What are BubbleLife's policies for free contributions?

Created by Alison Thornton, Modified on Thu, 16 Mar 2023 at 11:34 AM by Alison Thornton

BubbleLife receives thousands of contributions a day and self-submission gets your news into our queue. BubbleLife editors moderate all submissions, and requirements for publication are that stories be local, not overly promotional, and that community readers would want to read the post.

Here are our policies for posting to BubbleLife:

It is free to post, but you must self-submit. Learn how to submit here.
We do not publish anything we receive by email.
Content must be local, relevant, and interesting.
We are not looking for the typical press release and will not accept content published in that format. Please review our Writing Guide to learn more.

Your school, church, sports team, interest group, nonprofit, and/or community organization may post articles, announcements, events, and classifieds at no charge. Local businesses can review our Sponsored Content options here.

Article and calendar event posts are to be informative and educational in nature and should not be used as advertising. Please refrain from using excessive PR content and link to additional information instead. It is always best to download and review our Writing Guide for further information.

Classified ads are for promoting and advertising your business through sales, paid events, and basic business promotions.

Examples of where to submit your post:

If your business is having a sale on products or services, post a classified.
If your business is having a free event, such as a grand opening or open house, post a calendar event.
If your nonprofit is announcing a fundraiser and you are explaining how monies are being used locally, post an article.
If you are a reader selling items or hosting a garage sale, post as a classified.
If your business is simply promoting a service, post it as a classified.

For Agencies Submitting on Behalf of Their Clients

Just as other media outlets choose which PR pitches to cover, we choose which PR submissions to feature on our community news sites and do not guarantee placement for content submitted by agencies.

For guaranteed placement on BubbleLife news websites, newsletters, and social media, we offer multiple sponsored and native content opportunities. Agencies can review their Sponsored Content options at this link.

For Schools Submitting Articles and Events

Public schools and districts submitting to BubbleLife can expect their content to be shared with the communities served by that school or district. For private schools submitting content to BubbleLife, we will share it with the community in which the campus is located. For further distribution opportunities, please review our advertising package for DFW-area private schools at this link.

Regarding event-related articles

Articles relating to time-sensitive events must be submitted at a minimum of 48 hours in advance of the event. Because we send out newsletters to our readers around the clock depending on their preferred time, users who have already received their newsletters for the day will receive posts submitted the day of the event as "expired" news in their next newsletter.

No-Tolerance Policy

As a free service to more than 250 communities, our editors put our readers first. Editors make the final decision to approve or deny a post and determine where the post will be distributed. Our editors are very accommodating and will make recommendations to rewrite an article or place it in the classified area if applicable. BubbleLife has a no-tolerance policy, which is very simple: if you are disrespectful, rude, or complain and/or protest our editors' decisions extensively regarding moderation or placement, you will be banned from posting to our network.

Follow these tips from our Writing Guide when submitting for your neighborhood:

Make it Newsworthy: Give your story an angle. Have an event coming up? Don’t just give readers the time and place — instead, add a story about the impact of last year’s gathering and what you expect from this year’s event.
Use Your Voice: Just writing facts and details in an article can be boring and uninteresting. Instead, use a conversational voice, like you’re telling the information to a friend. After all, you are writing for your neighbors!
Include Local People: People love to read about local people and what they are doing in their community. Feature a member of your organization or team and relate to the human interest.
Provide a Community Benefit: How will your information be beneficial to the neighborhood? Articles that provide answers or fill community needs are a great fit for BubbleLife.
Add Good Photographs: A good photograph gets your story read by more people because photos are memorable and engaging. Photographs should supplement an article’s message. Photographs can be featured in two ways: embedded into an article or placed in a gallery at the end of an article.
The bottom line: Make sure your story is something your neighbor would want to read.