Whatever rights you are granting to the blog owner should be discussed in advance. Agree ahead of time whether he/she will be allowed to edit your post without your prior approval, etc.

If there is no agreement in place, then I think you’re right to be annoyed that they are editing your work without consulting you first.

By Adam Snider on Oct 17, 2008

Nice Post Anne …

Want to do a guest post?

SEOMasterList.com/Blog/

By SEO Master List on Oct 17, 2008

If a member on my site uses profanity the post gets edited immediately if not deleted. I rarely have to monitor what my members post but its the nature of having an older crowd and what makes our site unique. Its also understood that we don’t discuss religion or politics. Other than that I look at my site now as the members, not mine.

By Steve on Oct 17, 2008

Why are you guest posting on someone’s blog that you do not know or trust?

I only guest post on those blogs of similar content and with bloggers I know will honor our agreement.

Which brings me to whether or not you laid down the ground rules before posting to their blog?

If not then you have only yourself to blame for not setting up the parameters of the posts before hand.

Also, I give no one posting access to my blog. They will send their post to me and I upload it. If there are content issues I contact them prior to the posting.

And, if the post has served their purpose and no longer serves mine I reserve the right to delete it at any time.

By PopArtDiva on Oct 17, 2008

Hey Ann,
IMHO, you should stop guest posting, every one knows the article you publish are qualiative and unique why you are giving credit to those people. Instead of writing a guest post, you just write a guest post which links to your original post which is published on SEO Smarty, Ann Smarty or SE Journal.

By Chaitanya Patel on Oct 17, 2008

Hi Ann,

May be it would be better that you have a copyright message in your article stating that no editing rights is given to the publisher. If not it means they can edit but it is bad that you haven’t been intimated on that.

By Raghavan on Oct 18, 2008

Hi Anne, im afraid if their is no prior agreement then your leaving yourself open to the blog owners editing rights that you allowed your work to be published on.

It certainly sounds bad, that they have changed your written work without your consent prior to publishing.

Hopefully, you’ll continue to publish your work elsewhere for the benefit of the many, perhaps even try my site

By Paul on Oct 18, 2008

Hi Ann,

I´ve been working a a freelance journalist for a few years and when I wrote an article for a newspaper or magazine I didn´t “sell” the article itself. Instead, the newspaper or magazine pays for one-time publication rights. And since the article is mine, they should contact me if they wanted to edit it.

A guest post should be based on the same principle: as a writer you allow a blog to publish your article once, in it´s original form. The article is yours.

I guess you´ll have to make this clear in advance…

Hope to read a lot more of you!

By Matthias on Oct 18, 2008

Guest posting is something I should try and engage in, since I love to write. However, I would have an agreement ahead of time with any rules the blog owner may have, if I can put links in my article and if it does get edited then I would see it before it goes live. Did you just have anything laid out before your wrote them, or did you just write and submit them?

By Internet Marketing Access on Oct 18, 2008

I’ve done a lot of guest posting over the past few months as well Ann. I was lucky enough that all of my hosts were welcoming, appreciative and courteous. So I haven’t experienced the same problems.

At the same time, I would have been open to the concept of editing. It’s my work, but it’s their blog. Having said that, I would expect the host to be courteous enough to explain any changes they may make.

I liked Tad’s (SEO 2.0) position as a host of my guest posts:

“In German we say loosely translated “don’t use force to get a free horse” meaning that’s as long as I don’t pay you i can’t complain”

By James Duthie on Oct 19, 2008

As someone who used to run a moblog, and edited stuff without asking for permission, I realize now that I may have annoyed folks doing so. That said, an editor certainly has a right and I’d even say an obligation to edit their content before publication (or fix errors/problems afterwards). The buck has to stop somewhere, and it’s typically going to be the editor.

