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80 Best Magazines & Websites That Publish Personal Essays

Wouldn’t it be great to find a whole list of magazines that publish personal essays, and even pay you for the privilege?

Well, you’re in luck because you’ve just found a list of magazines that accept essay submissions around pop culture, personal finance, personal stories, and many other topics. If you’re passionate about crafting personal essays and your work typically falls within a range of 600 to 10,000 words, consider submitting your essays to the organizations listed below. They generally offer compensation of $50-$250 for each accepted essay. After this guide, you may also want to check my list of the best essays of all time .

Here are the top magazines and publications that publish thought-provoking essays:

1. the new york times – modern love.

“Modern Love” accepts essay submissions via email at [email protected] with the essay subject or potential title as the email subject line. Submissions should be original, true stories between 1,500 and 1,700 words, sent both as an attached Microsoft Word-compatible document and pasted into the body of the email. The team collaborates with writers on editing, and authors are compensated for published work. Submission info .

2. The New York Times – Opinion Essays

To submit an essay to this publication, fill out the provided submission form with the essay and a brief explanation of your professional or personal connection to its argument or idea. The essay should include sources for key assertions (either as hyperlinks or parenthetical citations). Although all submissions are reviewed, the publication may not be able to respond individually due to the high volume of entries. If there’s no response within three business days, authors are free to submit their work elsewhere. Submission info .

3. Dame Magazine

DAME is a women’s magazine that prioritizes accessible and intersectional journalism that dives into context rather than breaking news. Their stories are unexpected, emotional, straightforward, illuminating, and focused on people rather than policy. They aim to reveal new or surprising information, provoke action or empathy, simplify complex issues, introduce fresh ideas, and foreground the people most affected by discussed topics. Submission info .

4. The New Yorker

The New Yorker welcomes letters to the editor sent to [email protected] and includes your postal address and phone number. For fiction submissions, send your work as a PDF to [email protected] or mail it to their New York address. They review all submissions within ninety days and will only contact you if they decide to publish your work. Submission info .

5. The Atlantic

The Atlantic is keen on high-quality nonfiction, fiction, and poetry. Familiarity with their past publications can guide your submission. All manuscripts should be submitted as a Word document or PDF. They only respond if they’re interested in discussing your submission further. Separate submission channels exist for fiction and poetry. Submission info .

6. The Globe and Mail

The Globe and Mail welcomes your original experiences, viewpoints, and unique perspectives for your daily first-person essay. A good essay should have an original voice, an unexpected view, humor, vivid details, and anecdotes that illuminate a wider theme. While a successful essay could be funny, surprising, touching, or enlightening, it should always be personal and truthful, rather than political or fictional. Submission info .

7. The Guardian

To contribute to this publication, you should identify the most relevant section and contact the commissioning editor with a brief outline of your idea. You may be invited to submit your work speculatively, meaning payment will only be provided if your contribution is published. It’s important to note that your contribution should be sent electronically and will be published under standard copyright terms with payment at normal rates unless agreed otherwise before publication. Submission info .

8. Los Angeles Times

The Los Angeles Times is open to opinion articles on any subject, with most published pieces being about 750 words long. Submissions must be exclusive to them and not published elsewhere, including personal blogs or social media. Full drafts of articles are required for consideration and should include the author’s name, the topic, the full text, a short author biography, and contact information. Submission info .

9. The Sun Magazine

The Sun publishes personal essays, short stories, and poems from both established and emerging writers globally, particularly encouraging submissions from underrepresented perspectives. Their contributors’ work often garners recognition in prestigious anthologies and prizes. The Sun seeks personal essays that are deeply reflective, celebrating hard-won victories or exploring big mistakes, aiming to make newsworthy events feel intimate and wrestle with complex questions. Submission info .

Slate invites pitches that are fresh, and original, and propose strong arguments. They appreciate ideas that challenge conventional wisdom and encourage you to clearly articulate the insights your reporting can uncover. A concise pitch is preferred, even if a full draft is already written. You should include a short bio and any relevant published work. They advise waiting a week before pitching to other publications, and if an editor passes, refrain from sending it to another editor at Slate. Submission info .

VICE is primarily interested in mid-length original reports, reported essays, narrative features, and service journalism related to contemporary living and interpersonal relationships. They welcome stories informed by personal experiences and insight but advise writers to consider what makes their story unique, why they’re the right person to tell it, and why it should be on VICE. While all stories don’t need to be tied to current events, a timely element can distinguish a pitch. They also accept quick-turnaround blogs and longer features. Submission info .

12. Vox Culture

Vox Culture seeks to provide readers with context and analysis for understanding current entertainment trends. They are interested in pitches that answer significant questions about major movies, TV shows, music artists, internet culture, fame, and women’s issues in the entertainment business. Notably, they are not interested in personal essays or celebrity interviews. Past successful stories have ranged from exploring Disney’s move away from traditional villains to analyzing historical inaccuracies in popular shows. They accept story pitches ranging between 1,000 and 2,500 words. Submission info .

Aeon, a unique digital magazine since 2012, is known for publishing profound and provocative ideas addressing big questions. Their signature format is the Essay, a deep dive into a topic, usually between 2,500-5,000 words, approached from a unique angle and written with clarity to engage curious and intelligent general readers. Aeon’s contributors are primarily academic experts, but they also welcome those with significant professional or practical expertise in various fields. Submission info .

14. BuzzFeed Reader

This platform welcomes freelance pitches on cultural criticism, focusing on current or timeless topics in various categories like books, technology, sports, etc. Essays should offer a unique perspective on how these subjects reflect our society. The content must be relevant, advance ongoing dialogues, and add value to the existing discourse. Submission info .

15. The Boston Globe

Boston Globe Ideas welcomes a variety of content including op-eds, reported stories, book excerpts, first-person essays, and Q&A features. Submissions should be sent directly, not as pitches. Please include your submission in the body of the email, not as an attachment. Briefly explain why you’re uniquely qualified to write this piece. Ensure your submission hasn’t been published or under review elsewhere. Submissions page .

16. The Bold Italic

This platform is actively seeking submissions in the genre of personal narrative essays. These pieces can encompass a broad range of experiences from the hilariously light-hearted to deeply poignant, encapsulating the vibrant and diverse experiences of living in your community. Submission info .

Before pitching to a Medium Publication, thoroughly understand its unique style by reviewing published content and submission guidelines. This ensures your work aligns with their preferences. With numerous Medium Publications available, persist in your submissions until you find a fitting outlet. Submission info .

18. Refinery29

Refinery29 Australia is committed to empowering women and underrepresented groups, with a particular focus on Australian women and trans and gender-diverse individuals, primarily Gen-Z and millennials. We publish a diverse array of content, from timely personal essays to reports on race, reproductive rights, and pop culture, all with a distinctly local perspective. They aim to shed light on the world around us, and highly value pieces that capture the unique Australian experience, be it in subject matter or authorial voice. Submission info .

ELLE’s annual talent competition is back for, seeking out the next superstar in writing. The winner will have their 500-word piece, inspired by the hashtag #RelationshipGoals and focusing on a significant relationship in their life. Submission info .

20. Cosmopolitan

Cosmopolitan is looking for first-person features that cover all aspects of beauty. This can include writing personal essays or narratives about your struggles with adult acne, your journey to an all-natural beauty routine, or other unique beauty experiences. We are also open to opinion pieces about beauty trends or movements that resonate with you. Submission info .

