How to Write for the AppSignal Blog — A Beginner’s Guide to Pitching, Writing & Earning

Section 1 · What AppSignal wants

Understand the blog’s focus and readers

The AppSignal blog centers on observability, performance, and practical engineering guidance for web apps. Typical topics include error tracking, performance monitoring, setting up metrics and alerts, debugging techniques, and case studies for Ruby, Elixir, Node.js, Python, and similar stacks. Review the official “Write for us” page on their blog before pitching: it explains the kinds of posts they accept and how they prefer submissions. (Write for the AppSignal Blog)

Quick tip: open AppSignal’s blog and read 4–6 recent posts in the category you want to write for. Note tone, depth, and how authors present code, metrics, and results. These are the signals editors use to decide.

Section 2 · Fit your idea

Is your idea shaped for AppSignal readers?

Before you write anything, boil your idea down to a single sentence that answers: “Who does this help, and what will they actually be able to do after reading?” If your sentence is specific and outcome-focused, the idea is promising.

Section 3 · Prepare a writing base

Build samples and demos before pitching

Editors look for authors who can finish articles and provide working examples. Build a small portfolio: publish 2–4 related pieces on your blog, Dev.to, or another tech site before pitching AppSignal.

If you want, instrument a tiny sample app (a simple Rails/Express/Django app) and run AppSignal’s free trial or free tier to capture traces and screenshots you can use in the article. See AppSignal for current plan info and onboarding docs.

Section 4 · Pitch workflow

Step-by-step: from idea to pitch submission

Use this compact SOP when you’re ready to pitch. Follow the “Write for AppSignal” instructions on the blog and submit through their form or author channels. Editors appreciate concise, clear pitches that lead with the value to the reader.

AppSignal also lists authors (guest-author pages) and has editorial roles — if you see a job posting for a Blog Content Editor, it indicates an active editorial pipeline. Link: Blog Content Editor.

Section 5 · Example outlines & article ideas

Twist common themes into AppSignal-ready pieces

Below are fully sketched outlines and short briefs you can copy, adapt, and send in a pitch. Each idea includes an intro sentence, a 5–6 section outline, suggested demo or repo, and what screenshots/metrics to include.

For each outline, attach a working repo or demo and at least two screenshots of AppSignal dashboards/traces. If you cannot show AppSignal screenshots, explain why and share other metrics (Prometheus/Grafana) — honesty is better than fabricated images.

Section 6 · How to build demos with AppSignal

Quick practical steps to instrument a demo app

AppSignal supports multiple languages and frameworks. Use their quickstart docs to instrument a demo and capture traces/metrics you can use in published articles. Main docs and quickstart are on the official site: appsignal.com.

If you plan to use screenshots from AppSignal in a public article, confirm your account and data visibility settings — don’t publish screenshots that contain sensitive customer data. Anonymize or use sanitized demo data.

Section 7 · Money, visibility and career steps

How published posts help you earn — directly and indirectly

AppSignal’s blog does not necessarily advertise standard contributor payments on their write-for-us page. Many company blogs publish guest posts for visibility rather than direct author payment. That said, a published technical post is valuable: it becomes a portfolio piece to attract clients, agency work, speaking gigs, or paid tutorials. Use your AppSignal byline and article links as proof of expertise when pitching freelance clients or selling services.

Note: Always check AppSignal’s author agreement or editor communication about re-posting and commercial use. Company blogs sometimes require exclusivity for a time or ask you to reserve rights — ask early and keep records.

Section 8 · Ethics, testing & AI

Publish honest, tested, and well-tested tutorials

Your reputation matters. AppSignal values accuracy: code must run, metrics must be reproducible, and screenshots should be honest. If you use AI to help write, treat it as a first-draft assistant — you must run the code, verify commands, and reword suggestions.

Section 9 · Pre-pitch checklist & templates

Checklist and a copy-paste pitch you can adapt

Sample pitch template (email / form)

Hi AppSignal team — my name is Jane Doe (engineer at Acme). I’d like to pitch a practical tutorial:

Title: How to find and fix memory leaks in Phoenix using AppSignal

TL;DR: This post shows a reproducible memory-leak demo, how to use AppSignal VM metrics and traces to pinpoint the leak, and a simple fix that reduces memory usage by ~40% in the demo.

Outline:
1. Why memory leaks matter (short)
2. Repro repo & setup (link to GitHub)
3. Instrumenting with AppSignal (quickstart)
4. Finding the leak: traces, VM metrics, and heap snapshots
5. Fixing the issue and measuring improvement
6. Conclusion and production tips

Samples: (links to 2 relevant published tutorials)
Demo repo: https://github.com/janedoe/phoenix-leak-demo

Bio: Jane Doe — backend engineer focused on Elixir and observability. (link to portfolio)

Happy to provide screenshots and a full draft if you like this idea. Thanks for considering!
Best — Jane
      

Section 10 · FAQ & resources

Quick answers and a big resources list