Introduction
Welcome!
Thank you for your interest in making a contribution to the great content we offer here at World Blind Herald. We strive to provide interesting, substantive, useful and entertaining information for the benefit of all readers, from all walks of life, and all abilities. We work hard to produce quality content and to create an environment that is inclusive, amusing, and educational. If you would like to write articles for World Blind Herald, please review the guidelines below.
Author Guidelines:
You must acknowledge that you have read, understand, and agree to the following guidelines before World Blind Herald (WBH) can publish your work.
WBH is open to article submissions from anyone who is blind, who works in the blindness advocacy, accessibility, or assistive technology fields, is a parent of a blind child, or has something to say about the community of blind people. We currently offer three payment tiers, based upon several factors, which will be applied at our discretion.
Compensation
Tier 1: Casual Contributor
A “casual contributor” is defined as anyone who wants to write a single article, or who is interested in submitting an occasional article, whether or not you are an established or professional writer. You will be paid $25.00USD for an article we accept and use for publication in the World Blind Herald.
Along with your submission, please include a short, “about the author” bio, as well as a photo. Your photo can be a professional head shot, an avatar, a graphic related to your story, a photo of something relevant to you, a logo, or even a selfie.
Not so confident in your writing skills? Don’t worry! This contributor level is flexible, as there are no deadlines, no word count or subject matter requirements, and you will not be asked to provide content on an assignment basis. We will proofread, edit, and make alterations that do not change your meaning, but that will enhance the readability of your submission, as necessary. So, give it a try! We want to hear from you. Your article can be about your guide dog, how you travel in your part of the world, what assistive technology works best for you, or how you lost your eyesight. Personal accounts of your own blindness experiences are welcome.
Once we publish six of your articles, you will be upgraded to a regular contributor.
Tier 2: Regular Contributor
A “regular contributor” is defined as an author who must commit to writing a minimum of six publishable articles per year. A publishable article is an article that adheres to the values of the World Blind Herald, as described in our value statement, and requires no more than standard editing and proofreading.
Regular contributors will be paid $50.00USD for each article we accept and use for publication in the World Blind Herald.
Along with your submission, please include a short, “about the author” bio, as well as a photo. Your photo can be a professional head shot, an avatar, logo, or even a selfie. Regular contributors will be featured on our staff page.
Regular contributors are subject matter specialists, writing mainly for a specific category or niche, such as sports or business. Regular contributors may also be assigned to write about a given topic, interview other experts in a similar field, or to review and fact-check other content. Finally, regular contributors will be contracted to provide a minimum number of publishable articles per year that adhere to publication deadlines and word count.
Tier 3: Special Contributors
A “special contributor” is defined as an individual who is an established author, or who is a high profile person, executive, celebrity, novelist, advocate, or other recognizable name in the blindness community. This contributor tier is by invitation, as name recognition will help us attract readers, sponsors and advertisers.
Special contributors will be compensated $100.00USD for each article accepted and published by the World Blind Herald.
World Blind Herald will also add a custom profile about you, along with a featured image, if requested.
World Blind Herald recognizes that we cannot know every influencer or high-profile individual in every country or region, therefore, if you believe you are appropriate for this category, please send us a proposal that includes your credentials.
The Submission Process
If you would like to write a WBH article, please use our submission form. If you would like more information, or wish to propose an article topic, please contact us.
When we receive your article, the WBH editorial team will review your piece for suitability, and, if our editorial team chooses to accept it for publication, at our discretion we will edit your submission for clarity and accuracy. While the published version may not be identical to your submission, we will not change your intended meaning. However, we reserve the right to make changes that improve the content readability, or as necessary to fit the space available. You must adhere to standard journalistic practices of citing your sources, and including links to any references that are materially relevant to the substance of your article.
Getting Paid
If you already have a PayPal account, you may send us a PayPal invoice. Log in to your PayPal account to create an invoice. Send your PayPal invoice to:
In order to receive payment from World Blind Herald, you must submit an invoice that includes the following:
Your full name.
Your address.
Your phone number.
Your email.
The invoice date.
The article title.
The article submission date.
The article publication date.
All invoices must allow for a remittance period of sixty (60) days.
All invoices must be submitted for payment within fifteen (15) days of article publication. If we receive your invoice no later than 15 days from the date we published your article, we will remit payment at the end of the following month. This means you will receive payment between 45 and 60 days from the date your article is published, provided you submit an invoice within 15 days of publication.