Bustle encourages freelance pitches across different verticals such as Lifestyle, Books, News and politics, Fashion and beauty, and Entertainment. We value pitches that are brief yet comprehensive, including a sample headline, a 2-3 sentence description of the piece, your plan for photos, sources you have access to, your clips if you haven’t written for us before, and your standard rate. Make sure to understand what we’re looking for and convey your story idea clearly and professionally. Submission info .

22. The Walrus

The Walrus seeks short essays (up to 1,200 words) that are timely, focused, and sourced from Canada and globally. These can be reported narratives, memoirs, or mini-features on specific topics. Each essay should exhibit a distinct argument, a strong writing voice, and present an original and significant viewpoint. Writers new to The Walrus or those without long-form journalism experience are particularly encouraged to contribute to this section. Submission info .

23. Autostraddle

Autostraddle welcomes pitches, works in progress, and completed submissions. Any issues with the submission form should be emailed to Laneia Jones with the subject line “SUBMISSION ERROR”. Questions about the submission process can be directed to Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya with “SUBMISSION PROCESS” in the subject line. Please note that pitches or submissions sent via email will not be accepted. Submission info .

24. Narratively

Narratively focuses on original and untold human stories, welcoming pitches and completed submissions from diverse voices. They use Submittable for managing submissions. To better understand what they’re looking for in new writers, contributors can review their guidelines, and the best pitches they’ve received, and ask questions to their editors about how to pitch. Submission info .

25. Catapult

Catapult offers a regularly updated list of submission and freelancing opportunities. Some current options include Black Fox Literary Magazine, open for fiction submissions; Carina Press, seeking romance manuscripts; Elegant Literature, welcoming submissions for its contest; Inkspell Publishing, looking for romance manuscripts; Interlude Press, seeking original novels featuring diverse casts; and Intrepid Times, accepting stories about romance while traveling. Submission info .

26. Jezebel

At Jezebel, the high volume of daily emails (over 500), including tips and questions from readers, makes it impossible to respond to all of them, even though they are all read and appreciated. Their primary job involves posting 60+ items a day, and due to workload constraints, they may not always be able to reply to your email. Submission info .

27. Bitch Media

Bitch Media seeks pitches offering feminist analysis of culture, covering a wide array of topics including social trends, politics, science, health, life aspects, and popular culture phenomena. They publish critical essays, reported features, interviews, reviews, and analyses. First-person essays should balance personal perspectives with larger themes. Both finished work and query letters are welcome. However, due to the volume of submissions, they cannot guarantee a response or that every pitch will be read. Submission info .

28. Broadview

Broadview magazine prefers pitches from professional writers for unique, audience-focused stories. While unsolicited articles may be accepted, the initial idea pitch is recommended. Responses to each pitch are not guaranteed due to high submission volumes. Submission info .

29. Briarpatch Magazine

Briarpatch Magazine accepts pitches on a variety of political and social issues, valuing stories from diverse voices. They seek well-researched, fact-backed pieces aimed at a non-specialist, progressive audience. They recommend writers to first pitch their ideas, including contact info, estimated word count, recent publications, and a short writing sample. The magazine aims to respond within one to two weeks after the pitch deadline for each issue. Submission info .

30. Maisonneuve

Maisonneuve Magazine welcomes non-fiction writing submissions in various forms (reporting, essays, memoirs, humor, reviews) and visual art (illustration, photography, comics). They do not accept fiction, poetry, or previously published work. They prefer well-developed, well-researched pitches, but also accept polished drafts if the writer is open to edits. To understand what the magazine is looking for, it’s recommended to read some recent issues or check their website. Submission info .

31. Room Magazine

Room Magazine seeks original fiction, poetry, creative non-fiction, and art from individuals of marginalized genders, including women (cisgender and transgender), transgender men, Two-Spirit, and nonbinary people. Simultaneous submissions are welcome, and submissions can be made through Submittable. Submission info .

32. Hazlitt

Hazlitt is currently not accepting submissions but it might reopen soon. They seek original journalism, investigative features, international reporting, profiles, essays, and humor pieces, but they are not considering unsolicited fiction. Pitches with proposed word counts are preferred, and they have a section called “Hazlitt Firsts” for reviews of experiencing mundane things for the first time as adults. Submission info .

33. This Magazine

This Magazine seeks pitches for their annual Culture Issue with a DIY theme, open to various topics related to DIY spirit. They publish Canadian residents only and prefer queries over already completed essays or manuscripts. They look for unique stories with a social justice angle, and pitches should include reasons for telling the story, relevant sources, and potential takeaways for readers. Submission info .

34. Geist Magazine

Geist magazine seeks submissions with a literary focus, including short non-fiction for the Notes & Dispatches section (around 800-1200 words) with a sense of place, historical narrative, humor, and personal essays on art, music, and culture. They encourage submissions from diverse writers and will pay writers $300-500 for accepted pieces. Submission info .

35. Discover Magazine

Discover magazine seeks pitches from freelance writers for science-related stories that enlighten and excite readers, with a conversational tone and high reader interest. Pitch one idea per email, mentioning the newness of the science and specific studies and researchers to be cited. Include your science-writing credentials and best clips in the pitch and send them to [email protected]. Payment starts at $1/word for print and typically $300/story for web, with rights purchased for both. Submission info .

36. Eater Voices

Eater Voices accepts personal essays from chefs, restaurateurs, writers, and industry insiders about the food world. To pitch, email a brief explanation of the topic and why you are the right person to write about it to [email protected]. Submission info .

37. The Temper

The Temper is an online publication focused on sobriety, addiction, and recovery, challenging drinking culture. They seek diverse and intersectional stories written through the lens of addiction, covering various topics like sex, food, relationships, and more. Submissions are currently closed, but they are especially interested in amplifying voices from marginalized and underrepresented groups. Submission info .

38. Chatelaine

Chatelaine is a prominent Canadian women’s magazine covering health, current events, food, social issues, decor, fashion, and beauty. To pitch, read the magazine first, and submit a one-page query letter explaining the idea’s fit for the magazine, section, and format. They prefer email submissions with at least two previously published writing samples, and response time may take six to eight weeks. Submission info .

39. Conde Nast Traveler

Condé Nast Traveler seeks pitches for reported and personal travel stories with inclusive coverage, including BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and disabled communities. Focus on stories and angles rather than destinations, check for previous coverage, and offer a fresh perspective. If pitching a personality, indicate exclusivity and access. Consider your expertise in telling stories, especially about marginalized communities, and disclose any sponsorships. Keep pitches brief, including a suggested headline, angle, sources, and why it’s timely. Responsible travel stories are prioritized during the pandemic. Submission info .

40. Boston Globe Ideas

Globe Ideas is dedicating an entire issue to young people’s voices and stories. Teens are invited to share their aspirations, concerns, and experiences about mental health, school, social media, and more, up to 700 words or through short notes, videos, or illustrations. This is a chance for teens to set the record straight and tell the world what matters most to them. Submission info .

41. Babbel Magazine

Babel welcomes submissions from all linguists, focusing on accessible and stimulating articles about language. Writers can submit feature articles or propose ideas for regular features, and guidelines for contributions are available for download. For those with ideas but not interested in writing, they can also suggest topics for articles through email. Submission info .

