New Writer Submissions!

We at Headphone.Guru and our sister publication HiFiAudio.Guru are always looking for fresh new writers, new voices as it were. To this end, I thought it would be good to set out guidelines for new-writer submissions.

Submission Rules

1. All submissions become property of Headphone.Guru (or HiFiAudio.Guru). Do not submit previously published work (this includes forums and social media), and do not submit work that has been submitted to other publications, and definitely do not submit work that has been submitted to Headphone.Guru (or HiFiAudio.Guru) to other publications (this would be a violation of copyright).
2. Rejected submission may or may not be accompanied with helpful criticisms depending on current workload. All rejected submissions will be accompanied with a release of copyright. (So that you can resubmit to other publications or self publish.)
3. Response time on submissions will be dependent on current workload but will be handled as expeditiously as possible.
4. Payment for accepted submissions is made at the end of the month of publication the amount to be agreed to by both parties after acceptance of the submission. Any submission may be withdrawn at any time prior to publication date.
5. Acceptance or rejection of any submitted work whether solicited or unsolicited is solely at the discretion of Headphone.Guru (or HiFiAudio.Guru). No contract is either implicit or implied between Headphone.Guru (or HiFiAudio.Guru) and the writer of a submission other than what is above stated. Writer may be asked to sign a Writer’s contract if the submission is accepted at the discretion of Headphone.Guru (or HiFiAudio.Guru).
6. Minimum length of an article, show report, or review submitted for publication by Headphone.Guru (or HiFiAudio.Guru) is 1,500 words (note: compensation is fixed for a given submission regardless of length even if it is necessary to publish in installments.)
7. Maximum image size for submissions is 1024 pixels wide. (Note: images may be added after acceptance of submission.) Published submissions will require at least one “Feature” image minimum 500 pixels wide for Headphone.Guru (for HiFiAudio.Guru the “Feature” image must be 1024 x 550 pixels.)
8. Do not use the Headphone.Guru (or HiFiAudio.Guru) name to acquire review samples. All submissions are freelance so this should be obvious. Violation of this policy will necessitate rejection of submission and may be subject to legal action.
9. Acceptance of product reviews will subject to manufacturer fact check approval.

Guidelines

1. Obviously submissions should be appropriate to the addressed publication. Headphone.Guru publishes Personal Audio Reviews (Headphones, Headphone Amplifiers, DACs, DAPs and other products used with Headphones or IEMs), Personal Audio show reports and articles about the Personal Audio or Music industry as it relates to Personal Audio. HiFiAudio.Guru specializes in affordable System Reviews, HiFi show reports, and articles about HiFi Systems or the Music industry as it relates to HiFi.
2. Try to avoid products that have already been reviewed by the publication in question. We rarely run more than one review on a given product unless there has been a significant change in that product. While any review will tell us about your writing style, duplicate reviews will most likely not be published.
3. Keep it honest and positive. Negative reviews are of service to no one. That does not mean ignore the flaws in a product, but focus on the reasons you like the product. Simple, if you don’t like a product, return it without review. We also do not publish Op-ed pieces, save that for the forums, though it is strongly suggested you think twice about what you say on forums if plan on writing product reviews for a professional publication.

Rules for Headphone.Guru

Before you submit a review or article, there are certain rules that you should be aware of should your submission be accepted and you wish to continue writing for Headphone.Guru.

1. There is a strict 30 day turnaround time on reviews and review samples. When a review is completed it is required that the reviewer request return shipping for the review sample. If your intent is to become a reviewer for free product, pick another publication. This is a no-tolerance policy.
2. It is the sole responsibility of the writer to maintain review samples and packaging in “Like New” condition (at least to level of the product when received, discrepancies should be reported to the manufacturer and Headphone.Guru immediately).
3. Manufacturer accommodation purchases must be approved by Headphone.Guru and should only be made after the completion of the review. (see rule 1)
4. All product reviews must be approved by Headphone.Guru in advance of acquiring review samples (should you become a Headphone.Guru reviewer, this, of course, does not apply to your initial submission.)
5. Part 1 of show reports (show reports are generally multi-part due to the number of photographs involved – as mentioned previously they are treated as a single article when it comes to compensation)  need to be turned in within 5 days of the end of the show.
6. Headphone.Guru writers will be expected to follow provided guidelines (to be provided at time of offer to join the team) to upload their articles to Headphone.Guru.
7. Though subject to editing, uploaded pieces are expected to be print ready (which means careful attention to Manufacturer and Product names, conventions and spellings).
8. Writers should be prepared to have their work edited without taking offense, if you have an easily bruised ego, writing is probably not for you.
9. Headphone.Guru is about building relationships with manufacturers and other members of the audio industry. Though we are more than happy to help, writers will need to develop relationships with manufacturers in order to acquire review samples.

Rules For HiFiAudio.Guru

All the above apply also to HiFiAudio.Guru with the exception of turnaround time. Due to the nature of the product and extra time needed for set up and tear down the turnaround time has been extended to 60 days.

Submissions for Headphone.Guru should be sent to gary@headphone.guru

Submissions for HiFiAudio.Guru should be sent to gary@hifiaudio.guru

.rtf or .docx files are preferred though .PDF is acceptable. I can open most text editor files though it would be helpful if you mention what OS and text editor were employed.