PRSSA’s national blog, Progressions, is a way to share experience, offer advice and share resources while building your portfolio.
Writing for Progressions
The following are guidelines for submitting content to PRSSA publications. For more information or questions about the writing process, email the vice president of brand engagement at vpbrandengagement@prsa.org or progressions@prsa.org.
Topics
Acceptable topics for submission include advice for internship and career success; discussions of current events and public relations issues; best Chapter practices for fundraising, recruiting and connecting with professionals; advice for planning meetings and events; or other topics that are relevant to public relations students and young professionals.
Note: PRSSA does not typically accept previously published material. The views and opinions expressed in Progressions are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policies or positions of PRSSA National.
Blog copy should be more conversational than writing for a publication. However, basic journalistic principles still apply.
To maintain the high quality of Progressions, all writers are asked to research previously published articles to get a sense of the tone and content regularly published and to adhere to the writing guidelines before submitting it to the vice president of brand engagement. Pitch your topic idea to the vice president of brand engagement by using the email progressions@prsa.org.
General Writing Guidelines
- Articles should be between 300–500 words. Remember, quality over quantity.
- Writers are encouraged to include a photo submission with articles. (See photo guidelines below.)
- Be creative. Incorporate bulleted lists, infographics and other visual elements. Nontraditional formats such as photo essays, infographics, video blogs and podcasts are encouraged.
- Make posts thought provoking and help spark a conversation.
- Include a 30–40 word biographical summary of yourself, which will appear at the head of the post, if published.
- Follow the PRSSA Style Guide and AP Style.
Style and Voice
- Be professional and conversational in your tone. Stay clear and consistent. Show, don’t tell, your topic.
- Always write in an active voice. (Don’t say: There was a presentation given by Matt. Say: Matt gave a presentation.)
Citations and Facts
- Ensure accuracy by double-checking names, confirming spelling and including relevant institutions and dates.
- Attribute all quotes and properly identify the speaker.
- When citing a survey or statistics, provide the proper name of the survey, who conducted it and the release date.
- Include a hyperlink to referenced works when appropriate.
Grammar and Organization
- Stay organized and focused. Be creative with subheads, lists and visual elements.
- Vary sentence structure, providing a mix of simple, compound and complex sentences to avoid being redundant.
Photo Submission Guidelines
- Writers are encouraged to submit photos along with articles. Photos also may be submitted without an article to be used in the publication in the future.
- Do not submit photos that appear blurry, out of focus or pixelated.
- Do not submit photos with low megapixels or low quality. Submitted photos should be taken at the highest or second highest quality for the camera’s capabilities.
- Photos should have a good balance of light (not too little or too much).
- Be active! Get people and actions in the photos.
- Get close. Photos can be cropped, but quality will be lost.
- Stay within the regular formats of photos when submitting. JPEG images are preferred.
- Name the photo file in an understandable manner so it can be easily identified (e.g., PRSSA International Conference President’s Lunch.jpg).
- Include a caption. Photos without a caption will not be used. Captions should be written in an active voice and cover the five Ws and H. Please include the photo credit for the photographer.