A very well known (~7000 rss readers last I checked) blog in our niche had an inaccurate post flaming me once. Not only did I lose respect for the editor for allowing inaccurate nonsense to go up like that - not to mention the potentially libellous stuff he allowed to go up in the comments - but I’ve also decided not to do business with him as a result. I’d been considering his coaching services.

By Gab Goldenberg on Oct 20, 2008

Interesting thoughts, Ann. Maybe one should make a disclaimer that always follows guest post articles to the publisher.

@gab - speaking of guest posts …

By Hjortur Smarason on Oct 20, 2008

I have written several guest post in the past. I have never had any problems with editing and what not. But, this was in large part because I asked ahead of time about their editing process and tried to adhere to their standards. Although I have had the pleasure of doing guest post for some really great blogs, ones that understand the value of authentic unedited content.

BTW, how would one get a stab at doing a guest post here??

By Joe Hall on Oct 20, 2008

don’t do guest posts for lame people.

By paisley on Oct 20, 2008

These are some of the inherent risks when doing guest blogging. But I see that the consensus is to make sure everything is agreed upon before you submit your blog entry. And only guest blog for blogs you are familiar with.

By Dante Monteverde on Oct 20, 2008

Hi Ann,

I’m a great believer in guest posting (I like to call it the Magic Penny theory - it’s a long story!) and am surprised that you’ve had these problems.

I feel that publishers are quite entitled to edit posts for style/grammatical/etc… reasons but would be very displeased if someone totally changed the tone or point of a post. I’ve never had it happen but would like to think that the blogs I contribute to would contact me before they did such a thing.

I guess that as several people above suggest the best thing to do would be to make clear what you consider fair use to be before the post is published, and if they don’t agree then you don’t submit the post.

Cheers

By Ciaran on Oct 20, 2008

Since i have a fairly young blog, and not a great deal of time, i have found that having guest writers has really helped me out. In fact a guest post that Gab did *waves upwards* managed to get on the front page of Sphinn and provide much needed extra traffic.

Not only does having a guest post give your readers all the benefits that have already been mentioned, it can also be used to plug holes in your release schedule and keep the front page fresh.

So as someone who has guest bloggers on my blog i would NEVER think about editing their posts without speaking to them first, and it would have to be for a damn good reason. I don’t know why anyone else would feel it’s ok to just go and change the content how they see fit?

By Chewie on Oct 20, 2008

@Joe,

“BTW, how would one get a stab at doing a guest post here?? ;-)”

You know where to find me

@Gab, I still believe some solid changes should at least be arranged in advance.

@Hjortur, haven’t talked to you for a while - great to see you around!

@paisley, yeah, well put

@Dante, Ciaran, yep, this should definitely be arranged beforehand… thank you - from now on I will.

By Ann Smarty on Oct 20, 2008

I’ve always wanted to guest blog for someones website, I think its a good way of getting to be known on more established websites.

I guess sometimes it can go a bit south, but this post is right, there should be ground rules to set the ethics of guest blogging.

By Ian Hutchinson on Oct 20, 2008

@paisley got it right. Now if people only knew who they could trust…

Also consider how some are just looking to trade on your name, by posting a guest post. It ends up optimized on your name, your name, your name in an attempt to rank on your name. That’s lame

By john andrews on Oct 20, 2008

I regularly guest post on other people’s blogs but I have never had the experience of having my work edited without being told! I imagine *that* would piss me right off. Common courtesy dictates that the writer should at least be notified that their post will be edited.

By Melanie Nathan on Oct 20, 2008

See?!! Melanie knows cool people..

ground rules of ethics…
1. PROOF guest posts - let the author know, BEFORE you post it with corrections.

2. AS a guest poster, don’t criticize the blog you are posting on.. if it’s on the bruce clay blog, don’t bash bruce clay.. lol..

