Submissions
We’ve re-launched Back-Post after a few years in the shadows. The slow death of the independent football blog has been difficult to watch and with coverage of the sport becoming ever more banal, we’ve decided to make a comeback.
This time around, the ultimate target is to be able to pay writers and contributors. To begin with, however, it’s going to be a labour of love until we can get some money moving (somehow).
The quicker we get good stuff in, the quicker we can grow the site, so really the re-launch’s success depends on you.
What we’re looking for
We don’t want to publish transfer rumours or tactical/technical breakdowns and analysis. We’re not big on 2000-word tomes on historical figures, teams or matches for the most part. We’ve got nothing against that kind of content, but it’s been done to death elsewhere and we’re aiming to carve out a unique space for ourselves instead.
Ideally, your pitches will be built around current topics. We’re after opinion pieces and unusual stories in the main. In terms of style, think more fanzine than magazine or newsroom. Be quirky, be offbeat, be witty if that’s your bag. Don’t be afraid to be weird. Weird is good. We’re after the sort of entertaining reads that you aren’t likely to find elsewhere.
We encourage writers to pack their pieces with personality, but please steer clear of sensationalism and don’t be provocative for engagement’s sake.
Premier League stuff is welcome of course, but we’d love stories from all over. Any level on the pyramid from any country works for us. As long as we find the article engaging, there is a good chance that we’ll publish it.
We’re going to be picky in terms of what we publish. While we do want to get as much good stuff out there as possible, we would prefer to publish one good story over 20 decent ones.
You don’t need any previous experience to submit something. We recommend emailing us with the gist of what you had in mind. If we like the idea, we’ll let you know, but there is NO GUARANTEE that we’ll like the finished article enough to publish it.
If we give you the go ahead, aim for an article in the 800-to-1000-word range. There is some wiggle room there, but use that as a general word-count guide.
We’ve also decided to stay off social media completely. We don’t like it. It’s a pain in the arse. We won’t have any official accounts or channels anywhere but feel free to share your stuff wherever you want.