I run into people all the time who ask me, “How did you get involved in RedState? How did you get on the front page?” Well, the answer is simple. I started off as a reader of RedState – clicked the “register” button that you see on the front page, created an account, and started my own “diary.” Within the course of a few months, the other front pagers had noticed my work and invited me to come on board as a front page contributor.

Ten years later, here we are. It’s been an amazing and rewarding experience every step of the way, a great way to get exposure for my writing, and I’ve found several of my best friends here at RedState.

Lately, we have been remiss at noticing and promoting the best diaries here at RedState. We are going to fix that, starting immediately. If you write a good, timely piece here at RedState, and I read it, you will see it promoted to the front page where it has the chance to be read by our significant daily readership. For people who regularly contribute good diaries, we are always looking for new front page contributors.

With that in mind, here are a few guidelines to get your stuff on the front page:

1. Proofread. I am much more likely to promote a piece if I don’t have to do significant work to make it readable.
2. Make it timely. Cover and write about things that are the subject of buzz in the media and on social media – obviously, write about whatever you want, but timely pieces are more likely to get promoted.
3. Use a good title. This does not mean a “cute” title, it means one that clearly conveys what your piece will be about and is properly search engine optimized. There are tons of good resources out there that will help with this.
4. Write with conviction. This is not debate class or high school English. Have a definite point of view and defend it, with flair where possible. We are here to persuade but also to entertain.

That’s it! Regardless of what happens, I hope you all will take advantage of this opportunity. If you have thoughts that you want to get out there, but don’t know where to start, then start your own blog/diary here at RedState. Work on it, make it quality, and we’ll do the rest!