42. HuffPost Personal

HuffPost seeks to amplify voices from underrepresented communities, including BIPOC, LGBTQ, and people with disabilities. They accept freelance pitches on a wide range of topics, providing clear guidelines for submissions. They also encourage visual creatives to submit their work, and all published contributors are paid for their work. Please note that due to the volume of submissions, individual responses may not be possible. Submission info .

43. Adelaide Literary Magazine

Adelaide magazine accepts submissions in various categories, including fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, translations, book reviews, interviews, and art/photography. Fiction and nonfiction submissions have a size limit of 5,000 words, while book reviews have a limit of 2,000 words. They do not accept previously published work or simultaneous submissions. Artists retain all rights to their work, and upon publication, rights revert to the author/artist. Submission info .

44. bioStories

BioStories welcomes nonfiction prose submissions of 500 to 7500 words, with the typical piece being around 2500 words. Submit via email to [email protected], pasting the submission in the email body with the subject line “biostories submission” and your last name. Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but immediate notification is required if accepted elsewhere. Multiple submissions are allowed at a one-month interval, and the work must be previously unpublished in print and online. Noncompliant submissions will not receive a response. Submission info .

45. Quarter After Eight

Quarter After Eight welcomes innovative writing submissions in any genre from both new and established writers. To withdraw work, use the “withdraw” option on Submittable for the entire submission or the “note” function to specify which pieces to withdraw; do not email about withdrawals. Submission info .

46. The Rappahannock Review

The Rappahannock Review accepts original and innovative writing in various genres, including fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and audio pieces. They encourage experimentation and creativity, seeking enthralling voices and compelling narratives. Additionally, the magazine showcases a variety of visual artists and welcomes submissions for consideration in each new issue. Submission info .

Allure is seeking writers to contribute pieces that explore beauty, style, self-expression, and liberation. They are looking for writers with relevant credentials and experience in the field, and they offer compensation of $350 for reported stories and $300 for personal essays. Submission info .

48. MLA Style Center

The Modern Language Association is inviting students to submit research papers written in MLA style for consideration in their online collection “Writing with MLA Style.” Essays should be 2,000 to 3,000 words in length and must be written in English. Works-cited-list entries do not count toward the word limit. Submission info .

49. Marie Claire

Marie Claire magazine is dedicated to highlighting the diversity and depth of women’s experiences. They offer award-winning features, essays, and op-eds, as well as coverage of sustainable fashion, celebrity news, fashion trends, and beauty recommendations. Submission info .

SELF magazine is actively seeking new writers, particularly from marginalized communities, to contribute to their health and wellness content. They are interested in pitches that offer helpful insights on topics related to health, fitness, food, beauty, love, and lifestyle. The focus should be on improving personal or public health clearly and straightforwardly. Submission info .

51. Her Story

HerStry is a platform that focuses on the experiences of women-identifying persons, including cisgender women, transgender women, non-binary persons, and more. They accept personal essays that are true stories about the author, with a length between 500 to 3,000 words. They pay $10 for each published personal essay here, but there is a $3 submission fee (with limited free submission periods). Stories are read blind, and explicit or offensive content is not accepted. Submission info .

52. Griffith Review

Griffith Review accepts submissions based on specific themes for each edition. They welcome new and creative ideas, allowing writers to express their voices in essays, creative and narrative nonfiction-fiction, and analytical pieces. Submissions should generally range from 2,000 to 5,000 words, with up to four poems allowed on theme. Submission info .

53. Literary Review of Canada

The Literary Review of Canada welcomes prospective writers, photographers, and illustrators to submit specific review proposals, essay pitches, or general queries. They prefer to receive unsolicited review topics and essay ideas rather than completed work and do not accept simultaneous submissions. Submission info .

54. Harper’s Magazine

For Harper’s Magazine, nonfiction writers should send queries accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Ideas for the Readings section can be sent to [email protected], but individual acknowledgment is not guaranteed due to volume. All submissions and queries must be sent by mail to their New York address. Submission info .

55. Virginia Quarterly Review

VQR only considers unpublished work, submitted online via Submittable. One prose piece and four poems are allowed per reading period, but multiple submissions in the same genre will be declined unread. Simultaneous submissions are permitted, but if accepted elsewhere, notify them immediately via Submittable. Submission info .

56. The New England Review

New England Review is open for submissions in all genres during specific periods. They accept fiction, poetry, nonfiction, dramatic writing, and translations. The magazine only considers previously unpublished work, and simultaneous submissions are allowed. They welcome submissions from writers of all backgrounds and encourage diverse perspectives. Submission info .

57. One Story

One Story seeks literary fiction between 3,000 and 8,000 words, any style, and subject. They pay $500 and provide 25 contributor copies for First Serial North American rights. Only unpublished material is accepted, except for stories published in print outside North America. Simultaneous submissions allowed; prompt withdrawals upon acceptance elsewhere. Accepts DOC, DOCX, PDF, and RTF files via Submittable. No comments on individual stories. No revisions of previously rejected work. Translations are accepted with proper attribution. No emailed or paper submissions, except for incarcerated individuals. Submission info .

58. The Threepenny Review

The Threepenny Review accepts submissions for fiction, poetry, travel essays, and Table Talk pieces. They pay $400 per story/article and $200 per poem, granting first serial rights and copyright reversion to the author. Mailed manuscripts require a self-addressed stamped envelope, while online submissions should be in Word format with a single document for prose or poetry. Submission info .

59. Zoetrope: All-Story

Zoetrope: All-Story is currently not accepting general submissions. They will announce when submissions reopen and update the guidelines accordingly. Submission info .

60. American Short Fiction

American Short Fiction accepts regular submissions of short fiction from September to December. The magazine publishes both established and new authors , and submissions must be original and previously unpublished. Manuscripts should be typed, double-spaced, and accompanied by the author’s contact information. Simultaneous submissions are allowed, but authors must withdraw their work if accepted elsewhere. Payment is competitive and upon publication, with all rights reverting to the author. American Short Fiction does not accept poetry, plays, nonfiction, or reviews. Submission info .

61. The Southern Review

The Southern Review accepts work during its submission period. They only consider unpublished pieces in English and accept simultaneous submissions. If your work is accepted elsewhere, promptly notify them via email with the subject line “withdrawal.” Do not submit work via email, as it will be discarded. They do not consider submissions from anyone currently or recently affiliated with Louisiana State University within the past four years. It is recommended to familiarize yourself with the journal’s aesthetic by subscribing before submitting your work. Submission info .

62. Boulevard Magazine

Boulevard seeks to publish exceptional fiction, poetry, and non-fiction from both experienced and emerging writers. They accept works of up to 8,000 words for prose and up to five poems of up to 200 lines. They do not consider genres like science fiction, erotica, horror, romance, or children’s stories. Payment for prose ranges from $100 to $300, while payment for poetry ranges from $50 to $250. Natural Bridge Online publication offers a flat rate of $50. Submission info .

63. The Cincinnati Review

The Cincinnati Review accepts submissions for its print journal during specific periods: September, December, and May. miCRo submissions are open almost year-round, except during the Robert and Adele Schiff Awards and backlogs. They welcome submissions from writers at any stage, except current/former University of Cincinnati affiliates. Simultaneous submissions are allowed, and response time is around six months. Payment is $25/page for prose, $30/page for poetry in print, and $25 for miCRo posts/features. Submission info .

