LXer Story Submission HOWTO

Many of our readers find interesting stories on other sites that we might want to link to here at LXer. Others desire to write insightful - or sometimes, inciteful - editorials, tutorials, and other articles to be published through LXer.

You can use the "Publish it here." link to submit stories. Before you go "hog wild", though, please take a moment to check out these instructions. We have tried to make the form as simple as possible, but it still may not be completely intuitive.

Here's how to use the Story Submission form:

  • Headline - The actual headline for the story (self explanatory, no?)

  • Source - e.g., LXer, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Oklahoma Gazette, C|Net, etc.

  • Author - The author's name, if known - for Press Release, just put "Press Release"

  • Link to external article - Paste the URL for an article published on another website (doesn't apply if it's your article that you are posting on LXer)

  • Lead - Provide a little blurb about the story to get readers' attention. Sometimes the story may have such a blurb, or you can use the first paragraph. You can also make up your own.

  • Body - If this is an article you have written, and are publishing on LXer, you should paste the main body of your text here. If the article is published on another website, you should just leave the body section blank. Otherwise, make sure you section off your article. If your article is a lengthy one, consider adding sub-headings for readability.

  • Groups - Select the group you think is most applicable. If you don't see a good match, just leave the Groups empty.

  • Category - Not everything is a news story, so choose the story type you think it is.

  • Preview & Add News Item - Please Preview any original articles before clicking the "Add News Item" button. As long as you click "Preview", you can keep editing your article. Once you click "Add News Item", you have no opportunity for further editing or review. Your article is in our hands at that point.

    • I highly recommend you use the Preview feature to check articles you are publishing through LXer. We generally fix problems when we find them, but you really should make sure your story appears as you want it, because our editing may not suit your taste.

    That's how you submit an article! You should take note that we are not required to publish an article just because you submitted it. Many of the articles that come through our news queue never make it to the newswire. Duplicate posts are just one example of many things that could prevent your article from being published. That said, if you have a question, please feel free to e-mail the editorial team.

    When submitting an article please do not copy and paste the entire article into the body field. Re-publishing an article without permission is very bad, as in against the law.

    Only provide a small lead, not the entire article. Make sure you preview the article as well. Not checking to look for spelling errors has gotten me many times. I learned. :-) And don't forget the main thing - Have fun!

    Add a story to the newswire