The Email That Got Me Published on Huffington Post
I’ve talked about the benefits of guest posting before on the blog (As a matter of fact, I put together a pretty sweet list of 55 blogs that accept guest posts if you are looking for some opportunities) because it is a GREAT way to get exposure for your work as well as collaborate & get to know other publishers, editors & bloggers.
Here's an example of a Huffington Post pitch letter that worked! Click To Tweet
Earlier this year I was fortunate enough to be published on The Huffington Post and you can see that post right here. Today I thought I would share with you the exact email that I sent Arianna Huffington (yes! I emailed her directly) that got me a response within 24 hours (1 day!) and published on the Huffington Post Parents section+ I’ll also give you some bonus tips on how to get even more promotion on the site.
Here is the exact email I sent Arianna:
Hello!
I wrote this blog post about the 15 ways being in a sorority (oh so many years ago) prepared me for motherhood. I think it would be a great fit for Huff Post Parent readers
Thanks for your consideration.
Chrystie V.
I then included the entire blog post at the bottom of the email AND attached the post in a word doc.
Here was Arianna’s response:
Hello Chrystie, many thanks for thinking of us and for sending me your post. We would love to feature your voice on HuffPost about how your sorority prepared you for motherhood. I’m ccing our blog editor Madeline Wahl to send you a password so you can start blogging on the site. All the best, Arianna
Talk about fan-girling…I was giddy when I received this email!
Here’s why I think my email worked: It was short & sweet and included everything she needed. I introduced the post, added a bit of humor, and told her exactly which category I thought the post would be a good fit for. I also included the post within the body of the email which meant she didn’t need to download and open an attachment.
Here’s what happened after I received Arianna’s reponse:
Two days later I heard from Madeline and she gave me access to the Huffington Post blogging platform. I uploaded my blog post and it was published on the site within 24 hours. Woohoo! As you can imagine I was very excited HOWEVER, getting published on Huffington post is great, but it doesn’t guarantee that you will show up on the Huffington category page, for example Huff Post Parents is where I was aiming for.
Can I share a win? My post “15 Ways Being in a Sorority prepared me for motherhood” just went live on HuffPo!
https://t.co/qddftx5imU
— Chrystie V. (@naptimenation) March 9, 2016
What the editors like to see is some traction on your post, so here are the exact steps I took to ensure that my post was getting traffic:
- I shared the post on my personal page, luckily several friends were kind enough to share it
- I stumbled the post on Stumble Upon & then joined several StumbleUpon sharing threads on Facebook groups to get even more Stumbles.
- I shared the post on my Living for Naptime Facebook & Twitter accounts
Because I was driving traffic to the post, the editors took notice and moved my post from the abyss of Huffington Post Blogger Community to the Huffington Post Parenting page (woohoo!). Then it did so well there, Huffington Post Parents even tweeted it out!
15 ways being in a sorority prepared me for motherhood: https://t.co/bwuUyHzqqa pic.twitter.com/sgHD65i6PG
— HuffPost Parents (@HuffPostParents) March 10, 2016
To recap, here are the exact steps I took to get published on the Huffington Post:
- Email Arianna AT huffingtonpost.com – Keep it short & sweet. Include quick personality filled introduction and include blog post in body of email
- Once you get access publish your post
- Publish & promote the post everywhere to drive traffic and get attention of category editors.
What if you don’t hear back from Huffington Post?
Now many of you have asked me what to do if you DON’T hear back from Arianna and here is my advice based on reading other people’s experiences: If you don’t hear back from Arianna within a week, send another pitch. Do NOT send the same pitch, if she/they had liked your pitch they would have emailed back. So my best advice is to wait a week and then try again with a different blog post idea!
Do you have any tips to add to this post? I’d love to hear them! Leave me a comment
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Ack. Just sent off an email to Arianna with my post from the other day!!!!!!
Good Luck Jess!
EEEEK, good luck!! Let us know how it goes!
Another question, when you’re pitching to people for post ideas, do you write the entire post all out, or do you just give the idea and then wait for a response?
That’s a great question and it depends…. I think with Huffington Post & other bigger blogs, it’s probably best to send the entire article, because they don’t have time to be going back and forth about ideas. However, when pitching to guest post on a smaller blog, I would recommend sending a couple of topic ideas to see if they are interested. This is the way several of my guest posters have done it and I appreciate the opportunity to select which idea I think is a good fit for my blog. Hope that helps!
You are an endless source of inspiration & knowledge. Thanks Chrystie! <3
Love it! You’re so great for sharing all your tips and giving bloggers a road map! You DA bomb! Xoxo
For some reason I got cut off so not sure if this is posting twice, but you’re awesome! Thanks for sharing such great tips!
Great tips! Thank you so much 😀 You’re the best!
This is amazing, Chrystie! Thanks so much for the advice.
