Fast Company‘s Work Life section (formerly known as Leadership) selectively accepts outside contributions from industry professionals. Here’s a little bit about how that works.
What we look for
Articles submitted for consideration should be of interest to readers of the Work Life section, have a tone that is appropriate for Fast Company, and be written by a person, not a PR department. We like articles that introduce new ideas and advance conversations around topics and trends that engage our readers—think op-ed rather than content marketing. We appreciate lively, polished writing that balances research or news with fun and memorable anecdotes or examples that help illustrate your point of view.
While we encourage drawing from your own experiences in business to support your ideas, over-the-top self-promotion (of yourself or your company) will prevent us from publishing your article. The same goes for dense jargon and abstract, blanket assertions.
Fast Company prefers submissions from contributors who are leaders in and knowledgeable about the types of industries and topics we regularly cover on our Work Life section: productivity, creativity, career development, hiring and recruiting, work culture, work-life issues and policies, entrepreneurship, DEI, and innovation are popular with our readers, especially if there’s a salient takeaway for other professionals.
To get an idea of the types of stories Fast Company wants to publish, please read “How to write thought-leadership pieces that get published and don’t make editors want to die”.
The use of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT in the creation of articles, images, or other editorial content may only be used if directed by an editor or supervisor and will be identified as such. Please refer to Fast Company’s statement of editorial ethics for more on our AI policy.
How to submit
Submitted articles should generally be between 600 and 900 words. We cannot offer to pay for contributed stories, but if they’re engaging to read and useful to our audience, we will energetically promote them, just like any other story that runs on our site.
Send via email complete, unpublished articles only, intended strictly for Fast Company‘s Work Life section, to submissions at fastcompany dot com. Please no pitches, abstracts, outlines, press releases, or interview offers. And please no phone calls.
Fast Company’s other sections do not regularly review submissions, but if you feel you have a story that’s well-suited for another section, please consult our masthead and send your pitch or completed article to the appropriate editor for consideration.
What to expect if we accept
Submissions are reviewed approximately once a week, and the process is selective. Due to high volumes, we’re unable to respond to all submissions. If you don’t receive a response within one week of submitting, it’s safe to assume that your piece was not selected for publication. Following up will not speed our review or improve the likelihood of a story’s acceptance. We’re unable to give feedback about why a submission may not have been selected for publication.
For stories we do choose to publish:
- All articles are subject to editing.
- Headlines and subheads are subject to change.
- Content may be edited for style, tone, or substance.
- Links may be added for context.
- Art will be added at the discretion of Fast Company staff.
- Articles may or may not be promoted across Fast Company‘s family of sites, on our home page, in our newsletters, and via our social feeds.
- Fast Company may permit a select number of partner outlets to syndicate contributed articles that we’ve published originally.
Fast Company requests that contributed articles remain exclusive to our site for three to five business days, after which time they may be reprinted in part or in full on other sites, with a link back to the original article on Fast Company. To repurpose or use Fast Company articles for commercial purposes, please contact MV Licensing.
Contributed articles run online. The print edition is almost exclusively written by staff or professional journalists who contribute regularly to the magazine.