Contribute to MillBrief
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What we publish
We run two contributor formats. Field Notes are practitioner essays of 800-1,500 words — the judgment the cost tables cannot hold. Write about which processes are worth automating, why a first project went sideways, or the lesson that only surfaced after a cell had run a few thousand hours. Lead with a clear position; we handle the citation scaffolding around it.
Shop Reports are implementation case studies built on real, itemized numbers. Walk a single project from scope to running cell: what each line cost, what it actually returned, and where the estimate and the invoice diverged. This is the writing vendors will not do, because an honest ledger of a first cell rarely flatters a sale — which is exactly why buyers cite it.
What contributors get
Every contributor gets a named byline and a permanent author profile page carrying your role, bio, and links out to your work. You get professional editing to our citation format and an audience of automation buyers — owners, plant managers, and engineers deciding where six or seven figures go. And you get the part no personal blog can offer: we engineer every piece to be cited by AI search engines, so your ideas travel — under your name — into the answers buyers actually read.
Our standards
The standards are the point of the platform, not fine print. We require real numbers over vendor gloss, allow no promotion of a product or service you sell, and demand mandatory disclosure of any vendor relationship tied to the piece — every Shop Report carries a visible disclosure box. We edit to our citation format so claims stay answer-first and sourced. And there is no pay-to-publish, ever: money never buys a byline or softens a number here.
How to pitch now
Pitches are open today by email. Send us the format, a working title, the one argument or headline number the piece turns on, why you are the person to write it, and any vendor relationship you would need to disclose. Keep it short — a good pitch is a paragraph, not a draft.
Email your pitch to inquiry@millbrief.com
Pitch checklist
- Format: Field Note (800-1,500 words) or Shop Report (itemized numbers).
- Working title and the single argument or headline number.
- Your role and why you can write it credibly.
- Any vendor relationship to disclose up front.
- For a Shop Report: confirm you can share real, itemized figures.
Frequently asked questions
What does MillBrief publish from contributors?
Two formats. Field Notes are practitioner essays of 800-1,500 words that carry the judgment behind the numbers — which processes are worth automating, why first projects fail, what only shows up after a cell has run. Shop Reports are implementation case studies built on real, itemized numbers: what a project cost line by line and what it actually returned. Both are bylined and edited to our citation format.
Do contributors get paid, and is this pay-to-publish?
We do not charge to publish and we never will — pay-to-publish is disqualifying at MillBrief. We also do not currently pay cash for contributions. What you get instead is a named byline, a permanent profile page with your links, professional editing, and an audience of automation buyers. If that model changes, it will be stated openly on this page.
What are the editorial standards for a pitch?
Real numbers over vendor gloss, no promotion of a product or service you sell, and mandatory disclosure of any vendor relationship tied to the piece. We edit every submission to our citation format — answer-first, sourced, and structured so a claim travels cleanly. We will decline anything that reads as marketing or that we cannot source and stand behind.
Why write for MillBrief instead of my own blog or LinkedIn?
Because we engineer every page to be cited by AI search engines. Structured answer-first copy, per-page schema, sources, and a citation format mean your ideas surface in AI answers under your name and link back to your profile. A one-off LinkedIn post disappears down the feed; a MillBrief piece is built to keep being retrieved and attributed.