Premium Partnership FAQ - Seeking Alpha

What is a Premium article?
Premium articles are articles that are published exclusively on Seeking Alpha and are not available anywhere else on the web for free use. Contributors earn $10 per 1,000 pageviews for articles submitted and accepted as premium content and more for articles published as Pro or Alpha-Rich content. To publish an article, go here »
Specifically, what are the terms of the exclusivity I need to give Seeking Alpha?
Exclusive means that Seeking Alpha is the only for-free website hosting your content. You can, however, make it available on a for-pay subscription website, and can sell or reproduce it in print.
Can I post an excerpt of a Premium article to my blog?
You can post headlines and excerpts of up to 250 words (but no more than 1/3 of the total article) to your blog or website, with a link back to the full article on Seeking Alpha. The brief summary or snippet may not include charts or images and longer excerpts will disqualify you from the Premium Partnership Program.
Is this all-or-nothing, or can I submit some Premium articles and others not?
Premium submissions are on an article-by-article basis. You will be asked before submitting each article whether it is exclusive or not. There is no long-term commitment required to join the Premium Partnership Program; you can submit as many or as few exclusive articles as you like.
OK, how do I get started?
Click here to submit an article. If you’ve never contributed an article before, you’ll be asked to provide us with contributor details before submitting your first article.
If I submit an article as Premium, does that guarantee it will be selected by your editors?
No. All articles are subject to editorial review and selection. Our editors review each submission to determine whether it’s relevant for our audience (and yes, they can be quite picky!). If your submission is declined, you will receive notification on your Contributor Center, and by email, and if relevant, feedback from our editors as well. You will also receive Contributor Center and email notification if your article has been accepted and published. You have the option to opt out of email notification.
Do I need to be invited to become a Premium Partner? Are there any additional requirements?
No. The Premium Partnership Program is open to everyone; the only requirement is that your article be exclusive to Seeking Alpha. We apply the same editorial standards to Premium content that we do to all of our content. Of course, we’re always trying to raise the bar, and we hope enabling smart contributors to earn real income will mean an increase in both quality and quantity of our articles.
What is the Contributor Center?
The Contributor Center gives you the ability to track, monitor and manage your articles, payments, pageviews, and Instablogs. At a glance, you can track anything relevant to your author activity on SA.

What is SA Pro?
SA Pro is a subscription-only research platform for fundamental, buy-side investors. It offers professional grade insight into a broad range of individual stocks and ETFs. This is our “for pros, by pros” platform.
Will I be paid for articles selected for SA Pro?
For each article selected for SA Pro, you will earn a minimum of $100 and also receive one week of free SA Pro access. For each article selected as Alpha-Rich, you will earn a minimum of $500 and also receive one month of free SA Pro access. (See article descriptions and Payment FAQ below)
What other benefits are there to being a Pro contributor?
In addition to financial compensation and access to the SA Pro platform, publishing on the Pro platform will allow you to further differentiate your articles on the SA site. Each Pro and Alpha-Rich article will be clearly marked as such, even after the article becomes available for non-subscribers.
When do I receive my free access?
You receive your free access as soon as your Pro article is published. This also applies if you have an active Pro subscription, in which case your subscription renewal date will be extended by a period equal to the period of free access that you receive.
How can I submit an article for SA Pro publication?
All Premium articles with a primary ticker are eligible for potential Pro publication. A dedicated team of SA Pro editors will be reviewing article submissions and selecting articles for Pro where appropriate.

To submit a Premium article, simply click on one of the many Submit Article buttons throughout the site, or go to your Contributor Center and select "Write an Article."
What kind of articles will be published on SA Pro?
Articles published on SA Pro must be submitted as part of the Premium program. Editors will be identifying two types of SA Pro articles:

Pro articles:

• For pros, by pros: Convincing, rigorous and sophisticated analysis geared toward financial pros. It needs to be obvious that you really know this stock, and have something original to add to the discussion that can help investors make money.

• Primary ticker: All Pro articles must focus primarily on one stock or ETF. Obviously, this doesn’t preclude M&A discussions, peer comparisons, etc.

• Original: If this stock has had a primary ticker article published on SA (Pro or otherwise) in the last 30 days, your article must provide substantial new value.

• Long term: Articles must have a shelf life that significantly exceeds the embargo period. Generally we skew toward the longer view.

Alpha-Rich articles:

• Primary ticker: See above.

• Unearth a significant investment opportunity: These articles have the potential to generate serious alpha by unearthing an investment opportunity that has not been widely discussed.

• Comprehensive: An Alpha-Rich article should leave no stone unturned, including any attendant downside risks.

• Neglected: The stock has not had an Alpha-Rich idea published for the past 90 days. (If a special situation has arisen during this window, please contact us about exceptions.)

