Submission Guidelines

Contribution is open to all registered users. You can submit anything you like, but there are a few key things we are looking for when moderating submissions. If you do not meet the criteria, your contribution may be rejected. 

Images
All submissions must be accompanied by an image. The image should be representative of the topic on hand. For example, if you’re posting a link to a story on making strawberry jam, please make sure the image is of strawberry jam, or at least strawberries. The image should be clear. Images will be automatically cropped to 186x140. If you want it cropped a certain way, you may want to proactively crop the image. If you don’t have software on your computer to crop images, try one of the free online services like Snipshot or Picnik.

You must have the rights to use the image. If it’s your image, then it’s a no-brainer. If it’s someone else’s, please ask for permission first. Use of thumbnail images is covered under fair use, but it always pays to be polite. If a post is deemed to use an image without rights, it will be removed.

Please note that we may use your image when promoting to the post, or to tag pages and blog posts that in turn include your post, under fair use guidelines. If you do not want your image used, please contact us. 

Content
The headline and description should clearly describe the point of the destination content. Tell the reader what they can expect to get out of the content on the other side. Do you have a killer recipe? A fascinating new technique? A rockin’ tool that makes work a breeze? Tell it! But there must be something on the other end that enhances the reader’s experience and knowledge.

The content must be original. You may link to someone else's content, but it is not permissible to repurpose another's content verbatim on your own site without permission; this is plagiarism. Contributions pointing to plagiarized content will not be accepted. Please read David Lebovitz's excellent post on recipe attribution and adaptation to gain a better understanding of how you can create original content when inspired by others. 

The content must be relevant and informative. So, no spam, porn or other junk, ok?

Topics and Takeaways
Since Punk Domestics is intended to be resource-driven, all destination content must have at least one Takeaway (i.e., a recipe, tool or technique) and at least one Topic (i.e., canning, jams, pickling, etc.). If it’s got more than one, great!

This is not, however, a site for general cookery; it is targeted to the DIY audience with a focus on food preservation. You will not find posts here for bread, main dishes, desserts, etc., unless they explicitly meet the other criteria of the site. 

Some nuances on what qualifies for each: 

Takeaways

• Recipe: The post must contain one or more relevant recipe, not link off to them. 
• Tool: The post must highlight one or more tool that is relevant to the topic. Some examples: Canners, dehydrators, slow cookers, particular utensils that somehow improve the process. 
• Technique: The post must include information that substantially improves the user's understanding of a technique germane to the topic. Some examples: Measuring headspace, stuffing salame, etc.

Topics

• Canning: Must include a recipe, tool or technique that involves water bath or pressure canning. Be specific which in the Tags. 
• Cheese making: Includes anything that involves forming curds with dairy, from making yogurt all the way up to hard cheeses. Making tofu is included as it is a related process.
• Condiments: Condiments are accessories to meals. Think ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, hot sauce, relish, salad dressings, chutneys, and sauces. Does not include jams, jellies and other preserves, as there is an entire other topic for that. 
• Drying and dehydrating: Use of a dehydrator, oven or other method to remove water weight, making it more stable for long-term storage.  
• Foraging and gleaning: Must include information that furthers the user's understanding of finding and identifying foraged foods, not just recipes that may include foraged foods. 
• Home brewing: Beer and other fermented beverages, like kombucha, kefir, ginger bug, fermented sodas, etc.
• Infusions and liqueurs: Steeping fruits, herbs and other flavoring agents into an alcoholic base, and possibly sweetened.
• Jams, jellies and preserves: Inclusive of all preserves like fruit butters, marmalades, conserves, jams, and jellies.
• Microfarming: Tips and info on home-scale farm practices, like gardening, and raising backyard chickens and other livestock.   
• Pickling: Extending the life of foods in an acidic environment, such as a vinegar brine or lactofermentation.
• Salumi and charcuterie: Preserving meat by way of salt curing, fermenting, curing, smoking, etc.
• Wine making: Making yeast-fermented beverages from a base of fruit or vegetable juice.

Tags
Beyond the structured Topics and Takeaways, tags are where you can add keywords that help describe the content further. For example, if you’re posting a recipe for strawberry jam with balsamic and black pepper, you will have already selected “Recipes” as a takeaway and “Jams, jellies and preserves” as a topic, but tags are free-form. You might want to enter “strawberries,” “balsamic” and “black pepper” for example, or “summer” to note seasonality. 

Location and Date of Post
Where and when was the post written? We’re very interested in both seasonality and trending issues in locations everywhere. Perhaps those strawberries are coming in in California now, but not in New York for another month. Maybe the Minnesotans are all about Mineolas, but the Texans are talking about mangoes. Could be interesting, no?

Moderation
All submissions will go into a moderation queue; posts will generally be reviewed within a 24-hour period. You will be notified of the status of your submission upon moderation.

Please submit each piece of content only once. Multiple submissions are irritating. Please don’t irritate us.