How to Submit Teaching Resources that Win with our Audience

We want to help you create great resources that win with our audience!

It’s no secret DYM is passionate about helping youth workers… one of the best ways we do that is by offering high-quality resources from incredibly talented people like you. DYM Authors have stepped up their game over the last few years and the bar for great resource submissions just keeps getting higher! This is a win/win/win.

What makes a teaching resource top-notch? 

Here are three recent reviews that showcase what a few youth workers value from the resources they purchased in the DYM Store: 

“I am always skeptical of using other people's resources to teach. It doesn't usually go well. But this is well-organized. It's thought-out and the big, main ideas are easy to manuscript or actually just teach yourself. IT'S WORTH IT ALONE FOR THE GRAPHICS…. but it's even better for the teaching.” – Auggie

“Great application/action points at the end of the message. Scripture was solid and the 'guts' of the message flowed well.” – Thomas

“Great concept, great easy-to-adapt manuscript, great small-group questions, and a ROBUST collection of graphics for all platforms.” - Eric

Looking to have your teaching resource published—and stand-out—in the DYM Store? Here are must-haves: 

1. Well-Written - You've made sure to get it ready for publication. Ideally, you've sent it to a friend who's great at grammar, spelling, sentence structure, etc, and they've polished it up for you! 
2. Clear Message Flow/Structure – A clear main idea/point, with clear and followable flow of supporting points. This helps the end-user communicate effectively, and makes a resource more easily customizable to the end-user’s ministry context. (A great example of this can be found in the Downloadable Sample PDF for “Difference Makers.”)
3. Biblically-supported content students will connect with: Is this relevant, helpful, biblically-supported content written to teenagers? 
4. Clear Takeaway – (According to our editors, this is the area in which most DYM submissions need improvement.)Answer the “So What?” question, and when relevant, inspire students to take practical action in response to the message. We think it’s helpful for a student to leave the service knowing how to apply the sermon's truths to his/her life. Students' brains are still developing—we can help them connect the dots! 

Just because we can, here are two more Pro Tips to take your teaching resource to the next level:

• Beautiful Graphics – Graphics make your resource attractive! Both to the customers in the store and to the students in their ministries. Visuals that can be used to promote the series on social media or transition into teaching time (think bumper video) are awesome bonus pieces to include in your submission. (Need help taking your graphics to the next level? Consider partnering with another DYM Author known for great graphics chops… you can start by making an ask in the Author Facebook Group.
• Small Group Discussion Guides – We love open-ended questions that help students talk, process their thoughts about the message and identify how it applies to their lives. The best discussion guides include guidance for the small group leader in opening the group (icebreakers, activities, etc.) and facilitating conversation well.

Teaching submissions with biblically-based content students will connect with, identifiable key points, and clear takeaway, (and especially those with great graphics and small group discussion guides!), are WINS with our audience, which will help as we assess which submissions to accept and push through our resource Pipeline.

Preparing Your Resource for Submission: 

1. Send your manuscript to your favorite grammar nerd and have them punch it up for you and make sure it flows well! 
2. Remove insider language that references your specific ministry context, so it feels ready for the end-user. 

Thank you for sharing your best stuff through the DYM Store! You’re helping youth workers everywhere invite students to connect with Jesus!

To submit your next resource to the DYM Pipeline, click here.