Five Things to Know about Blogging for Lower Macungie Patch

Things change fast on Lower Macungie Patch. Up until now, we've primarily been a news source, written by our staff and freelancers. But on May 4, we're hoping to add a new voice to the site: Yours.

Got something to say about life in the Macungie area or news to spread? Need a forum for your community group or activity? Want to teach something? Or are you simply eager to share your views? Then read on and see if a Lower Macungie Patch blog is right for you.

1. What is a Lower Macungie Patch blog? We don't have a lot of hard requirements around what we're looking for in a blog, outside of this: it's got to be interesting to Macungie area residents. Maybe you're talking about our local politics. Maybe you're spreading news about community projects. Maybe you're the local authority on golf, gardening, kids or pets. If Macungie, Lower Macungie and Alburtis residents feel more plugged into their community after reading your blog, you've hit the nail on the head.
2. What kinds of blogs are we looking for? Well, just about anything, if there's a local hook. Got perspective on how the community's changed over the years? Want a place to showcase your cool photos from around town? Need a de facto online newsletter for your community group? Got favorite recipes to share or books to recommend? All of those sound like contenders to us.
3. What do we consider responsible? Opinions are awesome, particularly well-thought-out ones backed up with facts. But personal insults, unfounded claims and defamation are not what we're looking for. When opinions get strong and contentious, it's not always clear where the fine lines are drawn, but we're more than happy to help guide you through those murky waters. And as long as your intention is to keep things above-board, we're happy to have you on the site.
4. How will you be compensated? Sorry, you might get fame, but not fortune, from your blog on Lower Macungie Patch. So here's the deal: It's your voice, and it's free. You get to put your ideas on a site that's serving as a community hub, where more and more people will have the opportunity to discover them all the time. And since we're part of the Huffington Post Media Group, we may occasionally be able to put your submission in front of an even bigger audience. You can write as often (or as infrequently) as you'd like, though we'd love it if you’d come back again and again.
5. How much freedom will you have? We see our coming blogs as a bit different than our staff- and freelancer-produced content--which is to say, we don't expect to do a lot of heavy editing. We'll be keeping an eye out for anything inappropriate and trying to cultivate an atmosphere that's constructive, with a lot of diverse views aired in useful ways--but we're not planning to do a lot of line-by-line tweaking of your material. If we've got a serious concern with a submission, we'll let you know--but other than that, it will be your words coming through, not ours.

If that sounds good to you, e-mail mariella.savidge@patch.com and we'll get talking about how to make it happen. If you've got a sample of the type of writing you'd like to do, send it along as well.