64. The Antioch Review

The Antioch Review seeks nonfiction essays that appeal to educated citizens, covering various social science and humanities topics of current importance. They aim for interpretive essays that draw on scholarly materials and revive literary journalism. The best way to understand their preferences is to read previous issues and get a sense of their treatment, lengths, and subjects used in the publication. Submission info .

AGNI’s online Submission Manager is open from September 1st to midnight December 15th, and again from February 15th to midnight May 31st. Manuscripts can also be submitted by mail between September 1st and May 31st. AGNI considers prose in various genres, including personal essays, short stories, prose poems, and more. They do not publish academic essays or genre romance, horror, mystery, or science fiction. Simultaneous submissions are welcome, and sending through the online portal incurs a $3 fee, but regular mail submissions can be made to avoid the fee. Submission info .

66. Barrelhouse

Barrelhouse accepts unsolicited submissions for book reviews through their Submittable online submissions manager. They pay $50 to each contributor and accept simultaneous submissions. There is no maximum length, but most published pieces are shorter than 8,000 words. They only accept Word or rich-text (.rtf) files and prefer poetry to be submitted as a single document. Submissions for their print and online issues are currently closed, but book reviews are open. Response time is approximately six months. Submission info .

67. Tin House Online

Tin House is a good company that offers a two-day submission period three times a year for writers without a current agent and no previous book publication (chapbooks accepted). They accept fiction, literary nonfiction, and poetry, both in English and in translation (with formal permission). Completed drafts are required. They are particularly interested in engaging with writers from historically underrepresented communities. Submission info .

68. One Teen Story

One Teen Story publishes 3 stories annually and welcomes submissions from teen writers aged 13-19. They seek original, unpublished fiction across genres, focusing on the teen experience. Great short stories with compelling teen characters, strong writing, and a well-structured narrative are encouraged for submission to their contest. Submission info .

69. Bennington Review

Bennington Review accepts unsolicited submissions through Submittable during their reading periods in fall, winter, and spring. They seek innovative and impactful fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, film writing, and cross-genre work. Response times vary, but they aim to respond within five to eight months. Accepted contributors will receive payment ranging from $25 per poem to $250 for prose over six typeset pages, along with two copies of the published issue and a copy of the subsequent issue. Submission info .

70. Epoch Literary

Epoch Literary accepts poetry submissions of up to five poems, short fiction or essay submissions as a single piece or a suite of smaller pieces, and visual art and comics for the cover. They do not publish literary criticism or writing for children and young adults. Electronic submissions are open in August and January, with a $3 fee, part of which supports the Cornell Prison Education Program. Submission info .

71. The Gettysburg Review

The Gettysburg Review accepts poetry, fiction, essays, and essay reviews from September 1 to May 31, with a focus on quality writing. Full-color graphics submissions are accepted year-round. It’s recommended to read previous issues before submitting, and sample copies are available for purchase. The journal stays open during the summer for mailed submissions or those using Submittable and purchasing a subscription or the current issue. Submission info .

72. Alaska Quarterly Review

The publication accepts submissions of fiction, poetry, drama, literary nonfiction, and photo essays in traditional and experimental styles. Fiction can be short stories, novellas, or novel excerpts up to 70 pages, and poetry submissions can include up to 6 poems. They aim to respond within 4 to 12 weeks, but authors can inquire about their manuscript status after 4 weeks if needed. Submission info .

73. Colorado Review

Colorado Review only accepts submissions through its Submittable portal and no longer accepts paper submissions. They encourage writers to be familiar with their publication before submitting and provide sample copies and examples of recently published work on their website. They look for engaging stories with original characters, crisp language , and a provocative central problem or issue. Submission info .

74. The Georgia Review

The Georgia Review accepts submissions both online and by post, but not via email. Submissions are free for current subscribers. They do not consider unsolicited manuscripts between May 15 and August 15 and aim to respond within eight months. Previously published work will not be considered, and simultaneous submissions are allowed if noted in the cover letter. They offer different prizes for poetry and prose and accept submissions in fiction, poetry, essays, and book reviews. Submission info .

75. New Letters

New Letters accepts submissions year-round through Submittable, with a small fee waived for current subscribers. They welcome up to six poems, one chapbook, one piece of nonfiction, one short story (graphic or traditional), or one novella per submission. Simultaneous submissions are allowed if notified, and response time is approximately six months. They publish short stories up to 5,000 words, novellas up to 30,000 words, graphic short stories up to ten pages in color or black and white, and chapbooks up to 30 pages. Submission info .

76. Shenandoah

Submissions for comics will reopen soon. The Graybeal-Gowen Prize for Virginia Poets will be open for a limited time. Poetry submissions are considered in November and spring. Prose submissions will open soon. Short stories, creative nonfiction, and flash fiction are welcome. Editor Beth Staples looks for writing that challenges and offers diverse perspectives. Submission info .

77. TriQuarterly

TriQuarterly, the literary journal of Northwestern University, welcomes submissions in poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, video essays, short drama, and hybrid work from both established and emerging writers. They are especially interested in work that engages with global cultural and societal conversations. Submissions are accepted through Submittable, and they charge a small reading fee. Submission windows vary by genre. Submission info .

78. E-International Relations

E-International Relations invites current and former undergraduate and Master’s students to submit their highest-graded essays and dissertations for publication. They seek work that is of academic utility to other students and demonstrates engagement with the subject, using pertinent case studies/examples and engaging with complex literature and ideas. Submissions must meet specific entry criteria, including word count, language standards, and full bibliographic references. Submission info .

79. Longreads

Longreads publishes the best long-form nonfiction storytelling and accepts pitches for original work. They pay competitive rates and prefer pitches via email to [email protected]. Fiction is not accepted, and submissions using generative AI tools will be rejected. You can also nominate published stories by tweeting with the #longreads hashtag. Submission info .

80. Education Week

EdWeek welcomes submissions from various perspectives within the K-12 education community, including teachers, students, administrators, policymakers, and parents. Submissions should be concise, relevant to a national audience, and have a clear point of view backed by factual evidence. We value solution-oriented and practical pieces that offer best practices, policy recommendations, personal reflections and calls to action. Essays longer than 1,000 words or shorter than 600 words will not be considered. Please submit in Word format via email. Submission info .

If you want to get your essays published in a print magazine or an online publication, it’s time to approach the appropriate section editor or send your work via a submissions page. Even in a world where so much content is produced by AI, publications are still interested in receiving great writing written in a conversational tone. Just make sure to follow the guidelines (especially those around word count) and show off your flamboyant writing style in a prestigious online magazine. Next up, you might want to check a list of the top sites that will pay you to write,  or my extensive list of publishing companies .

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The Writer’s Journey: Where To Publish Personal Essays

Table of contents:, 1. what is a personal essay , 2. key features of personal essays:, authenticity: , individual perspective: , emotional connection: , 3. how to write a personal essay, choosing a topic: , organizing your thoughts: , adding details: , being honest: , 4. where can you publish personal essays, online literary magazines: , writing communities and blogs: , newspaper and magazine op-ed sections: , literary anthologies and essay collections: , online writing contests: , specialized niche websites: , 5. guidelines for submission:, 6. reading submission guidelines:, word count: , formatting requirements: , theme or topic preferences: , submission method: , rights and originality: , 7. craft an engaging title and introduction:, 8. polishing your essay:, proofreading: , clarity and coherence: , conciseness: , 9. originality and avoiding plagiarism:, 10. adhering to ethics and sensitivity:, 11. submission process and follow-up:, key concepts and profound details, conclusion:.