3. did i mention, proof the blog post before you post it and let the quest poster know your corrections first?

p.s. Ann, can u turn of the “auto-get-notified-after-you-leave-a-comment-even-if-you-dont-want-to” setting?

pweese… =)

By paisley on Oct 20, 2008

The real questions are A) how well do you know the blog owner you’re writing a guest post for; B) what kind of reputation do they have; and C) what agreements have been made regarding editing the post? If you can’t ask those questions of the blog’s owner or yourself…or if you’re not comfortable with the answers to any of them, you probably shouldn’t be writing a guest post to begin with.

I, for one, would be incredibly pissed if I were asked to write a guest post only to have the blog owner take it upon themselves to edit my intellectual property. It’s also important to note that there is an enormous difference between correcting a spelling or grammatical error and editing the content/style of the post. The real question at that point would be, “So…if you don’t like my style, why am I writing a guest post on your blog in the first place?”

You can bet that in the event that happened, the original post would be published at my blog “as it was intended” within minutes and I’d likely request that the blog owner remove my guest post immediately. I write what I write for a reason. If they believe something should be changed, I would expect that to be brought to my attention and that I would be given the opportunity to address their concerns. If ultimately they don’t like the post, they should exercise their right not to publish it…not to take it upon themselves to rewrite any part of it and leading their readers to believe I am the author.

I also take issue with the idea that guest posts should be written with the goal of building backlinks in mind. Guest posts, in my opinion, should be about exposing yourself to a new audience and building a rapport with that audience…with the ultimate goal being to increase traffic and readership to your blog. Maybe that’s just me…

By SEOAly on Oct 20, 2008

I handle blogs for some clients where guest posts have been considered. Other than the random spelling edit I’ve never edited the content of the piece, but in some cases external links had to be discussed. I’ve always talked about it with the article author before simply doing it, but there are times when the blog owner doesn’t want a certain link on their blog — it is their blog after all. I’ve never had an author pull the guest post but I suppose they always have that option if they so chose. Any ethical editor (be it of a blog or any publication) should honor the author’s wishes.

By Barry Wise NJ SEO on Oct 20, 2008

I’d definitely say to work with the credible bloggers rather than ones who will surreptitiously remove your words after the post is published (or nofollow the links).

I’ve been a blogger on networks that have editors and I understand that blog posts may be edited and links removed. Typically, I don’t mind. I am lucky to have their floor to sound off on, and I understand that they may want things to be phrased in certain ways. (Then again, I have worked for blogs with strict editorial guidelines and formats I was initially unfamiliar with. I’ve also worked on sites where it was essentially a free-for-all and none of my work was edited.)

I also take guest posters (I’d love some social media posts from you, Ann) and will make small changes, but I’ve never removed substantial commentary. I can see the only reason for that: if it’s off topic/rambling/unnecessary. I can’t see that of your posts, Ann, so the engagements you are in surprise me. Either way, if I make a huge change, it will usually be communicated in advance.

By Tamar Weinberg on Oct 20, 2008

@Ciaron with you on this one. Adjusting the tone/grammar/typos, is fine as they only add to the presentational merits of the content.

Adjusting the content, the links, etc doesn’t make sense - it essentially means that you’ve been left with a post that you may no longer agree with or like, and have your name tagged onto the end of it.

Ann, or someone else, I think a guest blog etiquette post and an editors etiquette post would go down very well…

Ben M

By Ben M on Oct 21, 2008

As a general rule, I would say that a guest blog post is joint property. The words belong top the writer, and I would include the links in that. How it is used as part of the website belongs to the host.

If I had an issue with something you were saying in a blog post on my blog, I would get your approval before changing it. It should not have to be all or nothing, but it seems obvious to me that somebody’s words should not be edited without her consent because the blog post becomes a misquote at best, a lie at worst.

By David Leonhardt on Oct 21, 2008

I’m late to the party Ann but this is a really interesting topic and I’ve never seen it openly discussed before. It’s not often you see original topics on blogs anymore.

