WITH TIRZAH
TIRZAH INTERNATIONAL IS a global network of grassroots movements. We partner with women leaders in their own nations to combat poverty, exclusion from education, modern-day slavery, HIV/AIDS, and violence against women and girls. We do this by helping women increase their security by earning more income, by addressing the physical, emotional, and spiritual wounds they carry, and by cultivating and equipping advocates who are willing to use their voices, skills, and talents to work for gender equality and justice. OUR MISSION We connect and educate women so that they can impact their world with God's love as they address issues of injustice affecting women and girls. OUR VISION We envision a world where women and girls flourish as they fulfill their God-given potential. We are grateful for your partnership with women around the world!
Hello friend!
WHAT’S INSIDE: what to expect writing guidelines topic ideas editing + publishing process scheduling info contact info 2
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I put together this little booklet to make guest blogging with Tirzah an easy, stress-free writing experience. I assume this isn’t your first rodeo so none of this booklet is intended to monitor your content, correct your grammar, or cramp your style. I’m just here to facilitate your creative expression on our platform. And I’m so grateful you have a heart for empowering women through your words! I hope you’ll find some helpful info and brainstorming material inside. If you’ve ever got a question or want to test out some ideas, I’m your girl! Cheers, Emma
Web and Social Media Manager
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You’re scheduled for a blog post next month, so naturally you’d like some details on what exactly that means. Let’s outline some expectations. These are some things you can regularly expect from me: - enthusiasm - support in writing, editing, imaging, sourcing, and life - response to your questions within 24 hours - final product delivery and publishing I am thrilled to have you on our writing team and get your ideas about women’s issues out into the world. Together, we can bring some fresh, varied perspectives on current events and issues pertinent to Tirzah. On that note, here’s what I’d like from you: - an informative and fun 100ish word bio - a picture of you to go with your bio, around 500x500 pix - your contact information: cell, email, address, homing pigeon roost, etc. (note which of these is the best way for me to get ahold of you) - an email to egrager@tirzah.org with all of the above! 4
Š Š Your very ďŹ rst blog post will be a kind of introduction to you as a writer in the context of Tirzah International. My request is that your ďŹ rst post tells readers how you initially got interested in women’s issues, what is close to your heart, and why Tirzah’s work is important to you. Š The beauty of this blog is that we have so many dierent voices, stories, and topics all in once place. I don’t ever want you to feel burdened by what you have to write. I want this to be fun and life-giving. If you want to write a research style post about a current social issue, it’s fair game! If you want to tell a story about when you traveled with Tirzah, go for it! I will be communicating with you about your post before each scheduled date so I know what you’re writing and can make sure we prepare for whatever story you have to tell on our other digital platforms.
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92,&( You are invited to write in any way that you feel is true to your voice as a writer. I’m talking first person, poetry, photo essay, profile, vlog, and more. Do whatever you feel is the best way to communicate your topic. That said, please be sure you are using a professional, respectful tone in approaching any topic. This probably goes without saying, but since Tirzah International is a nonprofit and deals with many different cultures, sensitive topics, and backgrounds, we need to make sure that the writing we publish is of the highest character. If you are ever unsure about a topic, statement, or approach, talk to me and we can figure it out together. 285&,1* 28 Whenever you use an image, graphic, infographic, statistic, quote, or any other source, please make sure you keep track of where it originated. We want to always give credit where credit is due. I’ll cover this more in the section on the editing and publishing process (p15). If you have an idea for a graphic, quote, infographic, or need a photo ph that matches your post, I will hunt one down or custom make one for you! 8
(1*7+© Average posts should be between 500-1,000 words. For the series “Five Minutes on Being a Woman,” the posts are around 1,000 words and (go figure) take about five minutes for someone to read. If you’ve chosen a nontraditional format (aka something that isn’t is in paragraph form), check in with me on length. 7,5=$+©67</( Hopefully you’re noticing that Tirzah has a distinct feel in imagery and story-telling. We want to present our network with engaging, vibrant, and modern images and posts. For reference, here is a summary of Tirzah’s style:
hopeful story-telling grassroots relational encouraging
exclusive generic interventionalist schmoozey judgmental 9
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),9( 0,187(6 21©%(,1* $©:20$1 A series about what it is like for you to be a woman. You’re unique! Each of us will write one at some point, so let me know when you want to write yours!
