Submit an article!

If you would like to submit an article, start a new topic in the readers' forum. But before you do, be sure to read the rest of this page.

We have lots of different contributors and columnists writing for Taken In Hand, but it would be lovely to have more. Would you like to be one of them? If so, please don't be shy! If you have an idea, do feel free to submit it, either as a proposal – if you want to know whether your idea is of interest in principle before you write it – or as a full draft. If your article is selected for publication, it will be edited if necessary, and put up. If the editing is significant, we'll send you the edited version so that you can approve it. Unfortunately, as this is not a commercial site and is a labour of love, you won't get paid for any articles appearing here. Don't let that put you off!

When sending an article, please give your assurance that it is your original work and that it has not been published elsewhere in any form. If it has appeared somewhere (for example, on the internet) before, please say exactly where and when. On no account post anything on this site that is not your own work, unless you have permission from the writer. If you have permission, state that you have permission. What we are looking for is original material that has not been published elsewhere. But if, say, you once posted a version of it on a group with few readers, that might be fine. Just let me know where it was posted.

Another point to bear in mind is that if you are saying the same thing as someone else has already said on this site, your article would have to be particularly interesting, well-written, and fun to read in order to be accepted.

Articles that are fun to read and witty as well as being interesting and useful are more likely to be accepted, because our aim is to be entertaining as well as informative.

Articles that don't use labels such as “DD”, “Domestic Discipline”, “D/s”, “sub”, “Dominant” (as a noun), “submissive” (as a noun) and the like are more likely to be accepted. Avoid BDSM-speak and use standard English.

You might have written a superb spanking story or about a punishment you have received, or you might have written a fabulous BDSM piece about submission/dominance or about the “service” your “Master” requires, or you might have written about Femdom or poly relationships, and wonder why your post or article doesn't appear here. If your article seems to be from one of those perspectives, it is unlikely to appear on Taken In Hand, because we are trying to make the focus of this site Taken In Hand relationships (committed, exclusive, consensually male-controlled relationships) rather than any of those things.

As a general rule, if you make your article about the underlying substance of the Taken In Hand relationship, as opposed to focusing on the overt form the relationship takes – writing about the relationship, the philosophy, the underlying relationship dynamics or the psychology of control rather than about sexual practices, spanking, and other such details – it is more likely to be accepted. See also these ideas for article topics.

Articles should be tasteful, non-pornographic, and whilst they can indeed be erotic, they should not be explicit. It is perfectly possible to write erotically without being graphic. (Note that we have nothing against graphic writing: it is just not what we want for this site.)

For a better feel for the sort of articles we are looking for, see this page, take the tour, and read the FAQ.

If you would like to submit an article, start a new topic in the readers' forum.

Any format is acceptable, but if you want to make life extra easy this end, follow these guidelines:

- Instead of CAPITALISING for emphasis, use <i>italics</i> or asterisks.
- Dashes should be n-dashes with a space either side – like this: – . For this dash, type &#8211;. Or use two hyphens with a space either side, like this: --

2003 Sep 22 - 13:07 | latest article | previous article | next article |