If you do not have a PayPal account, or if you are unable to use PayPal to generate an invoice, you may create an invoice using any text editor, such as Word. Send your invoice via email to:
If we receive your invoice after 15 days from the date your article was published, we may take a full 60 days to pay your invoice. So, thank you for sending us an invoice in a timely manner.
All invoices will be paid via PayPal. If you do not have a PayPal account, please contact us for an alternative. Mailing a paper check may add more than two weeks to the 45 day remittance period. Please make arrangements with us for alternative methods of payment in advance of article submission.
Send invoices to:
Invoicing and payment examples
Let’s say you submit an article to us on March 5th. After we review your article for relevance and suitability, if we accept your submission we will notify you and provide you with an estimated date of publication. This estimate may change based upon publication space available. We will make every effort to provide you with an accurate publication date, but we reserve the right to change the publication date as necessary. You will also be notified as to which payment tier that best fits your submission.
Let’s say the article you sent us on March 5th was published on March 25th.
Once your article has been published, send us an invoice within 15 days for the total amount due. Your invoice may include an amount for a single article, or for multiple articles if we publish more than one in a single calendar month.
Let’s say you send us an invoice dated April 7th for the article we published on March 25th. Your invoice will be paid no later than the end of the following month, may 30th.
Let’s say you forget all about sending us an invoice, and we don’t receive it until April 20th. Since receipt of your invoice falls outside the 15 day invoicing period, you may be paid up to 60 days from the date we get your invoice. That means it can take until June 20th to pay you for an article you submitted in early March. So, get those invoices in to us within 15 days.
IMPORTANT: World Blind Herald does not pay authors to propose, compose, or submit articles. Contributors will be paid only upon acceptance and subsequent publication of your submission.
In lieu of monetary payment:
We understand that not everyone is willing to jeopardize other income by accepting monetary payment for articles submitted to World Blind Herald. You may choose to accept an alternate form of payment, such as a gift card, which we will consider on a case-by-case basis. To discuss this further, please reach out to us via our contact form.
Promoting your article
World Blind Herald is a collaborative effort intended to benefit the worldwide English-speaking blind community, and we are delighted to have you on board. As our readership grows, we want to publish quality content for the widest audience possible. Your article submission is just one aspect of your contribution. All contributing authors are required to help promote World Blind Herald by leveraging your own network. You can bring attention to your article, articles you like written by others, or World Blind Herald in general, which helps to raise awareness about the publication. Sharing in the promotional duties is not optional. If you are proud of your published article, then share it! Use your company newsletter, social media, groups list, podcast, or tap your friends and family for a signal boost. We want you, and World Blind Herald, to gain exposure so that we can continue to elevate the conversation around blindness. Retweet the edition in which your article appears, with the link back to the World Blind Herald site. Post about World Blind Herald on Facebook. Take a screenshot and post it on Instagram. Follow @BlindHerald on Twitter, and as our social media presence grows, join our groups, chats, and subscribe to the World Blind Herald on our web site, https://orldblindheraldcom.stage.site/subscribe/.
Rights and responsibilities
Please read our mission statement and our values statement for more information on our policies , aims, and expectations. We reserve the right to reject, withhold, or withdraw any article that uses racist, bigoted, or discriminatory language, or promotes violence, illegal activity, or harm to oneself or to others. All comments are moderated, and we will reject comments that are offensive, inappropriate, or harmful. Keep your articles relevant to our readers, your critiques constructive, and your comments clean.
Copyright and fair use
By submitting articles to World Blind Herald for publication, you give us permission to use, reuse, retain and republish your content as we see fit, in perpetuity or until permission has been revoked by consent of both parties, or if six (6) months have elapsed since we published your last article. While all authors retain copyright and intellectual property rights for all submitted content, you agree that World Blind Herald retain exclusive right to publish your content for one (1) year from the date of publication. By checking the box below, and submitting articles for publication, you assert that you have not copied, downloaded, uploaded, or in any way plagiarized the work of others, and that your content is your original work, unless annotated, credited, cited, or linked to the original source.
Errors and omissions
There are no deep pockets here, so anything we left out or published in error on this page or anywhere else on World Blind Herald may be entirely accidental, so don’t be mean. The complaint department is on the third floor. You also agree to hold World Blind Herald harmless from any adverse consequences that occur as a result of your contribution to World Blind Herald and your agreement to these terms.
Submit your article, or pitch your article idea!
If you are ready to pitch us an article idea, select the link below. You will be taken to our submission page, where you will be asked to use our submission form, and to check the box that indicates you have read and have understood the World Blind Herald author guidelines and terms of service. You must confirm your agreement each time you submit an article, or propose an article idea. Ready?