Article style guide

Word count

Articles are between 350 to 650 words per piece, with 500 words our preferred length. While longer articles may be published by pre-arrangement with the Editor, initial submissions that are outside the stated length will not be considered.

Style

While the brevity of the articles suits a to-the-point style, we also want to maintain an affable, upbeat tone. Furthermore, it's important that contributors share a similar outlook and philosophy to the team at Flying Solo.

House format

All spelling is Australian-English.
Write numbers one to nine as words and numbers 10 and above as numerals.
Where possible, avoid mentioning specific companies or organisations in your article.
Most soloists do not own a company, rather they run a business.
If you want to emphasise a phrase or word, use italics rather than underlining. Readers assume underlined text is hyperlinked.
Titles of books to be presented in italics

We encourage you to read Sam Leader's article on style for further pointers.

What we look for

All successful applicants have the following in common:

Their experience is interesting or relevant to solo & micro business owners.
Their articles present sufficient ‘stand alone’ information to the reader.
They are able to supply articles that meet the above criteria on an ongoing basis.

It is useful, then, for you to consider your ability on these fronts. If you doubt any of them, it's highly likely we'll feel the same!

This may seem strict, but we know raising the bar is necessary to maintain our high quality of content and avoid wasting time - yours and ours. Read on for more tips on how to get our attention.

What we avoid

Articles that are not "solo and/or micro" specific
We will reject articles which discuss large staff management issues or any other topics which are irrelevant to our audience.

Articles that are too advertorial in style
For example, a copywriter would have little chance of getting Why you need a copywriter or What a copywriter can do for your business published. However, their piece on The essentials of good writing is more likely to get our attention. Rather than blatantly plug the copywriter’s offering, it employs the 'attraction' marketing principle, i.e. their expertise is evident, but not obtrusive.

Press Releases submitted as articles
This happens more than you think! If you don't want us to ignore your application, pull the plug.

Articles that are too similar to existing topics
This is discussed in detail on the previous page.

Articles that require too much editing
Our expectation is for articles submitted to be as close to Flying Solo ‘ready’ as possible. Any submissions requiring significant editing will not be considered. This could include overly long articles, or previously published/written items which require excessive modifications. Previously published/written items are fine, provided that, prior to submission, the author has made the necessary edits in accordance with these guidelines.

Finally, we reject any articles that are not in accordance with these guidelines.

Interaction with readers

Each article has a comments facility attached to it and we definitely favour pieces that generate discussion. The site's most popular contributors succeed in prompting conversation with the reader, so keep this in mind when writing your article.

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