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While no one can deny the power of personal essays, there are many reasons why you might be looking for a place to publish your own. You may have been asked to submit an essay to a contest or publication and want to know if it meets their standards, or maybe you’re just hoping to get some feedback on your latest writing project.

Whatever your reason is for Essay Publishing, book publishers New York  got you covered! Keep reading for information on where to publish personal essays and what they look like.

Personal essays are a great way for individuals to express their thoughts, experiences, and opinions on a personal topic. Whether a lighthearted tale or a heartfelt reflection, these essays give readers a glimpse into the writer’s mind and emotions.

To ensure that your essay is impactful and engaging, it can be beneficial to seek professional assistance. Ghostwriting services can help you bring your ideas to life and create a well-crafted essay that resonates with your readers. These services enable you to collaborate with an experienced writer who can transform your thoughts into clear and engaging prose.

Moreover, proofreading services can play a crucial role in enhancing the quality of your essay. These services involve meticulously reviewing your essay to identify and correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors. Additionally, professional proofreaders can offer valuable feedback on the overall clarity, structure, and coherence of your writing.

It’s important to find your unique voice and share your personal experiences with the reader when it comes to personal essays. However, don’t underestimate professional assistance’s impact on the final result. 

When writing a personal essay, make sure that the following key features are included in it

Personal essays are all about being true to yourself. You can be honest and authentic, sharing your genuine feelings and experiences.

Each personal essay is unique because it comes from your viewpoint. It’s your chance to share what matters and how you see the world.

These essays often aim to connect with readers emotionally. Whether it’s joy, sadness, excitement, or contemplation, personal essays can evoke various emotions in readers.

By understanding and emphasizing the key features of personal essays, writers can craft compelling pitches to attract publishers’ attention. Pitching to publishers opens doors for personal essays to be published, shared, and appreciated by a wider readership, creating opportunities for meaningful connections and impact.

For Essay Publishing, you first need to know how to write it. Here is how you can write a personal essay in a few steps:

Select a topic, akin to finding a book title by its plot, that is meaningful to you…

. It could be a personal story, an idea, or an experience you want to share. 

Plan how you want to present your story. Consider the beginning, middle, and end of your essay. You also need to plan on formatting for publishing according to the requirements of where you want to publish. When you think through all of this, the process of writing an essay further can be easy.

Use descriptive language, as detailed in how a writer can edit a narrative , to paint a vivid picture for your readers. Include sensory details to make your essay more engaging.

Be true to yourself. Don’t be afraid to share your true feelings and experiences, even if they might feel vulnerable.

When it comes to sharing your work with the world, finding the right platform is crucial. Here are various places where you can consider sharing your stories:

These websites are like treasure troves of interesting content. Places such as “The Sun Magazine,” “Tin House,” and “Narratively” love personal essays. 

They’re on the lookout for captivating stories that touch the hearts of their readers. These platforms aim to collect different perspectives and thoughts, making them perfect for your essays.

Websites like “Medium” and “WordPress” offer spaces for writers for Essay Publishing. They provide an excellent opportunity to showcase your work to a broad audience. 

Additionally, Medium has a Partner Program that could reward you based on how much people enjoy reading your essays.

Consider sharing your essays with the opinion sections of well-known newspapers like “The New York Times,” “The Guardian,” or “The Washington Post.”

These places have lots of readers and discussions. Contributing here allows you to be part of important conversations happening in society.

Some organizations create collections of essays on particular themes. Submitting your work to these collections can get your essays published in print or online, giving you exposure to a wider audience.

Writing contests hosted by websites like “Writer’s Digest”  and “The Writer Magazine” are great avenues for getting your essays noticed. 

These contests often have different themes and offer prizes, making them an exciting way to share your stories.

Depending on the topic of your essay, there are websites dedicated to specific interests. Whether about travel, parenting, mental health, or lifestyle, these platforms cater to diverse topics, providing a perfect space for your unique stories.

Submitting your essays to different platforms requires attention to specific publishing contracts , guides and practices. Here’s a comprehensive breakdown to help you ace the submission process:

Before submitting, carefully read and understand the submission guidelines and publisher-author relations of the platform you’re interested in. 

Each platform has its own set of rules, preferences, and expectations for submissions. Pay close attention to details such as:

Ensure your essay meets the specified word count requirements. Some platforms might have a specific range they prefer.

Check for specific formatting guidelines, such as font size, spacing, or file format (e.g., .docx, .pdf).

Some platforms might have themes or topics they’re particularly interested in. Align your essay’s subject matter accordingly.

Note whether submissions are accepted via email, online forms, or submission portals. Follow the specified submission procedure.

Understand the platform’s policies regarding ownership of the content. Ensure your essay is original and not previously published elsewhere.

Capturing the attention of editors or readers starts with an enticing title and introduction. Craft a title, similar to how you’d write a thank you note , that reflects the essence of your essay and compels the reader to delve deeper. 

Your introduction should be engaging, drawing in the audience and setting the tone for the rest of the essay.

Editing and revising your essay are crucial steps before submission. Ensure your writing is clear, concise, and error-free. Here are some tips:

Check for grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, and punctuation issues. Consider using grammar-checking tools or seeking assistance from a trusted proofreader.

Ensure your ideas flow logically and are presented coherently. Avoid overly complex sentences or jargon that might hinder readability.

Eliminate unnecessary details or repetitive information. Keep your essay focused on its central theme or message.

Maintain the authenticity of your work by ensuring it is entirely original. Avoid plagiarism by attributing sources correctly if using external references or quotes. Plagiarism can severely impact the credibility of your submission.

Be mindful of sensitive topics or personal information shared in your essay. Respect the privacy of the individuals mentioned and adhere to ethical considerations. Ensure your content does not harm or offend any particular group or individual.

Follow the platform’s submission instructions meticulously. Submit your essay within the specified timeframe, if provided. After submission, be patient. Responses may take time. If allowed, follow up politely if you haven’t received a response within the expected timeframe.

The world of personal essays offers a myriad of opportunities for aspiring writers. From online journals to renowned newspapers, the options are vast. Selecting the right platform involves understanding your essay’s theme, audience, and aspirations as a writer. 

Authenticity, clarity, and adherence to submission guidelines are paramount for Essay Publishing. Lastly, embracing your unique voice makes your essays resonate with readers across the globe.

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5 places to submit your personal essays

The best stories often come from real-life experiences. If you enjoy writing personal essays, consider submitting your work to one of the publications on this list. (Fiction writers and poets, there are some gems for you here too.) All the journals on our list are currently open for submissions and none charge fees.

Note: We are a creative writing school and compile these lists for the benefit of our students. Please don’t send us your publishing queries or submissions :). Click on the links to go to the publication’s website and look for their submissions page.

Adelaide Literary Magazine accepts personal essays and narrative nonfiction (up to 5,000 words) written in English and Portuguese. You can also submit short stories (up to 5,000 words) and poetry (up to 5 pieces per submission). They publish online once per month and generally respond within two months.

bioStories focuses exclusively on personal essays (500-7500 words). They publish essays on nearly any topic and are especially interested in work that celebrates the extraordinary within the ordinary. Pieces are published as they are accepted, and the editors generally respond to submissions within two months.