I think that an editor has a responsibility to the audience to provide them with content that makes sense in context, or that conveys the intention of the post. That said, I don’t agree with significantly changing someone else’s work past common-sense editorial tidying without either:

A. Speaking to the author first and asking them. - Hey, it’s a couple minutes out of your time to fire them an email or IM, and it strengthens a working relation with regular contributers.

B. Making it clear from the onset that you are purchasing articles from them with the intention of changing the content as you please. This is probably more relevant to freelance content writers than guest posting for links, and I think the distinction needs to be made.

Saying that, dropping a few optimized keywords (relevant ones!) and bolding some phrases is possibly acceptable.

Btw, @Ciaran is there a song about your magic penny? Lend it, spend it and you’ll have so many etc. ? Lol

By David Lindop on Oct 26, 2008

booger eater!

By smartypants on Oct 26, 2008

Hi Ann.

James over at Men with Pens had a great series on guest posting - here’s one of the articles in which I asked him a few questions in the comment section:
http://menwithpens.ca/guest-posting-after-you-get-the-yes

He’s basically built his business on guest posting, if there’s anyone who knows about the subject, it’s him.

Legally, here in the United States, whoever actually wrote the article automatically owns the copyright to the work.

However, I believe if you’re requesting to guest post on someone’s blog ultimately you’re giving that blog owner your work, that is after all what you’re doing, right? You’re giving away your article for free in hopes it brings you traffic, customers, etc. in return.

For me, I wouldn’t bother with a bunch of rules that come with my article other than maybe a “Hey if you want to make any changes could you please inform me first.” I mean, it is your good name stuck to that article and you want to make sure it reflects what you want to say and how you want to say it.

I think you wanting to do some guest posting is a great idea. In fact, I tend to think your best work should be the ones you give away. Give those to places many people can and will find it. It’s good for you, your business, and everyone else.

By John Hoff - eVentureBiz on Oct 28, 2008

Let me just tell you that would really PISS me off if someone did that to me as a guest blogger. So I think you are quite right.

Just my 2 cents.

By Gerald Weber on Nov 4, 2008

I’m not sure about it… as guest posting (if they brought backlinks to any site could hurt SERPs). One more thing I’d like to add here that about us or signature posting comes under spamming. And I’m not sure that Google likes Guest Posting, so what If they brings backlinks. Please explain Ann about it?

Thanks,

Bilalseo

By Bilalseo on Nov 5, 2008

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By sahin on Nov 12, 2008

Sahin,

Please don’t spam or post irrelevant material. People would like to see real stuff….

Thanks,

Bilal Qayyum

By Bilalseo on Nov 17, 2008

When it comes to SEO coaching I usually first think of http://performancing.com/
http://marko.ca/blog/ deals with
Content sharing can be tricky
http://www.avivadirectory.com/blogger-law/
I think you would see some lack of common standards just from comments here. Despite that, there are advantages for collaborators establishing common ground rules : it’s hard to run a nexus generating enough traffic for people to feel worth monitoring when running a solo act.
Hobby blogging ups the ante on that greatly because of limited resources of time, budgeting, etc.
Many websites encourage guest blogging to generate appeal. That has not generated a viable commercial model for paid writing that I am aware of. This is by Us was an attempt at that - and is folding.
Is there a generally accepted rule re: editing ? I don’t know of anything that might be regarded as established practice - though copyrighting work under a Creative Commons license can affect how things work.

By opit on Dec 10, 2008

When you submit an article for a print publication, an editor has complete control over what is edited, how it can be used, etc. No editor in his right mind would accept or commission an article under any other condition.

Why is a blog different? It shouldn’t be, but because most bloggers don’t come from the journalism world, it comes as a shock when their words, title, etc are edited. It shouldn’t.

Bottom line, if you don’t want to be edited, publish on your own blog. Otherwise, you live with the house rules in someone else’s domain.

By Rufus on Dec 21, 2008

I like to think about guest posting as the tactic that targets multiple aims - the ones you mention is the most important, of course…

By 3faycom on Dec 23, 2008