelovebeauty.com)

At this time Life Love Beauty is accepting the following kinds of article submissions: Guest columns or articles by experts, product reviews by assignment only, and freelance articles from writers looking to get their names out in the writing world. Currently all articles submitted to Life Love Beauty are unpaid; however, product reviewers are encouraged to keep the products they receive to review.

To submit article queries and submissions, please contact
kate@lifelovebeauty.com.

Freelance Article Submissions:
Freelance writers and hopefuls are encouraged to submit article queries or freelance articles on spec. Please review our key categories to help you come up with ideas for any prospective articles you might like to submit. Please note that no payment is available at this time, but we will gladly include an “About the Author” blurb with a link to your blog or Web site. We will give priority to our published writers when payment becomes available.

Freelancers who break in with a good topic and a well-written story may be asked to do future product reviews if interested.

Guest Columns / Articles from Guest Experts:
From time to time, Life Love Beauty accepts articles from guest writers and columnists as long as the following conditions are met:

- Please ensure that the articles you pitch or submit fit nicely into one of our categories – Makeup, Nails, Hair, Skincare, Fashion, Weddings, Relationships, Family and Parenting, Health / Exercise, Social Life, Travel, or Life in General.
- Please include a brief bio of three to five sentences about the expert / author.
- Please mention if photos are available.

Guest columns do not currently receive payment, but they are a great way to get some free PR for your Web site or business. We will include an “About the Expert” bio blurb and a link to the expert’s Web site for each guest column accepted for publication.

Product Review Writers:
Life Love Beauty currently has a few product review columnist positions open. Writers will receive an assignment to review a particular product either as a standalone review or as part of a larger gift guide. Writers will receive free products to review and keep. At this time, no payment is available.

Product review guidelines:
- Strive for a word count of 350 words or greater. Try not to exceed 1000 words for single product reviews.
- Include the cost, key ingredients or product features, and where to buy the item in all product reviews.
- Whenever possible, please use the product several times before writing to test for consistency, reliability, durability, and so forth.
- Please complete and submit the review within two weeks of receiving the product unless your assignment requires more time for completion. If you have personal reasons for needing more time, that will be fine in most cases but please let us know ahead of time.
- Please submit a photo of the product to be published with your review. If you can take your own photos, great. If not, press photos are acceptable.

FTC-Friendly Guidelines for Product Reviews:
- Disclose that you received the product for the purpose of review.
- Do not inflate your impression of the product as a result of receiving a review sample instead of buying it.
- Do not make claims on the results or effects of the product simply because product packaging or documentation suggests that certain results may be typical. Use your own experience testing the product as the basis for what you write.
- Be as objective as possible, listing both pros and cons whenever possible. If you do have cons but are uncomfortable saying something that could be seen as negative, find a creative way to spin it while being honest.

Skilled writers who stick to the guidelines will likely be asked to become regular product reviewers.

Please contact us with any questions you or article queries you may have.