Write for The Common Room

THE ASTRAL KEEP // THE SPELLCASTERS: WRITER & CONTRIBUTOR GUIDELINES

We are opening the doors of The Common Room - our guest contributor space - to writers, scholars, fans, & creators! Before submitting your pitch, please review our editorial boundaries:

1. WHAT WE ACCEPT FOR THE COMMON ROOM

Fandom & Lore: Deep dives, theorycrafting, character studies, trope breakdowns, media/film/game/etc. reviews, & pop culture essays.

SFW Fan Fiction: Creative writing & story arcs set in your favorite fictional universes or original concepts.

Academia & Aesthetics: Literature analysis, atmospheric lifestyle guides, & creative commentary.

If you feel your specific topic doesn’t align with these categories, please do not hesitate to fill out the interest form - we are open to ideas!

2. EDITORIAL BOUNDARIES

SFW Only: All submissions - including fan fiction - must be Safe For Work. We do not accept explicit, NSFW, or graphic content. This is a space for all & we must protect each other from unnecessary exposure to this form of content. The internet is a crazy place - let’s make this somewhere safe.

No Real-World Politics/Discourse: We do not accept pitches centered on real-world politics & news, or heavy real-life discourse & negativity. This is a space to escape from all of that - there are enough corners of the internet to discuss these topics elsewhere.

Originality & AI Policy: Submissions must be your original work. Plagiarized text, unauthorized reposts of other creators' work, or AI-generated text will be rejected immediately. (Previously published work elsewhere is welcomed as long as you hold full rights).

3. REVIEW & EDITING PROCESS

All submitted pieces undergo an editorial review before going live. Our team reserves the right to make minor edits for typos, grammar, & layout formatting to maintain consistency across our archives. We will never alter your core voice, plot, or thesis without your input.

4. COMMUNITY FIT & RIGHT TO REMOVE

To protect our brand & readers, we reserve the right to decline, remove, or permanently unpublish any contributor's work at our discretion - including instances where a contributor's public conduct or actions within and/or outside of our platform are found to be problematic, harmful, or out of alignment with the safety & values of our space.

5. TERMS & OWNERSHIP

Submission is voluntary. Publication grants exposure to our audience & proper byline attribution, but does not constitute paid employment or monetary compensation. You retain full ownership of your writing while granting The Common Room non-exclusive rights to feature & publish it. If you ever want a published piece taken down in the future, simply send us an email request & we will gladly archive or remove it.

All writers are required to familiarize themselves with The Courtyard’s Visitor & Reader Guidelines in addition to these contributor standards. Knowing how The Courtyard blogs (The Great Hall, The Study, The Common Room) operate helps us keep our community safe, atmospheric, & welcoming for everyone.
The Courtyard | Visitor & Reader Guidelines

Writer & Contributor Interest Application

An open call for writers, storytellers, scholars, fandom enthusiasts, & beyond! Complete this interest application to share your background with our editorial team. Whether you're looking to share a single post, contribute on a recurring basis, or pop in occasionally, we’d love to hear from you. If it’s a good fit, selected contributors will be contacted by email for future writing opportunities on The Common Room blog.

1 Contact & Identity

(The exact alias or handle you want displayed on your published work)
(Where we should reach out if it's a good fit)

2 Experience & Frequency

3 Topics & Interests

4 Terms & Submission

Submitting this interest form is voluntary and does not guarantee publication with the castle archives. If selected, our archivist will reach out via owl post to discuss, in detail, having you join us as an addition to The Common Room blog.
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