• Long term: See above.
Do I need to be invited to become a Pro contributor? Are there any additional requirements?
No. All SA contributors who submit Premium articles are eligible to have those articles selected for SA Pro.
Are articles on SA Pro eventually made available to all SA users?
Articles published on the SA Pro platform are available exclusively to SA Pro subscribers during the initial embargo period. After an embargo of one market day for Pro articles and three market days for Alpha-Rich articles, the articles are automatically made available to all SA users and syndicated to our content partners.
Accordingly, extremely time-sensitive articles will not be eligible for SA Pro, as the articles would be dated by the time they became widely available.
How long will an SA Pro article be available to all SA users?
When an SA Pro article becomes available to all SA users, it will remain fully accessible to all users on the site for 30 days. After 30 days, only SA Pro subscribers will have continued access to the full range of SA Pro articles. Non-subscribers will continue to have access to the comments on any SA Pro articles on which they commented and contributed to the discussion.
Can a contributor access his own articles after 30 days?
Yes.
Can I decide on a case-by-case basis whether I want an article to appear on SA Pro?
There is an opt-out checkbox in the submissions process where you can indicate the article should not be considered for SA Pro.
When are SA Pro articles published?
SA Pro articles are only published on market days. Articles submitted over the weekend that are selected for SA Pro will only be published on Monday morning.
Is there a minimum market cap for the stocks covered in Pro/AR articles?
An article about a stock trading at less than $1 or with a market cap below $100 million will see extra scrutiny but is still eligible for publication.
Can I write a Pro or Alpha-Rich article on a non-U.S.-traded security?
No. The subject of a Pro/Alpha-Rich article need not be a U.S. company, but it must be U.S. traded - either U.S. listed, via ADRs or on the pink sheets.
Will this affect my contributor ranking?
No, the Pro platform will not change the way the leaderboards work.
Can I flag an article for consideration as Pro?
Editors will be looking at all single-stock articles and cherry-picking the ones Pro subscribers are telling us they want. There is no way to flag submissions for Pro consideration.
Who should I contact if I disagree with editors’ decisions?
All decisions are final. Editors are not able to discuss decisions with contributors.
Who should I contact if I have further questions?
If you have any questions or suggestions, you can contact the Pro editorial team at pro-editors@seekingalpha.com.

How are payments calculated?
For every 1,000 pageviews to your article, you will earn $10. SA Pro articles will earn the greater of $10/CPM or $100 for Pro and $500 for Alpha-Rich articles.
How will I be paid?
Payment can be received through ACH (Automatic Clearing House), eCheck, Wire Transfer, Check or PayPal. You must have a U.S. bank account to receive payments via ACH. Or if you’re feeling magnanimous, or for any other reason would prefer not to receive payment, we can also donate all proceeds to your favorite charity.
Fees are associated to some of the payment methods. Those fees are clearly displayed in the "Payment method" tab in the Contributor Center allowing you to chose the most cost efficient method to fit your needs. Additional fees may be incurred for payments made in currencies other than US dollar.
I'm concerned about providing my bank details. What type of security do you have on your site?
Your banking information will be submitted over an encrypted SSL connection. Your payment information is secured and payment processing is powered by Tipalti, a secured payment solution that we have chosen to handle our payments and store sensitive information. Tipalti is secured and verified by Geo Trust and PCI compliant, so your information is stored on an isolated, secure server.
How can I track how much I'm earning?
On the Contributor Center there is a box titled 'Earnings Overview' that clearly tracks and calculates your earnings.
How can I track my free access to SA Pro?
On the SA Pro settings page, you can see how long you have until your free access expires. SA Pro contributors accrue access cumulatively; each Pro article allows them one additional week of free access, and each Alpha-Rich article allows them one month of free access.
How many pageviews can I expect to get?
Your Contributor Center also allows you to track pageviews on all your SA articles (Premium and non-Premium), which will give you an idea of what your audience engagement has been like until now. Top articles garner 10s of thousands of pageviews, so if you’re writing compelling articles, the potential to earn significant income is very real.
How often will I be paid?
Payments are made at the end of each quarter. The minimum payment amount is $100, which will be paid within 30 business days of quarter end. Payments of less than $100 will be delayed until earnings of $100 or more have accrued in your account. Your payment and tax information must be completed prior to the end of the quarter to ensure payment for that quarter.
Are the incentives set in stone? Can they go up? Can they go down?
Our aspiration is to increase incentives over time and allow contributors to earn even more money as our joint-venture succeeds and bears fruits. If things go south, it is possible we would need to reduce the ratio. We reserve the right to change our incentive plans at any time.
I can’t get paid because of my company or business. What happens to my earnings?
You can donate your earnings to charity. Email us at donations@seekingalpha.com for details.
What type of charity can I donate to?
Charitable donations are processed through the site Justgive.org. When we process your payment, we will submit your earnings as a voucher, which you will receive via email. You can then enter the Justgive website and choose the charity you wish to donate to. The only requirement we have is that we'll need you to complete a W9 form prior to processing.
Alternatively, we can donate the funds in Seeking Alpha's name to a charity of our choice (and your tax forms are not required). At present, we are donating funds to an organization called Village Reach. (www.villagereach.org).
Who should I contact if I have further questions?
If you have questions please contact: support@seekingalpha.com.