We want you to be a part of the ISKCON News family. There are three ways to make a submission to the site:

A. Have a great story idea? Great! Submit it. Write us a draft (more on this in a bit) and if it is what we are looking for, our editor will work with you to iron it out and get it ready to be posted up. Same goes for photos, audio, or video. You can also send us a news tip or story idea even if you don’t have the time to write up the story itself… we may be able to connect your idea to someone who can bring it to life.

B. Have a comment about one of the stories we’ve already run? Write a letter to the editor. Letters should be relatively short (say 200 words or less) and should clearly identify the article that you are commenting on. Unfortunately, we can’t post all the letters we receive, but we strive to post up a good mix of viewpoints. Also, please keep in mind that your letter may be edited for length or clarity.

C. Want a regular gig as a volunteer reporter, photographer, or videographer? Join our team. Contact us and let us know some details about who you are, where you’d like to report from or what “beat”, or topic, you want to help cover. We’ll take it from there and if everything clicks, we’ll get you a team jersey and clean out a locker for you.

Submission Guidelines:

First, understand that this site is NOT a blog. We like blogs, but this is just not one. Writing should be proofread, spell-checked, and appropriate in length, tone, and content to whatever you are writing on.

Here’s some detail on how to submit to the site:

1. ARTICLES: As a general rule, articles should not be long. We understand that it will vary depending on the subject, but the ideal submission is three hundred to fifteen hundred words (300-1500) in length. Write like a journalist – news articles should be balanced, objective, and accurate accounts; opinion pieces should be honest, relevant, and intelligently articulated commentary; reviews should analyze the piece of art or literature being covered in a way that helps readers understand its merits and weaknesses.

2. LETTERS: Letters should be considerably briefer than articles, and should address specific stories we’ve run. You are more likely to get published if you identify a focused point, and respond in a few thought out and carefully chosen words. Check out these letters to Time magazine as good examples of what we’re talking about.

3. NEWS TIPS: If you’d like to suggest a story that you’d like to see ISKCON News cover, send us an outline or proposal. Be sure to give us the five Ws of journalism: who, what, when, where, why, and how. Or, if you have a press release, you can send this as well.

4. DO… make sure that whatever you submit has a clear point or theme. If you’d like, feel free to include an intro paragraph (40 words or less) telling our editor what you’d like to get across.

5. DON’T… use foul language, destructive criticism, unsubstantiated rumors, name-calling, or any other form of ad homimen attack (character assassination). Even if it’s written in beautiful Sanskrit verse and is the most brilliant thing you’ve ever created, it won’t get published.

6. NAME: Please include your name exactly as you would like to see it in print, and please be sure to clarify in the case of any common or potentially misleading names (if you send in a pancake recipe and your name happens to be Yamuna Dasi, be prepared to explain). A recent photo of you not over three years old and preferably in a file of less than one megabyte would be extremely welcome, though not required. As a general policy, we will not accept anonymous submissions.

7. SOURCES: We want to give credit where credit is due. Please be sure to name all your sources somewhere, generally at the beginning or end (or both) of the piece. If you are sending us a copy of something that was posted somewhere else, please make that clear. If you are quoting from another piece, be sure to acknowledge that.

8. PHOTOS: We want ISKCON News to let pictures (and video) speak a thousand words. So, if you have a good photograph or image to accompany something you’ve written, that is ideal. Alternatively, point us in the right direction or suggest a good image that you know of. And if you are a photographer or videographer (pro, amateur, or even cellphone paparazzi) please send us your stuff, following the submission guidelines above. Even if we’re not working on a story that connects with the image or video, if we like it we may want to run it on its own, or hold on to it and write a story around it in the near future.

9. EDITORIAL DISCRETION: We would love it if we could run everything that comes to us, but the reality is that we can’t. If your piece has been (for the most part) proofread, edited, and thus made publish-ready, the better chances that it will be published. The editorial board has the final authority to accept, reject, edit and/or re-write submissions (including headlines) for any reason, including (but not limited to) length, grammar, word choice, tone, subject matter, or questions of fact.

