About Simple Talk

Simple Talk is a technical journal brought to you by Redgate Software. It features technical content that will interest professional developers, administrators, architects, and IT professionals. (If you are looking for articles about Redgate or our tools, visit the Redgate Blog or Redgate Product Learning)

The subject matter for Simple Talk is chosen to interest professionals creating, designing, and architecting software. We’re interested in issues around how and why technology is adopted and used. Topics include relational databases management, DevOps, data privacy and protection, general programming techniques, algorithms, and the challenges different industry sectors face with technology. Content is curated to suit a range of ability levels, such as articles on basic syntax from new programmers to topics on internals and algorithms for industry veterans.

If you have any comments or questions about our content, please leave comments on an article or send an email editor@simple-talk.com.

Simple Talk Mission

The mission of Simple Talk is to provide high-quality content with the following characteristics.

• Accurate technical content, peer-reviewed and professionally edited to the highest quality.
• Written by technology professionals, not AI.
• Cutting-edge site that provides content that affects the daily lives of developers and administrators.
• Highly interactive site where feedback is not only encouraged but acted upon and where questions get quick, accurate answers.
• Site that is not afraid to have an opinion or to address the more “human” aspects of an IT professional’s life alongside the drier technical knowledge requirements.
• A commitment to the community that extends beyond technical articles to real, tangible support for grassroots activity: be it in our online discussion forums or at conferences, user group events, and so on,
• Site that recognizes that developers need tools, not only for learning but for use on an everyday basis, and therefore need information that is straightforward and solution-focused.
• Site that is inspirational and fun to spend time on and that makes people passionate about what they do.
• Excels to have the content quality of paid subscription journals
• The interactivity of the Internet
• Editorially independent, sponsored by Redgate Software and provided as a free industry service. Unless indicated otherwise, all technical content on Simple Talk is third-party tool agnostic and written by industry professionals. Some of the writers are affiliated with Redgate Software but are prohibited from product marketing on Simple Talk.
• Limited advertising, typically including only  non-obtrusive advertising for Redgate tools, events, conferences, and other community sites we like. We do not accept advertisements or paid guest posts.

Our Writers

Our articles come from various sources, mainly from community members who have long been sharing their knowledge with others. We are constantly looking for technology experts with the mix of technical skills and the ability to share knowledge via the written word.

We also use professional writers to get a good mix of topics. Still at our core we believe that people who work with the technology they write about can explain technical matters with real depth.

Of course, we are also happy to have writers who are academics, especially when they can make more theoretical topics approachable for everyone.

What we do for our writers

When looking for writers, the most important trait we look for is technical skills. We can help authors by editing, guiding and mentoring submissions to provide articles of consistent quality that people want to read.

To make sure that the articles we publish are well received, we put articles through a rigorous process. It starts with a thorough technical review and edit, followed by a copy edit. Sometimes we ask authors to do substantial revisions before a work is published.

This process allows us to ensure the articles are correct, cover the desired subject, conform to certain rules that make them easier to read and understand, and are of the highest quality we can achieve. We have a group of technical reviewers who help with peer reviews. We sometimes call on Redgate staff for a second opinion.

The time between the submission of the first draft and publication can vary between two weeks and a few months, depending on the extent of revisions required and the number of articles we currently have in the pipeline.

Once an article is ready, we do everything we can to promote our writer’s output!

• Featured articles are distributed in newsletters that go out to over 200,000 recipients
• We promote content through social media and on other websites.
• We feature authors in other content like podcasts and interviews.
• Probably the most significant thing we do is that we pay for most of our content.

Do we take applications to write for Simple Talk?

Yes. If you feel like you have something to say and would write for Simple Talk, send an email to editor@simple-talk.com with the following information:

• Use the subject: “Simple Talk Writer Inquiry”
• In the body of the email, please include the following details.
  • Specific subject area(s) you are interested in writing about. Describe the kinds of articles you are hoping to write.
  • One or both of:
    • Links to any previous publications or samples.
    • A written example of a blog you would like to submit for consideration. (Note: prior writing experience is not required to be considered.)
  • Any links you can provide to help us see your experience level. Sites such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Stack Overflow, SQL Server Central, etc. would be great to help get a feel for your current reach.

Due to the volume of applications, we receive, we cannot respond to everyone.

A few notes about writing for Simple Talk:

• Quality is only one part of how we choose content. Our goal is to have a variety of topics. Be sure to include all topics you have the desire, experience, and expertise to write about.
  • Note that while our topics range includes almost any type of developer technology, articles centered around data, databases and database lifecycle are a large part of our typical content mix.
• We do not accept, nor respond to, requests for placing sponsored content on our website.
• Any general requests to write a “guest post” without any attempt to provide the information requested above should not expect a response.
• If you are representing another writer, make sure that is very clear in your requests. We typically work directly with writers.
• We expect content to be written by the writer, and not AI generated or copied from others.