Last year we launched News By You on Hypable. As entertainment sites go, Hypable is the only one that accepts visitor-written news stories and opinion pieces for inclusion on the main page.

Since launch, we’ve learned a lot about how this feature should and should not be used. Today we’re instituting a few new rules to make this ability as great as possible.

New Rule #1) Big statements call for big back up. If you’re going to state an opinion that is controversial, we need you to back it up with several reasons why you have that opinion/theory. Don’t lay down an opinion (An example: “Dumbledore is NOT gay!”) and give us weak or little reasoning (Ex: “Because no gay man would NOT color his hair!”)

New Rule #2) Word limits. To keep our editing team sane, we now have an 800-word limit on user submitted stories. This is a strictly-set number, so please do not exceed it. If you think it’s above 800 words, use this tool to check to make sure you’re under.

New Rule #3) We will not accept poorly written posts. This should be a given, but it needs to be said again. If you don’t take the time to proofread and put effort into your article, we can’t take the time to fix all the mistakes. Hypable will only publish stories that are of high quality.

New Rule #4) We will not accept posts that promote petitions. If you think a director should direct a highly-anticipated sequel, and you made a petition about it, promote it elsewhere. Hypable cannot accept these as they are not news or analysis.

New Rule #5) You can promote your blog or website! If you’re going to take the time to write us a nice original piece, you can feel free to promote your blog or website at the end of the article.

New Rule #6) We cannot guarantee your story will make the main page of the site. We want to add them all, but we will only put stories on the main page if they meet our level of writing and/or analysis quality.

THANK YOU to everyone who’s submitted a story via News By You. We love having this feature on the site, particularly because we’ve received some truly amazing opinion/analysis pieces. We can’t wait to see what you have in store for your fellow visitors next!