HuffPost Personal wants personal stories from writers of diverse experiences and welcomes essays on nearly any topic so long as they’re told with an authentic voice and point of view. There are no specific word limits, but writers are asked to pitch the editors before submitting their piece for consideration.

Quarter After Eight is an online literary journal published once per year. The editors are seeking work that ‘directly challenges the conventions of language, style, voice, or idea’. In addition to essays and creative nonfiction (no specific word limits), they also accept flash fiction, short stories (up to 7,500 words), and poetry (up to 4 pieces per submission). Submissions are open through 15 April 2021, and the average response time is 2-3 months.

The Rappahannock Review is an online literary magazine that publishes twice per year. In addition to essays and creative nonfiction (up to 8,000 words), they’re also looking for flash fiction, short stories (up to 7,500 words), and poetry (up to 5 poems per submission). They generally respond within one month.

3 responses on "5 places to submit your personal essays"

Just found this- Thanks for the info!

Hi, thank you very much for sharing this useful information. Now, I know where I can submit my personal essays. Writing essays make me occupied with writing and reading everyday.

Thank you! I was looking for places to submit personal essays!

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How To Publish Personal Essays – From Small Press To Collections

• by Robert Wood
• June 1, 2015
• One Comment

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Though they get less press than novels and short fiction , personal essays actually have one of the most welcoming markets in publishing. Dedicated essayists have a great chance of seeing some form of publication, so long as they’re willing to put the work in and understand the marketplace.

That’s why in this article I’ll be exploring the ins and out of publishing your personal essays, starting with how you can secure publication on the lowest rungs of the industry ladder, and then leading up to the anthology or collection publication of multiple essays. But whether you’re a writer of novels, plays, or personal essays, the first piece of advice will always be the same…

Read, read, read

As with any art form, there are trends in the personal essay market. It’s also the case that most publications will have preferences about things like tone, length, subject, and structure. Because of this, whether you’re writing essays in general or for a particular publication, the first step is reading as many as you can get your hands on.

Your research should be focused, however. Reading the great essays , collections by writers such as George Orwell or Oscar Wilde , is of course a good idea but the bulk of your reading needs to be targeted at the sort of publication you’re writing for.

There are many kinds of small touches, technicalities of rhythm and pace, which can only be learnt by reading good examples, but most publishers won’t just be interested in whether your work is good – they’ll be interested in whether or not your work suits their publication. The key is to study their publications relentlessly, first deliberately striving for the ‘feel’ of the work they publish and then gradually allowing it to become a natural style.

This sounds difficult, and at first it will be, but there are two facts which should make beginner essayists feel better:

• The ability to assume a style is one which gets easier and easier with practice. The more different styles you learn, the easier you’ll find the whole process, and very quickly you’ll have a wardrobe full of styles you can slip into to suit the occasion.
• Generally speaking, the better established the publication the less strict they’ll be about conforming to a set style. The demands on quality go up of course, but publications with existing industry and readership respect will be less concerned with the safety of conformity, and more concerned with showcasing the best of your unique talents.

It will take a while for these facts to come into play, but you should feel reassured that however difficult you find it starting out, that’s as difficult as it gets.

Reading should be a constant through your attempts to gain publication, but what you read should change according to where you are on the essayist’s pyramid.

The pyramid

The essayist’s pyramid is a way of combining the different levels of essay publication with the work it takes to move from one to the next. The pyramid basically consists of four levels. At the base are local and specialist publications, the next level up is regional publications, then national and international publications, then successful collections.

The pyramid doesn’t just represent a hierarchy; it’s a guide to progressing from one level to the next. One of the biggest deciding factors in whether a publication will consider your work is your reputation and publication history. Because of this, it’s necessary to have a lot of local publications under your belt before you contact a regional publication, a lot of regional publications before you try for national, and finally to be a frequently published national essayist before you can expect to be successful with a collection of essays.

Self-publishing gives you the ability to skip any of these steps, releasing your work to the world through blogging or e-books. While these are valid routes they’re unlikely to lead to success on their own unless you have a unique viewpoint or presentation. Instead it’s advisable to view websites as you would any other publication. Yes all websites are available to anyone, but realistically they still fall into a structure so similar to ‘local / regional / national’ that they can be discussed in the same breath. Once you have a few essays on a few minor websites you can try moving up, and keep going until there’s sufficient audience to follow you to your own online venues and digital publications.

So now we’ve looked at the route essayists can take to success, it’s time to discuss how they can get started.

Finding publications

The more local a publication the more likely they’ll be to publish you. This isn’t just a matter of circulation, but it doesn’t hurt. A sense of community + a small pool of potential talent = welcoming publishers. For the same reason specialist magazines, those which deal with a specific realm of subjects, are likely to be similarly well disposed towards your work.

Local publications can be found… well… locally. Eateries, libraries, and healthcare centers are good places to search. Established local publications, especially newspapers, will often have adverts for less well-known magazines.

If you’re working online then it’s just a matter of searching around and gauging which publications will be most appropriate for your work. Either way this approach is one which works all the way to the top of the pyramid. Regional publications will contain adverts for local ones, and national magazines are a good source for regional publications.

Each block of the pyramid stays aware of the block below (everyone wants to know where the talent is coming from), and so the more you work the more recognizable you’ll be to those you need to contact next.

The submission system

As I mentioned in my article on publishing short fiction, if you’re serious about publication then you need to establish a system where you’re always submitting and waiting to hear back about a submission.

Waiting to hear back from one publication before submitting to another is wasted time. Ideally you should have a few articles ready to go ‘out’ when you begin, then spend the time before you hear back writing more.

Every writer experiences more rejection than acceptance (mainly because the same piece can be rejected a hundred times, but only accepted once.) You shouldn’t be disheartened, but equally you shouldn’t let any necessary rejections on your road to success waste time you could spend succeeding.

Reading, writing, and submitting are a constant process. Getting published is a job, and it’s one you have to keep showing up for. Do so, though, and you can reach the achievement every essayist dreams of…

Collections and anthologies of personal  essays

‘Anthologies’ are collections of essays in which your work can be featured, whereas you can publish a ‘collection’ made up entirely of your own work.

To make it into an anthology you need to scour literary magazines for one with a theme you think you’d suit. Here the need to tailor your writing to the publication in question is more important than ever. Hang a list of their guidelines in your writing space and stick to it . Anthologies gather most of their audience based on interest in the overall theme, so deviating from it will get your work quickly dismissed.

If you’ve worked your way up the pyramid those who have already featured your work will likely be thrilled to trumpet your achievements, so if you do make it into an anthology make sure to contact former publishers. They may want to advertise your work, or even have you write something.

This is doubly the case when you publish a collection all your own, as there will be fewer other sources of exposure. Thankfully former publishers will almost always be genuinely happy to acknowledge your success, and it will also help their own prestige to be associated with a successful author. Collections are almost always the exclusive preserve of famous essayists – the kind you see week-to-week in national newspapers – but there is a healthy market for self-published collections by lesser-known but established authors, especially when they deal with specialist topics. Whether you’re a beer brewer, a trout fisher, a doll collector, or really almost any kind of hobbyist, there’s a niche for your work already waiting.

