We are always seeking quality contributions to Rattling Chains, whether the written word or photographs. Please note that if you submit a written story, we would like photos/artwork with it. If it’s not your own, please make sure you have permission to use said work. We credit all work. Also, we have a small stock pile of disc golf photos/art, so if your story would require basic images, please let us know.

The following are the guidelines for submitting photos and/or stories to the site. Please note that we can’t guarantee everything will be used. If selected, there’s no guarantee when it will be used, either, as we tend to work several weeks ahead. Therefore, if something is timely, please let us know.

Please note that we are a site that doesn’t make money, therefore we can’t pay. We offer full credit and have goodies we’ll pass along to our more regular contributors when possible. We also will link back to personal websites and/or social media sites if requested.

Writing guidelines

We follow basic AP style.

Some things to keep in mind when writing stories for us:

• Please spell check.
• Original content. Though there will be rare exceptions, we don’t want work that has appeared on other blogs or websites.
• Make sure all names/places are spelled correctly.
• Give any links that might need to be embedded in the story.
• Tell a story — complete sentences and paragraphs. Give details. If writing in first-person, make sure you don’t switch back and forth. Stick to one style.
• Make sure the story makes sense. Remember, you are writing it. If you can’t understand it, we won’t be able to either.
• Re-read your story as you would if you were a reader and make sure all questions are answered.
• Stories should be a minimum of 500 words and no more than 1,000-1,200, pending on topic. If you want to write much longer, please contact us.
• Spell check (yes, again).

If you have an idea for a story and need a little guidance or help, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We’re always looking for good stuff, so we’ll work with you if you have something good!

Our goal is to have very diverse content and from a variety of writers. So if you want to contribute, don’t be afraid. We’ll be honest, though, as we want to make sure everything we put on the site is as high quality as possible.

For that reason, not all submissions or ideas will be accepted.

Photography guidelines

The plan for many photos will be to use them as our “photo of the week” feature. Though, realistically, we’ll only run that feature 1-3 times a month. Therefore, we’re somewhat selective about the photos we choose to use.

Photos also might be able to be used in future stories. We can’t guarantee that all photos will be accepted for use. We are seeking high-quality photos with a good back story.

Requirements for submission:

• Your name/location and when you took the photo
• Camera you used
• The story behind the photo/thoughts when taking the shot
• Technical details of the photo (as much as you can give) — f-stop, speed, ISO etc.
• Any other info pertinent to the image

With digital photography as it is today, we’ll accept photos from regular cameras to camera phones. As long as the photo is quality, we’re interested in it.

Where to submit

If interested in submitting something or just asking about submissions, please e-mail pj [at] rattlingchains.com.

Thank you for considering submitting to Rattling Chains and we look forward to working with you!