Two questions – did you include the picture for your post or is that something that they added? I’m getting ready to pitch something to them and I wasn’t sure what to do about a picture. Second, did you single space after punctuation or double space? I’ve seen several of the websites suggest that they only want single spacing for punctuation, but of course, I was always taught to double space.
Thanks, Chrystie!
Once you are in the Huff Post blogging platform it gives you an option to add a photo from a stock photo library, which is what I did. However, I know that other bloggers have used their own photos as well
And I always single space after a period! LOL.
I sent an email last night as well eek
Good Luck Patricia!
Great advice! Question for you – was your post an original post or one you’d published on your own blog prior?
It was one that I had published a few months prior on my blog
Very helpful tips. Thanks for sharing that piece about promoting the Huff post to their site, which helps drive traffic for you and them. Excellent article.
Thank you! Yes…getting published is only half the battle! You need to promote it too
Great post! These are all great steps and j love how you broke the process down for everyone. Short and sweet is key for any email communication. You are showed that you did your research and basically handed them content they didn’t have to assign to anyone or research much.
Great example and I can’t wait to share with my followers.
This is awesome Christie! Thank you for taking the time to put this together! Oh how I needed a little kick in the butt to start reaching out to bigger blogging platforms!
Love all your advice…it’s always clear and easy to understand, actionable and awesome!
Thanks for being so specific and sharing with us. It is very helpful.
This is awesome! Thanks so much for sharing. I have not used StumbleUpon before! Is this something you recommend bloggers become familiar with? Clearly it was an important tool for you!
This is SO great! I’m so glad you shared this specific post with us. I’ve been wanting to guest blog, but was totally unsure of how to go about it. Also, I love that your email was short and to the point.
So excited to check out those 55 blogs to guest post for… maybe I’ll even work up the courage to pitch to Arianna ;)!
Hi Chrystie
I’m glad to have read your article as I sent off my post and received a response from Arianna like you did, almost verbatim. My post is about my late adoption discovery and some family ancestry exploration including relations to two people of fame and eminence. I’m just waiting for the blog editor Madeline Wahl to send my password. It’s been almost two days as I type this so hoping to hear soon. Still not certain though as I have read some are rejected by editors even after Arianna has expressed interest. Fingers crossed.
Thanks, good article.
This is awesome!! Thanks for the great tips!!
Hello, Chrystie! I followed your steps to submit a guest post in Huffington Post and sent an email to Arianna just today. Let’s see what happens! I’m so grateful to have this steps shared to new bloggers like me.
Love lots,
Mecyll
http://www.bitchychicken.de
I am a newbie at this, so I love learning more about blogging in general. I read in the comments that what you submitted was a post that you had already published on your site. That’s not a no-no? Still learning the ropes…
Oh my goodness, thanks so much for posting this! can I ask what the subject of your email was? I just wanna make sure I don’t send an email that directly goes to spam. Also, the email you sent it to was her first name at huffingtonpost dot com, correct?
Thank you tons and congrats!
The best guide I’ve read on getting published on the Huffington Post and I’ve just trolled through a few. Thank you Chrystie.
Thank you!
So I just sent Arianna an e-mail. How long did it take her to answer you? I am pretty excited.
Awesome! It took less than 48 hours for a response. Good luck!
Hi Chrystie! Question– did you send the email to Ariana via the HuffPost “Pitch a Blog Post” submission form on their site? Or was it a direct email? Thanks!
Hi Lauren! I used her direct email address
Thank you for this. This is part of my strategy this summer. I hope she likes my pitch!
Good luck!
What a great article! Bookmarked for sure. Question, once you were given a HuffPost password and access to the platform, can you now publish articles as often as you’d like? Do they need to be approved by anyone first? Thanks very much, Chrystie!
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Bookmarking these tips! xo
Thanks so much for sharing this! I amazingly received a very similar email from Arianna today, and now my post is live! How did you get people to comment on the page, instead of in Facebook?
Pinning this.
Thank you for sharing!
Thanks for this post. I did this yesterday and got a response from her this morning. Again thank you
Hi Chrystie! Great article. I recently received a similar email from Arianne Huffington accepting my article for publication. She ccd Madeline Wahl, but I never received a response from Wahl even after a follow-up emai. Do you know of anyone this has happened to? Advice on how to move forward? Thanks so much!
Good article. I’ve noticed that with the departure of Mrs. Huffington, similar bloggers have noticed that either it either takes Madeline Wahl to respond or they never receive a response at all.
Note: I sent an article in November, received a reply a month later, and now “patiently” waiting.
Additional note: Since my article concerned the 2016 election, it’s technically updated (although I did ready another article in its place).
Is this a problem concerning bloggers or is it a problem concerning the staff?
Hey, question! How do you find her email? I want to email her directly, but I can’t find her email on any website at the moment. Did she take it down?