Building the pyramid

As I said before, finding some form of publication is just a matter of hard work. Moving up the pyramid you need to keep experimenting with your style and making sure that the work you’ve done on one level supports what you’re attempting to do on the next. A firm base is vital, and is the greatest tool in what have to be constant efforts to improve both your art and the places it can be found.

Above all, remember these three things:

• Always be reading, writing, and submitting.
• Write with your publication of choice in mind.
• Keep building.

For more advice on the logic behind entering competitions and anthologies try Should you enter a writing competition? Or for how to build an email list, a must for writers who will be moving from publication to publication, check out Why you need to have an email list right now .

Robert Wood

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• 19 Websites and Magazines That Want to Publish Your Personal Essays Compiled by Lisa Rowan, this site provides links to websites and their submission guidelines for personal essays.
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Where to publish your personal essay

Reading time: Less than 1 minute

This is my weekly installment of “writing about writing,” in which I scan the world to find websites, books and articles to help other writers. Today I discuss a blog post about the personal essay….

Are you a person who loves writing in the form of the personal essay? If so, and you’ve despaired of being paid for your writing, I’ve just discovered a post listing 19 websites and magazines that accept — and pay for — such posts.

The list includes top tier newspapers such as the New York Times and the Boston Globe , but it also mentions intriguing websites such as Extra Crispy and The Bold Italic . Each entry includes tips on how to pitch the editor, who to contact and how much the outlet pays. As a bonus, each entry also includes a link to a sample essay from that publication.

According to the post, “Writing nonfiction is not about telling your story,” says Ashley C. Ford, an essayist who emphasized the importance of creating a clear connection between your personal experience and universal topics. “It’s about telling interesting and worthy stories about the human condition using examples from your life.”

The piece also links to a secondary post offering a list of 130 editors who accept personal essays. If you’ve ever aspired to have a personal essay published, no more excuses! The two posts will give you plenty of ideas about where you can pitch.

An earlier version of this post first appeared on my blog on Aug. 5/19.

11 Tips For Writing A Publishable Personal Essay

I'm not gonna lie: the hardest thing to get printed on Bustle as a freelancer is a personal essay . That said, personal essays are also what I'm most in need of as our features editor . The reason they're so difficult to get accepted is not because I don't need or want them — it's because they are among the hardest to write well.

Though personal essays sometimes have an unfair reputation for being somehow "soft" or "self-indulgent," in my opinion, they are actually one of the most effective ways to communicate a point, experience, or even a feeling to a wide audience. So if you're thinking of pitching a personal essay to Bustle — or any other online publication, for that matter — know that we very much want to hear your stories.

But before you pitch, there are several things you can do to ensure you have the best chance possible of actually getting your essay printed . When it comes to writing for the web, the rules are not the same as they might be in school, or in a literary journal — and you're going to need to know how to adjust your essay accordingly.

Here are my tips, as the editor who decides what runs — and the writer who's totally been there.

1. When In Doubt, Start With What's On The Tip Of Your Pen

Having an idea of what you're going to write about is obviously where you want to start. Sometimes I get pitches that seem like four essays in one — even though the topics might be interesting, there's too much material to fit into an (ideally for us) 1000-1400 essay with any real resonance.

So how do you narrow things down — or figure out what to write about in the first place? I recommend free writing to find out . Take out a journal and write longhand for ten to twenty minutes. Don't let yourself pause — the important thing here is to keep writing without censoring yourself. Don't worry about it being intelligible. If you're stuck, write, "I'm stuck, I'm stuck," until something else comes out. You might try starting each sentence with "I remember" or "I see/smell/hear/feel" in order to drum up more details from the recesses of your mind.

2. Scan Your Freewrite For Details

When you're done with your freewrite, your creative muscles will already be warmed up — and you'll be able to see the patterns in your verbal diarrhea. Chances are, there's more good stuff there than you think. You might pick out a particular moment — a line even — that sparks a memory.

I suggest starting small: perhaps you notice that you're writing a lot about your ex. Is there one line about them that stands out to you, like maybe the memory of the time they snatched the remote away from you? Then I recommend starting your essay at that scene, and going from there. Remember, you can always change your beginning — the important thing is to pick a jumping-off point that feels doable rather than daunting. Is there a memory you can start with? Some dialogue? Remember, details are your friend, and, as a rule, the most powerful personal essays are quite specific.

3. Map Your Arc

Structure is the main place I see personal essays stumble. I like the advice I heard on a Moth podcast a few years ago, which I'll paraphrase here: Every good story gives the audience a sense of where the protagonist began, a moment of change when something in the protagonist shifts, and ends with a sense of where the protagonist is now — and why it matters.

Now, that might sound a lot like a beginning, middle, and end — but it's not quite the same. This kind of arc can be nonlinear as well, as long as it communicates those three things. (Nor should your essay ever be tied up in a pretty, simple bow.)

For example, I wrote a personal essay about my experience of realizing that being gluten-free wasn't right for me. The essay began with a very visual moment of me squatting in the woods, anxious about whether I'd be able to poop. (Hey, whatever draws the reader in.) From there, the essay then details my experience — why I became gluten-free in the first place, and how I started questioning whether I needed to be. The essay then ends back in those woods — chronologically, we're in the same moment we started, but are left with my aha moment, and a clear sense of how my perspective changed.

I picked such a graphic scene to begin and end my essay because looking back on an experience that spanned two years, I didn't know where to start. But in journaling, I found that my mind kept returning to that moment in the woods as a turning point and a clear image connected to my experience. Starting it with a scene made an overwhelming essay feel much more doable. Knowing that would be both my starting an ending point, it became much less daunting to write everything in between.

I suggest mapping out what your arc is, and making sure it's clear in your mind before you start writing. It will make your essay much clearer, and easier for the reader to draw meaning from.

4. Write Like Your Family Won't Read It

This advice comes straight from the most talented personal essayist I know — Bustle's own Gabrielle Moss. She jokes that this is easier for her since she's actually estranged from her family, but even if you're not, it's good advice to write like they aren't watching. Often, we censor ourselves way more than we need to, and it keeps us from writing with the kind of honesty that makes an essay connect.

See if you can write as though no one's reading. Tell yourself you can always edit out certain details later, and try to write with as much honesty as possible. You'll end up with more details this way, and likely, a much better personal essay.

If you feel scared about telling the whole truth, think about the personal essays and books that have most affected you. Chances are they resonated because they were honest, and expressed something you'd felt that you hadn't been able to put into words yet. If you can tell your story honestly and with vulnerability, it is a real gift to give your reader. They aren't going to judge you for it — in fact, it's exactly what will make them respect you as a writer.

Which brings me to...

5. Value & Cultivate Honesty

Whenever you write, keep the question Am I being honest? in the front of your mind. If something reads somewhat disingenuous, or you're only telling half the truth — know that readers and editors can smell it a mile away. It's natural to want to protect your ego or privacy, but try to stay genuine and raw; it's a personal essay, after all. Often, a couple days of distance between you and a first draft can help provide perspective on this one, tempting as it is to keep tinkering.

As a writer, it's also important that you continue working on your own self-awareness . Therapy, meditation, walking, yoga, journaling, spending time alone — all of these practices help us get to know ourselves better so that we can call ourselves on being disingenuous in our writing (and life). The time you spend processing your thoughts is what gives your words meaning, so you should spend as much time getting to know yourself as you do trying to write honestly.

