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Connect and Collaborate as a contributor

Here at AoCS we are keen to Promote, Engage and Develop our Members and our profession. 

We produce a monthly news update which provides an opportunity to share with you what we are hearing on the grapevine, reading in other publications and market the message of your great work. 

We are always open to receiving work from you that you think supports our communication aims.  You do not have to sign up to a regular schedule; rather it is about writing about those moments that particularly matter to you. 

As you can see in this month’s edition, we have a range of contributors sharing their perspectives and we are keen to continue this flow. 

We thought a few guidelines might help tempt you into our contributor fold: 

Example content and size 

This is not an exhaustive list.  Rather we want to spark possibilities for you to write something: 

• A featured article on AOCS strategy, ‘Word on the Street’ information, latest research, thought leadership, or a topical focus impacting professionals and / or the profession. c 600 - 750 words

An example would be the July 2020 ‘The next ten years! What’s the Word on the Street about Coaching Supervision? Report’, or the September 2020 piece on the 2021 launch of the Co-Supervision Space or the October 2020 piece on the AoCS Discovery Group. 

• A case study to illustrate your work, a point of personal, professional or practice development that shows our profession in action in an interesting way:
  • Be mindful of confidentiality
  • State clearly whether it is fictious or a composite in which you’ve sufficiently changed details for individuals not to be able to recognise themselves or have others recognise them
  • If it is real and specific to one individual, please confirm in writing that the client has read the article, has given informed consent (provide written evidence of this) and that you have anonymised their identity.
  • 600 – 750 words 

• A ‘Working in Partnership’ communication that provides a benefit to our members.
• 400 – 500 words
• Clare Norman and Steve Ridgley position their new Podcast series which we hold as a free member benefit on our website: https://www.associationofcoachingsupervisors.com/community/podcasts 

• An article on a membership ‘Connect & Collaborate’ opportunity.
• 300 – 400 words
• This month’s contribution from member Edwina LoveLawrence is an example of this. Edwina has a personal interest in this area and is looking for other like-minded members to co-create something. Jan Brause also talks about her interest in Resilience. 

• A ‘Spotlight’ article on Becoming a Member Volunteer – think this month’s Jan Brause
• Being a Member Volunteer or this month’s Chris Birbeck post.
• 200 – 300 words 

We’ll also aim to keep you up to date with Member Volunteer opportunities – plenty to come in 2021! – and Newsflashes about other internal improvements to the service we wish to offer. 

When you write 

So, you have the structure – beginning, middle, and end. Now consider the overall tone of the piece. 

We encourage you to keep the style appropriate to the narrative – warm and engaging for a ‘Connect & Collaborate’ piece perhaps or authoritative and factual for a piece of research or case study, light and engaging for the ‘Spotlight’ formats, and to write in your own voice. 

Ultimately, be interesting and original - would you want to read what you've written? 

Submitting your work 

Please send us your article as a Word document, with the relevant illustration .jpgs, by email to [email protected]

Make sure you let us know how you want us to refer to you and any biographical information that is important. Ideally, we can refer to your AOCS profile so do make sure that is up to date. 

Include the relevant references where necessary listed in numerical order at the end of the article and obtain. 

Provide copyright evidence that you have permission to use any written or visual material from a third party, such as extracts, pictures, or diagrams or extracts. 

We will edit your work to the AOCS house style as necessary and send you an electronic proof to check and approve before we distribute the News Update. 

If things go wrong 

If we receive a written complaint, we will raise the complaint with you and agree a process to resolve the issue. As necessary we will:

• Publish a clarification in the next available News Update on behalf of the complainant or you as the author
• Take no action if there is no evidence to substantiate the complaint 

The final decision will rest with AoCS.  

So, what are you waiting for? 

Let your writing journey begin!  And if you have any further questions about any element of contributing then please contact [email protected]

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