5 Ways to Come Up With Contributed Article Topics (That Editors Actually Want)

By Bob Decker

In my last blog post, What Editors Really Want: Getting Your Technical Articles Published, I shared what decision makers at trade publications look for and what guidelines to follow to have the best chances of getting published. 

But at some point, you may have stalled out on this thought: “I get why contributed articles matter, but what would I even write about?”

If that’s where you are, you’re not stuck. You’re looking in the wrong place.

Because in the sensors and semiconductor industry, the best article ideas aren’t invented from scratch. They’re already sitting inside your company in conversations, documents, and day-to-day problem solving.

The key is knowing where to look and how to recognize a strong idea when you see one. Let’s walk through 5 of the most reliable sources that your customers want to read and publishers want to print.

1. Start with real engineering problems.

The strongest contributed articles almost always begin with real-world design challenges.

Think about the questions your customers are asking:

● “How do I manage thermal issues in a smaller footprint?”

● “Why is my signal degrading at higher speeds?”

● “What’s the best way to ensure reliability in harsh environments?”

These aren’t just support questions. They’re article ideas.

If one engineer has asked, many others are dealing with the same issue. And trade publications exist to help solve exactly those kinds of problems. A simple way to pressure-test an idea is: Would an engineer search for this? If the answer is yes, you’re on the right track.

2. Mine the content you’ve already created.

You likely don’t need to start from a completely blank page. Many contributed articles begin as something else:

● An application note

● A white paper

● A webinar or conference presentation

● Internal training materials

● Even a detailed email explanation

Contributed articles can stem from reshaping existing knowledge for a broader audience. For example, a dense white paper can often become a more accessible article by focusing on one specific problem and simplifying the explanation. A webinar can turn into an article by extracting the key teaching points and removing the presentation format.

If your engineers have already taken the time to explain something well, you’re closer than you think to having an article ready to publish.

3. Look at what your sales and applications teams hear every day.

Your sales pros and applications engineers are on the front lines. They hear objections, confusion, and edge cases that make them your best source of article ideas.

Pay attention to:

● Questions that come up repeatedly

● Misconceptions about how something works

● Situations where customers don’t know there’s a solution to a common problem

● Conversations that require a deeper explanation

Those moments often translate directly into strong tutorial-style articles. If your team has to explain something more than once, it’s probably worth writing down.

4. Pay attention to industry trends (and add your perspective).

Not every article has to be instructional. Some of the most engaging contributed articles offer a point of view or thought leadership that will add to your company’s credibility and authority.

Look at what’s changing in your space. Are there new standards or technologies? Has there been a shift in design priorities? How about supply chain challenges? What is the impact of AI on engineering workflows? Are there evolving expectations for performance or reliability?

Within those shifts, what are you seeing that others might not? And what have you learned from working with your customers that could be shared with the broader industry? You don’t need a groundbreaking opinion. You just need an informed one that’s based on real-world experience.

5. Use the “problem → why it matters → how to approach it” framework.

If you’re unsure whether an idea or existing content will work as a contributed article, run it through a simple structure:

● Problem: What challenge is the engineer facing?

● Why it matters: What happens if it’s not solved?

● Approach: What are the practical ways to address it?

If you can clearly answer those 3 questions, you likely have a strong article. This framework also helps you avoid one of the biggest pitfalls: drifting into promotion. When you stay focused on the problem and the solution, the article naturally remains helpful and editorial.

That’s where contributed articles start to work the way they’re supposed to: building authority, strengthening your reputation, and helping your expertise reach a wider audience.

You likely already have more article ideas than you think.

At Redpines, we help you uncover those ideas, shape them into strong technical stories, and place them with the editors who are actively looking for this kind of content. Because we’ve built long-standing relationships across the core technology trade press, we know what works and how to get it published.

If you’d like to talk through a few article ideas, give me a call at 415-409-0233.

What Editors Really Want: Getting Your Technical Articles Published

 By Bob Decker

In my last blog post, How to Build Authority (and Show Up in AI Answers), I shared that contributed articles are one of the most powerful tools you can use.

They’re a great way to earn editorial coverage in trade publications by providing real value for their engineer readers. We looked at how contributed articles work, where the content can come from, and why they matter more than ever.

Since then, a reader asked what editors expect when you’re submitting an article to them. So today, I’m answering that excellent question and letting you know what decision makers at trade publications look for and what guidelines to follow to have the best chances of getting published. Let’s get started. 

What do editors expect when you’re submitting an article?

Anytime you’re trying to get published, you’ve got to play by the rules of the publisher. Even more so when no money is exchanged, trade publications have clear expectations and they won’t publish your content if you don’t meet them. There are typically two factors editors require:

1. Exclusivity (for a limited time)

Most publications want content that has not already appeared on your website or in another magazine. Editors typically expect no prior publication even on your own website and certainly not on competitors’ websites. Often, the exclusivity window is short, and after a month or a few months, you’re welcome to publish the same article on your own blog, website, LinkedIn, or other locations, often with attribution. 

2. Helpful, not promotional

Editors expect informative content with general references to component types and limited brand-specific references. The more objective your article sounds, the more likely it is to be accepted. Ironically, this neutrality increases trust, which benefits your brand long-term.

One way you can make this work in your favor is writing about a product or feature on a product that only you provide. It doesn’t have to be all about you or your brand, but conveniently, your solution is the only one available. 

What are the structural guidelines for strong contributed articles?

Most electronics trade publications prefer:

● 800 to 1,200 words

● 2 or 3 graphics or figures (charts, graphs, diagrams, or images)

● A clear framework of presenting a problem and a solution

A strong article typically identifies a real engineering challenge that readers will want solutions to. Your article should explain why it matters, present practical guidance, and conclude with solutions — not a sales pitch.