(7»6©%5$,167250©620(©723,&6 Write an opinion piece on a women’s issue. What is your favorite Tirzah memory? If you’ve traveled with Tirzah or in some similar capacity, share a story or memory from that experience. Name a characteristic - strong, brave, kind, compassionate, etc. - that you have learned or grown into and tell us about how it is a part of your identity and our identity as women. How did you first respond, act, get involved, invest your skills when you decided to pursue justice for women? Tell a story or write a profile about a woman who is a hero to you. Maybe she’s your mom or teacher, maybe she’s Maya Angelou. 12
How do you used your talents - and tell us what they are! - to empower others? Select one of the key issues for women that Tirzah focuses on and share why it’s important to you. Write a piece on a current event, social issue, or political event affecting our women internationally or women in general. I am working on and updating a calendar with events, such as Women’s Equality Day, and with current news and socially relevant happenings. If you come across a news article and think, “Wow I need to write about this” or “I see a trend here,” please let me know so we can do a special post! Come up with a series idea! The sky is the limit. If you’ve got a topic that you’d like to see be a recurring theme or you’d like to have other voices chime in on, talk to me and we’ll see what we can do about bringing in more writers and making a series. Write an open letter to women or girls of a specifc age or of a specific background encouraging them. (e.g., teenagers, girls without family support, widows, orphans, girls pressured into early marriage). Hope Hopefully these ideas will get you started. If all you do is blog once a month and draw only from these ideas, you’ll be covered. Feel free to come up with your own topics and share them with me so I can send them on to the other guest bloggers! 13
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6(1',1*©<285©'5$)7© In submitting your draft to me, please make a Google document and share it with emmagrager@gmail.com as an editor. The title should read “Title - MM/DD/YY.” Please embed any images or files that are included in the post within the Google document. Please hyperlink any sources that you want to appear in the text of the post directly in the body, just as you would see it in final verson online. When you are formatting your post, please do so in Google docs, Word, or Pages, adding bold, italics, and other dynamics like HEADLINES where you would like them to be in the final published version. 0<©(',7,1* The good news: I’ve got an English Creative Writing degree that sits on my shelf and looks pretty. I’m here as a resource and sounding board (and occassional comma corrector). I’ll make sure that whatever is posted online is double checked, reads clearly, and meets highest writing standards. The better news: You’re a great writer. That’s why you’re here. So don’t do sweat it too much. If I see a trend in my edits, I’ll let you know to save us some time in the future. 16
8(©'$7(6 Your final draft, the one you want me to post, only missing my edits, is due 2 days before the scheduled post date. This is to give me turnaround time on final edits and making any graphics or finding any images you may need. It also provides me some time to make sure your post is properly publicized via social media. 2,1*©/,9( When you’re draft is in tip-top shape, I’ll upload it to the Squarespace blogging platform. I’ll schedule it to post live to our website on the day we’d previously set (see the section on Scheduling) and you can pat yourself on the back! Once your post is live and sent out via our social media platforms, I’ll send you the link so you can share it with your plat friends and so your Grandma can write a long, lovingly over-the-top “FWD:FWD:FWD My grandkid” email about it. )(('%$&. Stay tuned! Once your blog post is live, people have the opportunity to engage with it, comment, share, like, and so on. I’ll let you know how your post is doing statistically and you can chat with your readers via comments.
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5(48(1&< It’s really up to you. I would love for each of you to blog about once a month. That would be so great for us! We want to have a regular rotation of diverse voices. If you would like to do one every other week, one a week, one per quarter, you just let me know. If you say “I’d like to write once a week” and then two weeks in decide it’s too wri much, we can change your rotation. Ditto for wanting to write more often. Seriously. It’s whatever works for you. I know we’re all busy so I am so grateful that you would take time to sit down, think through these issues that are close to our hearts, and share your stories. 7+$7©6$,' 7+ Once we’ve agreed on a date for your post, I would really appreciate that you honor that agreement. If you need an extension, let me know at least one week before the date we had previously set. I totally understand that life has some unexpected events awaiting all of us; if you let me know what’s going on, then I can see if someone else can fill your spot for that time or I can whip up another post myself.
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,©5(3($7 Your final draft is due 2 days before the scheduled post date, via shared Google document, with all of your images and sources included. +2:©72©6&+('8/( When you send me your first email with your bio, picture, and all that jazz, let me know what you think would be a good frequency for you. Once I get everyone’s responses I’ll email you about setting up your first scheduled post (don’t you just hate the word deadline?) and we’ll play it by ear from there. 48(67,216 If you’ve got any questions at all, and in case I haven’t said it enough, I’m here for you! If you’ve got a friend you think would be a great fit for the blog, send them my way. If you’d like to do a mixed media post or share a post you’d previously published somewhere else, we’re down for that. I’m just so excited you’re on board with us! This blog is my writing baby and you’re making my dream to have a wide variety of voices come true (cue Hall + Oates)!
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(925) 588-8057
iPhone 5, text or call!
email:
egrager@tirzah.org info@tirzah.org emmagrager@gmail.com
I’ve got three more, but I’ll respond to one of these within 24 hours
address: 912 A Lischey Avenue, Nashville, TN 37207
I love snail mail so if you get a card from this address, it’s not creeper mail.
7,5=$+©62&,$/©0(',$ facebook: twitter: instagram:
www.facebook.com/tirzahinternational @tirzahintl @tirzahintl
Once I have everyone’s contact info, I’ll be adding you all to Facebook group so that you can encourage each other and meet your fellow guest bloggers. No pressure to post anything much there; just a nice way to see with whom you’re sharing your cyberspace.
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