FWT Magazine: Submitting Your Article

Please follow these step-by-step instructions for submitting your article to the FWT Magazine website.

Login

Request login from Amy Piper.
WordPress delivers an email with your login information and password. Once you gain access, you may change your password. (Your login information is your email address and password.)
On the home page of FWTmagazine.com, go to Contributors Log In and select Login from the dropdown list.
Enter your Username or Email Address. Enter the Password.
Select Remember Me. As a safety precaution, the tool may ask you to reenter your password once a week.

Dashboard

In the left column, select Posts, Add New to create a new post. (Select All Posts if you have a DRAFT in the system.)

Note: After reviewing this document, if you still feel unclear, you can check out this link to a WordPress tutorial.

Post

Insert the title (headline) of the post. Capitalize the first letter of each word.
Copy and paste your article text into the field below the title. (Do not include a byline with your article. It will automatically populate from your Profile.)
Use the standard paragraph font. For foreign words and terms, use italic type.
Be sure to add one space between each paragraph.
Insert subheadings throughout (Choose H2) to break the copy into sections.
Make sure each section has no more than 300 words. Use H3 heads, which are smaller, to break it up. Where relevant, add keywords to your subheadings for SEO.

Media

After adding your text and subheads, you can add photos to your post.

Photo Specifications

Horizontal photos are best for the website and ideal for mobile appearance.
Please resize photos to 780 pixels on the image’s longest side.
If you do not have Photoshop or Lightroom, you can resize your photos quickly and easily using bulkresizephotos.com or simpleimageresizer.com.
Select Media in the left column of the Dashboard and go to Add New.

Pro Tip: Select the photos you will use in your post in advance. Store them in a separate folder on your computer, making them easily accessible when preparing your post.

Feel free to ask hosts, PR reps, CVBs, and other businesses (hotels, restaurants, attractions, etc.) you mention in your article for professional photos if you don’t have high-quality images. Unfortunately, FWT Magazine does not accept Creative Commons photos, but you may use free resources such as Unsplash.com or Pexels.com.

Drag and Drop (one at a time) or Select Files (for bulk uploading) from your computer.
After you upload all the required photos, select each image and complete the information, including Alternative Text, Title, Caption, and Description.
Alternative Text has two essential purposes. First, it is read aloud to users by screen reader software, and search engines index it. It also displays if the image fails to load. This is a critical component of traffic to the website and should feature your keywords for SEO.
Title is the name you have given your image.
Caption includes a description of the image and the copyright notice. To make the copyright symbol, use Ctrl+Alt+C on the PC, and Option+g on the Mac, followed by the owner’s name. If the photo is not yours, state “Courtesy of [owner].”
Description can be the same as alternative text or caption information.
Next Step: When you are ready to add a photo to your post, insert your cursor in the place you want to insert it and click on Add Media at the top of the page below the title. You will be taken to the Media Gallery and can select the photo you want to add.
You will see the Attachment Display Settings. Next, click Alignment (Choose Center) and Size (Choose Full Size), then click Insert into the post.
Continue to add photos throughout your post.

Pro Tip: When adding new photos, add them to the Media Library. Avoid using Add Media at the top of your post. The Media Library processes images correctly for use in WordPress. (Add Media at the top of the post is only used when inserting photos already in the Media Gallery throughout your post.)

Featured Image

Select Set Featured Image from the right-hand column at the bottom. You must set a featured image from the Library. Always choose a high-quality landscape (horizontal) image as your featured image, which will appear at the top of your post
Do not add the Featured image again at the beginning of your article or anywhere else within the post.

Include Hyperlinks

Set External links throughout your post to the hotels, restaurants, or other points of interest described in your article. Links to sites with good traffic give SEO credibility to the post.
Include an internal link to another article on the FWTmagazine.com site when possible. Then, search the magazine and include references and links to those articles. This also gives SEO credibility to the post.
Set all your link options, both external and internal, to Open in a New Tab to keep the reader on our website. Good SEO practice prevents the reader from leaving our site.
Here is a link to a tutorial on how to do it: (Scroll to “Open External Link in a New Window Using Classic Editor.”)

Hosted Trips

If you are writing about a hosted trip or visit, include a short disclosure statement at the end of the post, e.g., [Destination] hosted me, but all opinions are my own.

Yoast SEO

Note: We use the Yoast SEO plug-in on FWT magazine to improve SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and Readability. If you aren’t familiar with Yoast, Here is a Beginner’s Guide that will be helpful.

For good SEO, strive to have fewer than 20 words in a sentence.
Strive for less than 10% passive voice in your post.
Add a Focus keyphrase and a Meta Description to summarize your article. Search engines pick up key phrases and meta descriptions.
Strive to have a “green light” in SEO and Readability after saving your Draft.

Bio

Because you are signed in under your name, bio, and byline, appear at the end of your article when published.

Preview

Save your Draft frequently. Then, when your post is ready to review, select Preview in the Publish pane in the right-hand column.
Read through your article to view it as it will appear once published to ensure everything looks good.
Always test all your hyperlinks, highlighted in blue, to be sure they are opening in a New Tab.
Return to Edit Post (at the top of the screen) to make any needed changes.
When ready, save one final time, and then review the Submission Checklist below to ensure your article is formatted correctly and you’ve included all requirements before submitting for final review. Save as Pending.

Submission Checklist

All hyperlinks are working correctly and are set to open in a new window.
At least two (2) external hyperlinks have been included.
All photos are high quality (in focus, properly lit, etc.) and have been resized to 780 pixels wide on the longest side.
The article has a Featured Image.
The article is in the proper categories.
The article has the proper tags.
I have reviewed my bio, which is less than 50 words and is accurate.
I have a Gravatar account linked to my user profile. (If you do not have a Gravatar account, sign up for one here.)
I have added a Focus keyphrase and Meta Description under Yoast SEO and have a green light showing under SEO and Readability.

Note: We use Yoast SEO on FWT magazine. If you aren’t familiar with Yoast, here is a Beginner’s Guide that will be helpful.

Submit for Final Review

When your article is ready to publish, select “Save as Pending” and notify Amy Piper and Debbra Dunning Brouillette that your article is ready for a final review.
You will be notified if there are any other changes needed. If not, the editors will publish it.

Promoting Your Article on Social Media

Writers must promote their FWT Magazine article on social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, etc.). Here are tips for sharing your articles:

You can share directly from the sharing links below your article.
Schedule out social media posts of your article for an extended period, such as in 1-week, 2-week, and 1-month intervals. Use a new image for each post.
Share your articles on your LinkedIn profile and other sites you belong to, such as TravMedia.
Include @IFWTWA with your Tweets, and we’ll retweet them for increased amplification. On Instagram, it’s @IFWTWA1.
Does your post fit into one of the IFWTWA Social Share days – #TravelTuesday, #WineWednesday, or #FoodieFriday? If so, share it in the IFWTWA Facebook group sharing threads.
Share your article within any social media groups you belong to.
You can also re-share the articles posted by the FWT team to your profiles for even greater exposure – retweet, re-gram, etc.
Don’t forget to notify your hosts, PR Reps, CVBs, etc., of your article publication so they can share it too!

Food Wine & Travel stories for the discriminating reader

Submission Instructions for Contributors