How To Get Published On The Huffington Post

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The Huffington Post is one of the biggest and multi awarded digital platforms in the world and the  first commercially run United States digital media enterprise to win a Pulitzer Prize (Wikipedia). To have your article published in it is such a privilege. There is no wonder a lot of aspiring writers are clamouring for that chance. I have been lucky enough to have my article accepted and published in January of this year.

I have heard of people sending their work and never hear anything but this did not stop me from trying. After all, what’s the worst that can happen? I have written a post about children and technology on this blog which I have always felt is a good post to be featured in the Parents section as it is about the struggles of parents in our digital time. I also know that this is one of the things that Arianna Huffington (founder and editor in chief) is passionate about, aside from sleep. If you have read her book Thrive, you would know what I’m talking about. 

The Huffington Post has an article submission form but when I was doing my research online, I found out that this is not the best way. Most people who got published emailed their work to the editors themselves and some to Arianna Huffington herself. I emailed my article to one of the editors from the Parents section but after a week of not hearing from them, I decided to email Arianna Huffington herself. She replied exactly a week after. She wrote in her email that they are interested in running my piece and that she will get one of the editors to get in touch with me. This was in November of last year and by December, no editor has contacted me. It was the Christmas rush and life got in the way so I put it in the back burner. After the Christmas season, I decided to email one of the UK editors as I’m based in the UK. I forwarded Arianna’s email to them saying I have not heard from any editor. I got a reply just a few minutes after sending the email and was set up with a blogger account in the next 24 hours. I submitted my article a few days later and it went live  in less than 24 hours. You can read it here.

To summarize, here is a step by step way of how to go about making your dream of being published on the Huffington Post finally come true.

FIRST:

Write an article that you are passionate about. Something that is written from the heart resonates better compared to something that is written only because it is a popular topic. of course, it has be a topic about something that is in consonance with the times. You could also use an article that you have already posted on your blog. The Huffington Post is fine with this as long as it is an original.

SECOND:

Edit. edit. edit. I heard the editors at the Huffington Post are really busy that they don’t have time to heavily edit articles. A well edited piece has a better chance of being published. I read and re-read my article a hundred times. I also asked a friend who used to be my associate editor in our school paper to read and edit it for me. You might not see any more grammatical error but someone with fresh eyes might do. He did find a couple of sentences that needs rewording.

THIRD:

Once you are happy with your article, it is time to think of a good pitch. They receive thousands of pitch emails and you need something that will really catch their eye.  This is how I worded mine.

Some people say it is best to include your head shot. I did but once I got my account, I don’t think it matters as it is you who is going to place your head shot in your profile but please do include a short bio.

FOURTH:

Email it to the editor whom you think is appropriate for your topic or to Arianna herself. Their email addresses are available on the HuffPost website or google like I did. 

FIFTH:

Sit back and relax now that you have done the hard part. If you haven't heard in 2 weeks, follow up and if you still haven't heard, don't lose hope and try again.

Good luck.