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 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 platform that gives subscribers exclusive early access to the best long and short ideas on Seeking Alpha.
Will I be paid for articles selected for SA Pro?
Articles selected for SA Pro are called “Alpha-Rich.” For each Alpha-Rich article, you will earn a minimum of $300 and receive one month of free SA Pro access. (See article selection and Payment FAQ below)
What other benefits are there to contributing Alpha-Rich articles?
In addition to financial compensation and access to SA Pro, publishing Alpha-Rich articles allows you to further differentiate your articles on the SA site. Each Alpha-Rich article will be clearly marked as such, even after the article becomes available for non-subscribers, and Alpha-Rich articles will be promoted on the SA homepage.
When do I receive my free access?
You receive your free access as soon as your Alpha-Rich 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 Alpha-Rich article?
All exclusive articles with a primary ticker are eligible for potential Alpha-Rich publication. A dedicated team of editors will be reviewing article submissions and selecting articles for Alpha-Rich where appropriate. If you want to highlight a submission for our attention, please write “Intended for Pro” in the “Note to editors” section of the submissions interface.

To submit a Premium (exclusive) 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 exactly is an Alpha-Rich article?
High-conviction long/short ideas with asymmetric risk/reward. More specifically, we look for:

• Context: Why does this opportunity exist? Why is the stock under/overpriced?

• Scope: How big is the opportunity? How big is the downside risk?

• Catalyst: What might drive the change in investor perception/share price?

• Timeframe: Is this a multi-year play, or a short-term opportunity?

We also recommend including an executive summary that briefly outlines the investment opportunity, and the title of the article should indicate the company’s name and the direction of the call.

This is not an exhaustive set of criteria, and we reserve the right to use editorial discretion in choosing articles.
Can’t you just tell me which stocks you want me to rate?
No. We’re not trying to imitate the sell side by rating stocks. We believe opportunity-driven research is vastly superior to coverage-driven research.
Do Alpha-Rich authors need to be fund managers or accredited?
No. The common denominator among Pro authors is that they’re very good at identifying asymmetric risk/reward opportunities, and they put their theses in writing to help other investors and themselves.
Are Alpha-Rich articles eventually made available to all SA users?
Alpha-Rich articles are available exclusively to SA Pro subscribers for the first 24 hours. After the embargo ends, the articles are automatically made available to all SA users and syndicated to our content partners.
Your embargo is “24 hours from time of publish.” How do you deal with Fridays and pre-holiday market days?
We stop publishing Alpha-Rich articles at 1:00 PM on Fridays and pre-holiday market days. Anything published before 1:00 PM leaves embargo 24 hours later. Alpha-Rich submissions received after 12:00 PM on these days will be held for publication until the next market day. To ensure we have enough time to review and feedback your article, please try to submit as early as possible.
How long will an Alpha-Rich article be available to all SA users?
Once available to all SA users, it remains fully accessible for 30 days. After 30 days, only SA Pro subscribers will have continued access to the article. 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 opt out of having my article published as Alpha-Rich?
Yes, but we hope you don’t! Please let us know (pro-editors@seekingalpha.com) if you have any concerns we might be able to address.
Can I update my Alpha-Rich thesis when there are material changes? Will the revised thesis be eligible for Alpha-Rich status?
Yes, providing there is sufficient new material.
Do you accept Alpha-Rich articles on stocks that have already had an Alpha-Rich thesis?
If you’re taking the other side of the trade, then of course! If you’re on the same side of the trade, but your thesis is materially different than the previous article’s, then yes.
Is there a minimum market cap for the stocks covered in Alpha-Rich 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 an Alpha-Rich article on a non-U.S.-traded security?
No. The subject of an 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.
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. Alpha-Rich articles will earn the greater of $10/CPM or $300.
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. Alpha-Rich contributors accrue access cumulatively; each Alpha-Rich 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.