BA digest is a quarterly, open-access magazine covering all things BA related. It is written by practitioners for practitioners, and we aim to cover a number of topics from a wide range of authors in each edition.
Do you have a story to tell? We’d love to hear from you.
You don’t need to be a “professional writer” (whatever that means!), the key requirement is for you to write on a topic that will be of interest to other BAs.
The first stage is to submit an idea
We try to make the process as easy as possible. The first step is to submit an idea: at this stage we need to see your proposed title, and a few bullet points indicating what you intend to write about. This doesn’t need to be extensive, just a couple of paragraphs or a few expanded bullet points outlining your key topics or ideas. Crucially, you don’t need to write the article up front. You just need a solid idea.
We’ll consider your idea, provide feedback, and (if accepted) we’ll let you know which edition the article will be placed in, your word count and deadline.
You can then start the exciting job of writing your article!
We’ll help you add polish
Once you have submitted your completed article, we will put it through a three-stage peer-review process. It’ll go through a technical review, copy editing and proofreading. This ensures that your article is as polished as possible when it goes live. We’ll provide you with feedback at this stage, and there might be some tweaking or reworking required.
Once any final tweaks are agreed and we’ve formally accepted the article, your work is over! We then conduct graphic design to make the article look beautiful, and integrate it into the magazine. You’ll see a preview version before it goes live.
Then, on publication day, all you need to do is bask in the glory of being a published author.
It all starts by submitting an idea. So, why not submit your idea today?
FAQs
Should I write the article up front and send it to you?
No, you don’t need to write the article up front. The first step is to submit an idea via our submission form. We’ll then consider the idea, provide you with feedback and provide you with some author guidelines so that the writing process goes smoothly.
I’ve already written an article, can I submit that?
In general, we give strong preference to new articles that haven’t yet been written and haven’t been published elsewhere. Having said this, if you already have an article, depending on the topic, we may be able to consider it. Submit a summary using the idea submission link, mentioning that you’ve already written the article. If it’s already published elsewhere, please also paste a link into the form. Please do keep in mind that if we accept the article, it’s very likely that you’d need to edit/rework it to fit in with the word count that we allocate. (Note: We generally have a higher acceptance rate for articles that go through the ‘idea’ submission stage first, so to avoid rework and disappointment, we’d strongly recommend you don’t write the article in advance, and instead submit a short title/idea via the form above)
Do I have to write about BA stuff?
The key is to write on a topic that will be of interest to BAs. You can interpret this as broadly as you like. We’re always particularly interested in topics on the edges of business analysis. The key is that it will be of interest to a broad BA audience
I’m a vendor/service provider. Can I write a promotional piece about our product?
No. It’d be far more effective to place an advert. Get in touch to find out more.
I’m a new BA/I’m not sure if I’m experienced enough…
We welcome article ideas from people at all stages of their careers. We’d encourage you to go ahead and submit an idea. It is the diversity of opinions that makes BA Digest what it is, and this involves a diverse blend of authors with a range of different experience types and levels.
How long are BA Digest articles?
We’ll confirm your word count with you individually, but most of our articles are between 500 – 1,100 words long.
Can I submit a rough first draft?
No, the first stage is to submit an idea as outlined above. Once accepted, we’ll give you a deadline by which your final article is due. Once you have provided us with your article, we will put it through our three stage review process as described above.
I have an idea for content that’s in a different format (e.g. poem, visualisation, cartoon etc.) Can I submit this? We examine every idea on its merit, irrespective of format. Whilst our primary focus is written articles, we can consider other formats. If you have an idea for producing BA-relayed content in a non-written format that would fit in an A5 PDF magazine, this can definitely be considered. Please submit your idea, along with as much information as possible about your proposed format, via the submission form. (Please include a proposed title, and where the form prompts you to describe the content/topic of the article, please outline both the format and topics that you propose).
Can I submit an article on behalf of someone else? No. BA Digest is written by BAs, for BAs, and we can only accept submissions made directly by the author(s). We’re unable to accept articles submitted or represented by third parties. In short, all article ideas must come from the authors themselves.