Who can make a submission?
- Anyone who is passionate about the profession of arms; there is no specific expertise or qualifications required. We especially encourage submissions from junior leaders written for junior leaders, and our editorial team will happily work with you to develop semi-formed ideas into publishable work.
- Include a biography (the length can vary from one sentence to a paragraph) and a link to your Twitter or social media handle (if you choose).
- Please contact us if you need to remain anonymous for security or operational reasons.
What can I write about?
- Anything related to developing the military profession is welcomed. In the past, we’ve had articles on tactics, strategy, innovation and leadership, and we are always looking to expand.
- Write about big picture issues, rather than information related to a specific unit or operation.
- Take a long view and think about security (our readers don’t need precise facts about a particular trial or single exercise).
How should I write?
- Aim to keep articles between 500 and 1200 words. Articles this length get the most readership on digital platforms. That said, we do accept long-form articles.
- Write in a clear and active voice.
- Keep sentences short and concise (aim for less than 25 words per sentence as a good guide).
- In general, assume you can go without a hyphen unless a modifying phrase or expression would truly be confusing or hard to read without it. We are far more prone to adding a hyphen when none is needed than leaving out a hyphen that’s necessary. Read more on hyphens.
- Write for a general audience—not experts in your field. Avoid jargon and acronyms.
- Avoid unnecessary capitalisation. You are not writing an Operations Order. We are also not a drill square so we try not to shout at people through virtual means.
Some extra hints
- Do use short paragraphs designed for a digital readers on desktop, tablet and mobile
- Do use topic sentences
- Do only try to make one big argument per post
- Do use examples—whether from the real world or fictional—to help make your points
- Do choose a title which includes 3-5 key words pertinent to the topic and which are also used in the main body of the article. This enhances search engine optimisation so more people will be able to find your work via Google, Bing, and Yahoo.
- Do use hyperlinks rather than any formal academic referencing (bibliographies and footnotes).
- Do include a cover image to be published with your article, but please ensure that it is licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons licence (providing full attribution and a hyperlink to the original source).
Writing for The Bookshelf
- We ask that your book review describes the lessons you learned.
- Lessons can be found in every book and by including these you are providing a critical analysis of the reading.
- Where appropriate, we would also like to hear about any changes you brought into your workplace or leadership style as a result of these lessons.
Have a question or ready to submit? Send your question or article to groundedcuriosity@gmail.com and include a short bio and any relevant photographs or diagrams with your submission.
Submissions are accepted on a rolling basis. We will endeavour to get back to you as soon as possible, but if you don’t hear from us within 72 hours, we request your support and patience. We are all serving personnel and are sometimes all out field, on duty or on operations!
We request that you do not submit your work to Grounded Curiosity whilst it is under consideration for publication elsewhere, and vice versa.