Write for transform. blog
The stories in the transform. blog are entirely about transformative social change and the ways it’s changing the social justice movement.
We look for original, real, honest, timely stories focused on where transformative change can take our communities, our movements, our whole world. We include pieces on how people, organizations, and communities are changing for the better based on this work. Our audience: social change/social justice activists and allies.
We’re also interested in pieces that talk about spiritual practice, yoga, meditation, centered change work, articles on Occupy, videos, the latest info on social change leaders or their organizations as well as info on the environment, etc. And we’ll also post your events, so you can’t lose.
Read on for more about our general guidelines and what you need to do to submit a story.
What is transformative change?
What is transformative social change? In a nutshell, transformative social change is about basing our social justice movements on inner change so that outer change is more sustainable. A perfect example are organizations doing their work from a place seated in nonviolence and nonaggression so the changes they make are build with those roots.
Payment
Sadly, we can’t pay you for your work, but we do hope that the chance to publish your article and get it out there in the world will be an enough of an incentive to contribute. Hey, you never know who’s reading transform. Publishing here could make you famous.
General Guidelines
Content will be edited to fit the CXC style. The editor reserves the right to edit stories and to change images, titles or section as needed. Writers must be the original author of the work they submit.
If you’ve never submitted your piece elsewhere, you should know that transform. doesn’t hold the copyright to your work, you do. If you’ve published work submitted to us in another publication, please notify us, and we’d also ask that you change the title so readers can be directed to the transform. blog.
Stories can be anywhere from 500-2,500 words and must be relevant to transformative social change to be posted.
Stories posted on the blog may also be chosen for our monthly journal, depending on theme and content.
All work is sent/received via email. Please do not snail mail submissions, they will be returned to you unread.
Submit your work using a standard 12 point font such as palatino, times new roman, arial, georgia, etc. Double-space your text. Black text. Include a title (approximately 6 words in length), a photo representative of your piece that’s at least 600 pixels wide, and a short 75-word bio to include at the end of your piece.
Include an image. All images must include the name of the photographer/image maker or we will not include them in your post. Send images as email attachments only. We prefer jpg, but will take gif and png files.
Your image must be at least 600 pixels wide for us to accept it. What’s a pixel?
http://www.techterms.com/definition/pixel
Looking for an image? Here are some of the places we find our images, all are free.
Most only request a credit to the photographer.
http://www.stockxchange.com
http://www.freedigitalphotos.net
http://www.morguefile.com
http://www.digitalimagemagazine.com/blog/featured/25-free-stock-photo-sites/
And, of course, if you took the picture, we’re happy for you to include it here as well. Just be sure to let us know that you’re the photographer!
Before You Submit: Learn More About Blog Sections Here
Information About Blog Sections
These are the sections and categories we include on the transform. blog and in the journal. Before submitting your story look here to determine which section would best fit your piece.
activists, allies, and agents of change—This area looks at an organization, individual or at other resources that are bringing about change using transformative approaches. Personal and organizational profiles look into how personal
development and self-mastery tools and practices are being used to advance social change outcomes to great affect. (This has most often been a profile on a transformative change leader who heads an organization.)
from the Field – This includes information from someone or from an organization working in the field of transformative change. Generally, it includes their blog, but always gives insights into what is happening in their sphere organizationally and/or regionally and gives their view on that field.
inner Practice – This will include a short discussion about the way change happens on an inner,personal level. It could be a scientific discovery or an anecdotal story that reveals how our inner lives affect our behavior in the world. This section’s focus is about how our spirituality develops and deepens and our connection to others and ourselves.
in the Body – This section focused on the benefit of a particular asana or information about a body practice as well as a focus on body practices, most often on yoga practices, asanas, breathing, anything related to using the body to realign
ourselves spiritually.
in the Mind – in the Mind focuses on how the mind reflects the truth about our spiritual connection. These might be articles regarding what science has discovered about the brains of folks who meditate; they may be about some aspect of how our brains work and how that reveals some truth about oneness and/or spirituality.
in the Money – This section focuses on funders and grant making that support transformative social change organizations.
in Sight – This is a video that gives voice to transformative change. We have often used speakers from Ted Talks, Vimeo, YouTube, and Global Oneness that talk about how a particular person or organization is bringing about change that stems from a generosity of spirit, oneness and has a forward thinking approach toward progressive social change.
in Time—The in Time section includes events going on around the country held in or by organizations that do transformative social change work. The section covers locations around the country each month.
outer Action—outer Action talks about an organizational change item or resource of relevance and what best practices are to bring transformative practices into organizational contexts. It could be a reading, chart, success story or an example. (Most often this section has been used to tell about the organization that the activists, allies, and agents of change leader belongs to, though that needn’t always be the case.)
quote—We include a quote that is relevant to social change, social justice, or inner change and practice. Most often the person quoted is an activist or someone who has influenced progressive change in the world.resources—These are short descriptions of events, articles, videos, etc. relevant to that month’s theme or to stories from that month. They always include links.
social Change – This section gives an example of how change is brought about through the use of innovative, transformative practice. We’re particularly looking for examples in which both the agents of change and members of impacted communities are positively affected or where unexpected outcomes are the result of approaching things from a 3rd Way perspective.
wellness & being well – This includes information about food and health, often in relation to the environment. It is about how our health affects our state of mind or our ability to function as whole, healthy human beings.
what’s new—This section talks about something new that folks would otherwise not see. It can be a new program that an organization has begun or something that is new, little known and potentially influential in terms of transformative change.
We include information on organizations across the country along with new books, programs, etc.
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Want to be a regular contributor?
If you’re interested in being a regular weekly, biweekly or monthly contributor, we ask that you contribute 4 consecutive pieces, one each week, via email before you post on the blog. Please notify the editor with your first submission if this is the case.
To submit, write to [email protected]