Articles that open with a real-world design problem tend to perform well because they immediately connect with the reader’s experience. For example, engineers might be struggling with thermal management in compact designs, signal integrity at higher speeds, or component reliability in harsh environments. When your article starts by acknowledging a challenge engineers recognize, the rest of the article naturally engages readers and adds to your credibility.

It’s equally important to remember what doesn’t get published. Articles that read like product announcements, press releases, or datasheets are almost always rejected. Editors are not looking for marketing copy. If an article repeatedly names a specific product or focuses heavily on brand messaging, it quickly signals that the piece is promotional rather than editorial.

A good rule of thumb is that an engineer reading your article should come away with new understanding or practical insight, even if they never purchase anything from your company. When an article delivers that kind of value, editors are far more likely to see it as a contribution to their publication rather than an advertisement in disguise.

When you respect editorial guidelines, provide genuine technical insight, and structure your article around a clear problem and solution, editors are much more likely to publish your work. As a result, you’ll not only gain visibility in trusted industry publications, but also position your company as a knowledgeable partner that understands engineers’ real-world problems. Over time, that authority builds trust with readers, strengthens relationships with editors, and helps your expertise reach a wider audience.

Getting contributed articles published doesn’t have to be guesswork.

At Redpines, contributing editorial content is a key part of the PR strategies we provide our clients. Because we’ve developed long-standing relationships with editors across the core technology trade press, we know how to write technical stories, where different articles fit well, and how to position them for publication. 

If you’d like to explore how we could help get your expertise in front of the right readers, give me a call at 415-409-0233.

How to Build Authority (and Show Up in AI Answers)

By Bob Decker

Why publishing on your blog or social media alone is not enough these days

If you want engineers to see your company as a trusted expert, contributed articles are one of the most powerful tools you can use.

In the sensors and semiconductor industry, public relations isn’t just about press releases. It’s also about earning editorial coverage in the trade publications engineers rely on for product research, design guidance, and industry trends.

Unlike advertising, this kind of visibility doesn’t come from paying for space. It comes from providing real value. Let’s take a closer look at how contributed articles work, and why they matter more than ever.

What is a contributed article?

A contributed article is longer-form editorial content published by an independent trade publication at no charge. No advertising dollars change hands. Instead of promoting a specific product, the focus is on solving a design challenge, explaining a technical concept, interpreting an industry trend, or sharing practical engineering insight.

Trade publications exist to help engineers make better decisions. If your article does that, editors are often happy to publish it. 

“But why not just publish on our own blog and LinkedIn or other social media?” you ask. And you absolutely should publish technical content on your own site and social channels. But publishing in a respected trade magazine adds something your website alone cannot provide: independent authority. 

Appearing in the editorial pages of a trusted publication reinforces your expertise in a way that self-published content cannot. 

This dynamic has become even more important in the age of generative AI. AI systems tend to favor authoritative editorial sources when constructing responses. Independent trade publications carry significantly more weight than vendor websites in that process. Earned media coverage serves as a powerful validation signal. AI tools are remarkably good at distinguishing between advertising and editorial content, and they prioritize the latter.

If you want your company’s expertise reflected in search results and AI-generated answers, contributed articles are one of the most effective avenues available.

There are two types of contributed articles that work best:

1. Tutorial Articles: Help Engineers Solve a Problem

Tutorial articles are practical and educational. Their purpose is to help engineers understand how to apply a component or technology correctly and confidently. For example, they might explore topics such as understanding differences between component types, how to design miniature optical switching solutions, or managing power integrity in high-density layouts.

Yes, your company likely manufactures the components being discussed. But the focus should be on the design challenge and the technical considerations, not on why your specific part is superior. If an article reads like a datasheet or a product brochure, it won’t get published. If it reads like a helpful engineering guide, there’s a good chance it will.

2. Thought Leadership Articles: Share Perspective

Not every contributed article has to teach a step-by-step solution. Some of the most impactful pieces offer insight and perspective. A thought leadership article might examine emerging trends in power electronics, supply chain resilience in semiconductor manufacturing, sustainability pressures in component design, or the influence of AI-driven tools on hardware architecture.

These articles don’t need to present groundbreaking research. They simply need to offer informed observation. Engineers value thoughtful analysis that helps them anticipate where the core technologies industry is heading and how that direction might affect their designs.

Where Do Contributed Articles Come From?

By now you may be thinking, “This all sounds great, but it’s going to require a lot of time and effort to put contributed articles together and get them published.” But you likely already have more article material than you realize.

A contributed article often begins as something else. It may start as an application note written to explain a specific use case. Sometimes the foundation is content prepared for a webinar or a conference presentation. In other cases, internal engineering documentation or technical training materials provide the seed of an idea.

When technical teams are already creating useful educational content, the opportunity is there. The shift is less about inventing something new and more about reframing existing knowledge for a broader audience. With a little bit of editing and a focus on solving real-world design problems, materials your engineers are already producing can become strong editorial content for trade publications.

So now that you know what contributed articles are, where they come from, and why you should make them a part of your overall marketing strategy, in my next post, we’ll discuss what editors at trade publications are looking for, and how to maximize your investment of time and effort to have the best chances of getting published. 

Until then, did you know that getting contributed articles published is a part of the PR strategy we provide? 

At Redpines, we have long-standing relationships with publications in the core technology industry, and can connect your content with the right editors to get you published. To talk about the services we can provide you, please reach out to me by phone at 415-409-0233.