10. JOURNALISTIC STANDARD: New to writing like a reporter? Don’t worry – it is not nearly as painful as it sounds, but it might require re-adjusting the way you approach putting words on the page (or computer screen). First of all, go back to the beginning: this is not a blog. Secondly, familiarize yourself with newsy writing. Read through the stories on this site, and surf around to find good (and not so good) examples of news writing. How does Newsweek magazine or the Times of India report something? What are some of the quirks you notice on the BBC and CNN websites? Don’t just focus on what they’re communicating; take a look at how they communicate it. The best writers are avid readers, so learn and practice. And while we may not be able to provide extensive training, we’ll try our best to give you feedback and work with you to polish the rough edges as often as we can.

11. UNDERSTANDING THE SITE: Still with us? Good. When you submit something, keep in mind where on the site you would like to see it end up, and make sure that what you submit is compatible with the rest of what is up there. Check out the following general categories of the types of stories we run. Keep in mind that these categories may change in the future. If you have any questions, comments, ideas, or concerns, by all means CONTACT US!

Categories:

Inside ISKCON

- General rule: this is news that is directly about ISKCON and/or ISKCON members. Occasionally, we may cover substantial news of former ISKCON members, other Gaudiya Vaisnava groups or personalities, the broader Hindu world, or other news that directly and significantly impacts ISKCON members even if ISKCON is not directly involved as the subject of the item. These cases are exceptions to the general rule.

- Inside ISKCON stories include “hard news” about events (e.g. – Ratha Yatra in Alaska) and personalities (Vishnu Dasa named to GBC) in ISKCON.

- Inside ISKCON also includes “feature” stories which examine people, trends, and relevant topics in ISKCON, as well as reviews of art, music, literature.

- From time to time, we may also include reports on events that are going to happen (e.g. – announcements of seminars) and appeals to raise awareness or funds for specific projects. However, these will be limited.

World News

- General rule: this is news that is not about ISKCON, but that, for one reason or another, is especially relevant or interesting to our readers. For instance, stories about vegetarianism, yoga, the environment, spirituality, trends in religion, or more. Keep in mind that we’re offering readers a taste of what’s going on in the world around us, not trying to replace the New York Times.

- The majority of World News stories are re-posts from other publications in the secular press. We try to accurately credit these publications and provide links to original sources whenever we can. If you are submitting a World News story that is a re-post, please include that information.

- We will take care to avoid offending or disturbing our readers’ sensibilities as far as possible. At the same time, please understand that one person’s relevant news story is another’s object of distaste. We provide news from outside sources as a way of enriching our readers’ perspectives on the world.

Opinion

- General rule: this is where you can flex your literary and philosophical muscles a bit, by sharing your viewpoint on a timely and relevant topic.

- Opinion pieces may be “Vedic Observer” type of Krishna conscious perspectives on current events or larger social or political issues.

- The Opinion section also features pieces that offer some view about life in ISKCON, applying the Krishna conscious philosophy, or understanding (or grappling with) points of Vaisnava life and theology.

- Anonymous opinions will generally not be entertained.

- These should be concise and thoughtful essays – ideally under 5000 words. Please don’t submit position papers or one-sided debates.

Word Length:

A standard news article is usually less than 500 words. Sure, there are exceptions, but with a news article there is no need to waffle on about every particularity.

Opinion and feature pieces are different; these often need more than 1000 words, sometimes over 2000. Please keep in mind that this is a web publication and we don't expect our readers to stay glued to the screen for an hour reading any one article. Print media can sometimes expect that of its readership; but with the internet, statistics show that viewers usually spend less than 5 minutes on an article. Spastic? Maybe, but that's the nature of this medium.

So if you have a really interesting story that needs thousands of words to be communicated in all of its subtlety then try to find a breakpoint about every 800-1000 words and we can run it as a series (Part 1, Part 2, etc...)

This is the terminology our team uses when discussing the word length of articles:

Further guidelines can be read here.

These are general guidelines and are not intended to lay out the terms of a binding agreement. These guidelines are also subject to change and development.