The only way RUComingOut can continue to grow into the world's biggest source of personal Coming Out stories is if people continue to share their experiences. There is no real criteria for writing or submitting a story but we kindly ask that you read the following guidance notes first.
1 | There is now word limit for stories. Some people may wish to write thousands of words while others simply a few paragraphs. Don't feel under any pressure to make your story sound or look like anyone else's - that's not what we need! We need honest, truthful accounts.
2 | Most stories will naturally refer to reader's friends or family members. This is of course fine, however, in certain circumstances we may need to change names or situations if the nature of the reference paints the person in a negative light as they will not be given the opportunity to give their side of the story.
3 | If for any reason you decide that you would like your story removed just ask. We will remove it and won't ask any questions.
4 | You do not have to send us photographs to accompany your story but clearly it makes the page look prettier! If there are friends and family members in the photographs we ask that you gain their permission for it to be published.
5 | Please consider that once your story features on rucomingout.com it will be in the public domain for the world to see. Obviously the whole point of our site is to reduce the stigma of Coming Out but we also care about you. This is why we ask that if you are not sure that you want to share your story with the world, take some time to think about it first.
6 | We prefer to receive stories in Word format and pictures attached to emails as JPEGs if possible. We can't promise to include every picture you send but please attach a few so that we can choose the most appropriate for your page layout; a mixture of landscape and (at least one) portrait.
7 | You should email your stories and pictures to wayne@rucomingout.com and also let us know if you would like us to include your Twitter@ or any links to blogs or website you may want our readers to take a look at. We would also like to include your age, location and occupation to make your story easier to relate to.
8 | We cannot guarantee when we will be able to upload your story but we try and publish every one within 4 - 6 weeks.
Remember we want stories from gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people as well as stories of support from straight guys and girls. We look forward to reading and sharing your story!
