The guidelines might change with time, but so far this is what I request. I realize the list is long, but it is essential in order to avoid misunderstandings and time-wasting down the road. I respect your time and effort, and this is a good way to ensure neither is wasted. The following requirements are also valid for guest interviews.
General Guidelines:
•  Your post must be original and must not have been published before on the web.
•  You agree to not publish the post anywhere else for 3 months after it is published on this blog, to maintain its uniqueness.
•  The guest posts need to be related to reading, writing, publishing, inspirational, or self-improvement/ lifestyle topics, as that is what this blog is about.
•  You may include two links in the byline, which will be displayed at the bottom of the post, and one link inside the post linking back to your blog/ content.
•  Please include a bio, so readers can get to know you better, and add your Twitter handle, if you have one. Your own picture would be nice, but it is optional. These would help me feature you on my Guest Blogger page, dedicated to all the writers who have guested on my blogs.
•  Please send in an accompanying image that is relevant to the post, and is not so heavy that I have to resize it.
•  Please ensure that the post is well-edited, readable, and written in good English.

Promotion Guidelines
•  Talk about the guest post at your blog and on Twitter or any other social media, so the post you write gets comments from your regular readers. I’ll do the same, but I’ll notice if you do not make any effort to promote your own post.
•  Stick to a word count of up to 400 words to ensure that you hold the readers’ attention. A well-thought-out title would attract more visitors, which is after all what this is all about: providing you more exposure.
•  Ensure that you’re available to interact with readers who comment on your post.
Formatting Guidelines
•  Make sure to include the author byline at the bottom, with the link to your website, twitter links etc. already formatted.
•  Make sure the paragraphs are short, for easy reading. Bullet points welcome.
Submission Guidelines
·      Before you submit a guest post, please check with me about the topic etc so I can tell you if it has been covered recently, or is not relevant to the blog. This should be done at least a month before you want the post to appear.
·      I do not support overt advertisements, unless it is to promote an author’s book: fiction, or related to publishing fiction in some way.
·      You can send the post to me on the email atozstories at gmail dot com. Please include the post in the body of the email itself, or as a .doc attachment. It is helpful if you add the link to your site/blog on all your mails, so I can easily find what to promote.
·      Usually within 2-3 days of receiving it, I’ll reply stating what date the post will be up.
·      The guest post should be with me at least four days before the date of publication, so I can schedule it correctly, and in some cases, run it by you, to check everything looks right.
·      I would mostly feature regular followers of my blog or authors I have interacted with before, so any outside blog tours must discuss a possible guest post or interview with me about two months in advance.
 
I’ll make exceptions to some of these guidelines as and when necessary, but that depends entirely on the circumstances. Any questions, tweet me up@damyantig, or mail me at atozstories at gmail dot com.
Visit http://damyantiwrites.wordpress.com/guest-bloggers-on-amlokiblogs/  the Guest Bloggers page for examples of acceptable writing submission. No spam or commercial advertisement whatsoever!

About the writer:

Damyanti is an established freelance writer who wants to try out an experiment. She has an ambition of writing something everyday, something that could be long or short, on any topic whatsoever, but always imaginative and meaningful.

She is also trying to figure out a way to step into fiction: a field she has touched before, but never professionally. She has been published in QLRS, and her stories have been included in different anthologies by Twelve Winters Press, USA , Monsoon Press Singapore, Marshall Cavendish Singapore , MPH Malaysia and others.