Editorial Guidelines
Please observe the following editorial guidelines when submitting blogs to APMdigest:
Getting Started
The following guidelines apply to non-vendors — such as analysts, consultants, integrators, authors and users — who would like to post a blog on APMdigest. Non-vendor blogs are posted in The APM Blog.
Companies or organizations that are not considered vendors include:
■ Analyst and research firms
■ Consultants
■ Integrators
■ Service providers that do not also sell their own products
■ Education, training and certification companies
■ Media
■ Authors
■ Government agencies
Vendor blogs are posted in the Vendor Forum. If you work for or represent a product vendor, and you want to submit a blog to APMdigest, click here for the Vendor Forum Guidelines.
Blogs from APMdigest sponsors are also posted in the Vendor Forum, but sponsors gain certain benefits when blogging. If you work for or represent a sponsor of APMdigest, click here for the Sponsor Blog Guidelines.
If you are a PR or Communications Manager or Agency, click here for some tips on how to interact with APMdigest.
Blog Guidelines
■ Your completed blog should be sent to the editor, when ready for posting. Word doc is the preferred format. APMdigest will post the blog under your byline.
■ APMdigest does not accept any blog submissions from gmail or other anonymous email accounts. You must send the blog from your corporate email account.
■ All blogs submitted to APMdigest must be original content that has not been published somewhere else.
■ Blogs should be objective, vendor-neutral, thought leadership pieces. Topics should be general industry interest to educate and enlighten our readers. Please do not promote your company, products, partners or any vendor in the blog copy or in related graphics submitted with the blog. When the blog is about solving issues relating to a specific environment or infrastructure brand, exceptions to this rule can be made on a case-by-case basis.
■ Do not mention any product brands or make negative references to a company, brand or product in any blogs on the Vendor Forum. The purpose of this rule is to prohibit vendors from posting negative blogs about their competitors.
■ If your blog is about a study, survey or report conducted or commissioned by your company, focus on the results of the survey/study. Do not focus on why and how the survey/study was conducted, or the value the report will have to readers.
■ Blogs do not have to follow AP style. They can be casual in style. However, APMdigest expects blogs to be written to meet basic English grammar standards. If a blog does not meet these standards, it will not be posted.
Word Count
Standard word count for a blog is 500-1000 words. This is not a strict rule. Word counts can be longer if the topic warrants more content. If your blog is longer than 1000 words, however, you may want to consider breaking it into multiple parts. Editorial decisions relating to word count are made on a case-by-case basis.
Deadline
APMdigest does not follow an editorial calendar, and usually does not assign a deadline. We post content as we receive it.
Publication Schedule
APMdigest posts one item of primary content — blog or feature — each day, Monday through Friday. Consequently, there is often a queue of content waiting to be posted.
When a blog is submitted, APMdigest will provide a tentative date when the blog will be posted, however, this date can change.
APMdigest does not post content on and around US holidays, including the week of July 4 and two weeks around Christmas/New Years.
APMdigest e-mails go out once or twice per month, and the current mailing includes content posted since the last mailing.
Topics
Click here for a list of topics covered by APMdigest
If you are unsure whether your topic fits APMdigest, run your idea by Pete Goldin.
Author and Company Profile
If this is your first blog for APMdigest, send a one paragraph bio of the author and one paragraph profile of the company, along with the blog.
Related Links
On The APM Blog, non-vendor bloggers are welcome to include links at the end of the blog to link to their home page, or other relevant information such as research or events.
Hyperlinks in the body copy should be to support factual points you are making, or to link to your research referenced in the blog. However, non-vendor bloggers can also place a couple hyperlinks in the body copy of the blog linking to your company's web pages, if relevant.
Approval
All blogs will be reviewed by APMdigest prior to publication. APMdigest reserves the right to edit any content submitted, and the publication of any blog is at the sole discretion of APMdigest. Related links and hyperlinks included in the blog are also subject to APMdigest approval.
Reposting Blogs
If you contribute to APMdigest, you are free to re-post your own blog on your own website, as long as you mention that the blog was posted on APMdigest, and include a link to our site.
However, we recommend linking to the blog on APMdigest.com rather than posting the full blog on your site, to highlight the fact that the content was published by an independent third party. Publication of your blog on a respected industry site provides strong thought leadership credibility for the author and company.
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