6. Make The Personal Political

This doesn't mean you literally have to make every personal essay political (though I love that too and here are some great examples !). What I mean is, as you're writing, try to keep this question at the front of your mind: Is this relevant to someone who doesn't know me?

Now, this certainly doesn't mean you need to explain yourself, or your point, explicitly. Some of the best personal essays let the reader infer meaning, simply by evoking universal feelings. That said, I often see writers stumble under the assumption that because an experience was important to them or happened to them, it will be important to everyone.

That can be true — but you need to have a sense of how it matters before you start writing, otherwise it can be easy to get too caught up in your own *feels*.

Ask yourself: How is this relevant to people who don't care about me personally? Does my story represent a larger struggle or common experience?

The answers should be yes, even if you're writing, say, about the experience of coming out, and know all women are not gay. This essay is a great example of a writer communicating a very specific experience in universal terms that the reader can empathize with.

7. Review Your Essay For "Texture"

It's a writing class cliche, but it's true: show, don't tell. That doesn't mean you can't ever tell; it just means that after you've written your essay, you should review it for texture, as I like to think about it.

A good essay usually has some moments of telling, some scenes, some beautiful descriptive language, some dialogue, and often, some outside perspective (i.e. stats, quotes from other essays or articles, social/political context). Those are not hard-and-fast rules of course — you might write an essay that is pretty uniform and simple in style, like this one . But where I see most people tripping up is in describing everything and showing next to nothing.

Once you've finished a first draft, look at the essay and see where you can replace a telling graph with a scene or dialogue that illustrates the same point.

8. Be A Ruthless Self-Editor

Often, I get personal essays that have clearly not been closely edited. They have typos, lack structure, or have too much repetition and rambling. When you're pitching for online publication, you need to assume that the editor reviewing your essay is completely inundated with emails and pressed for time. She has potentially already read dozens of pitches that day. One way to make your essay stand out among them is to make sure your copy is as clean and tight as possible.

After you feel pretty good about your draft, read it out-loud to yourself.

Ask yourself: Where can I condense this? Do I repeat myself anywhere? Are there any places I could turn a "telling" graph into a scene or dialogue, or otherwise give it more texture? Does anything sound like something I wouldn't really say or believe? Is my arc clear?

Of course, you'll also want to read for typos, style, and punctuation. I also suggest trying to break your paragraphs up as much as possible so that you're not sending huge walls of text to an editor's screen — once again, the experience of reading something online is not the same as in print. You're targeting an audience with a shorter attention span.

You can read more about all my tips for being a good self-editor here .

9. Have Someone Else Read It Before You Pitch

I can't emphasize enough how valuable it is to have a trusted friend, partner — whoever — as an editor. I'm lucky in that my partner is actually a professional editor, but even if he weren't, I'd show him my work before sending it off to pitch because he knows me. Even if your trusted person isn't a writer or editor, someone who knows you well will be able to tell you where something doesn't make sense, and perhaps, where you're not being as genuine as you could be.

Ask them to consider the same questions I asked in section six, and also add: What did you think the point of this was? How did it make you feel? If they aren't getting what you want the essay to communicate, or seem unaffected by it, you might want to keep tinkering before you send it off.

10. Know How To Pitch To The Site You're Emailing

Knowing how to pitch is extremely important. Each site is different, and you should tailor your pitch to their preferences. But no matter the site, I do think it's safe to assume that any editor is relatively pressed for time. You want to package your piece as clearly as possible. Don't write a huge introduction, and I suggest copying and pasting the essay in the body of the email to save them even more time, unless they specify otherwise.

These days, many sites like ours also require images of the author themselves for personal essays, so you could make your piece even more approval-ready by attaching a few relevant photos of yourself as well. My article on how to pitch to Bustle will break down the details of what you need to know even further, so check it out, no matter what you're pitching.

11. Stay In Shape

It isn't easy to get a personal essay accepted to Bustle. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't keep trying, or pitch a rejected essay elsewhere. If you have several pitches rejected in a row, don't get discouraged — but don't keep trying the same things either. This might be when you want to follow up with me or another editor and ask what you could do to improve.

Of course, it is also very important that you continue to read writers you admire and study the craft of the personal essay . You can't expect yourself to spew genius if you don't allow other writers to inform and inspire you. You should also read personal essays on the sites that you are pitching to; if you're not familiar with the publication's tone and general form, it will be apparent to the editor and will put you at a disadvantage.

Finally, as every writer knows, writing is a muscle, and the more you keep exercising, the better shape you'll be in. Make your routine targeted, regular, and tailored to you, and you'll be kicking ass in no time.

Images: Pexels; Giphy

How to Write an Essay

Use the links below to jump directly to any section of this guide:

Essay Writing Fundamentals

How to prepare to write an essay, how to edit an essay, how to share and publish your essays, how to get essay writing help, how to find essay writing inspiration, resources for teaching essay writing.

Essays, short prose compositions on a particular theme or topic, are the bread and butter of academic life. You write them in class, for homework, and on standardized tests to show what you know. Unlike other kinds of academic writing (like the research paper) and creative writing (like short stories and poems), essays allow you to develop your original thoughts on a prompt or question. Essays come in many varieties: they can be expository (fleshing out an idea or claim), descriptive, (explaining a person, place, or thing), narrative (relating a personal experience), or persuasive (attempting to win over a reader). This guide is a collection of dozens of links about academic essay writing that we have researched, categorized, and annotated in order to help you improve your essay writing. 

Essays are different from other forms of writing; in turn, there are different kinds of essays. This section contains general resources for getting to know the essay and its variants. These resources introduce and define the essay as a genre, and will teach you what to expect from essay-based assessments.

Purdue OWL Online Writing Lab

One of the most trusted academic writing sites, Purdue OWL provides a concise introduction to the four most common types of academic essays.

"The Essay: History and Definition" (ThoughtCo)

This snappy article from ThoughtCo talks about the origins of the essay and different kinds of essays you might be asked to write. 

"What Is An Essay?" Video Lecture (Coursera)

The University of California at Irvine's free video lecture, available on Coursera, tells  you everything you need to know about the essay.

Wikipedia Article on the "Essay"

Wikipedia's article on the essay is comprehensive, providing both English-language and global perspectives on the essay form. Learn about the essay's history, forms, and styles.

"Understanding College and Academic Writing" (Aims Online Writing Lab)

This list of common academic writing assignments (including types of essay prompts) will help you know what to expect from essay-based assessments.

Before you start writing your essay, you need to figure out who you're writing for (audience), what you're writing about (topic/theme), and what you're going to say (argument and thesis). This section contains links to handouts, chapters, videos and more to help you prepare to write an essay.

How to Identify Your Audience

"Audience" (Univ. of North Carolina Writing Center)

This handout provides questions you can ask yourself to determine the audience for an academic writing assignment. It also suggests strategies for fitting your paper to your intended audience.

"Purpose, Audience, Tone, and Content" (Univ. of Minnesota Libraries)

This extensive book chapter from Writing for Success , available online through Minnesota Libraries Publishing, is followed by exercises to try out your new pre-writing skills.

"Determining Audience" (Aims Online Writing Lab)

This guide from a community college's writing center shows you how to know your audience, and how to incorporate that knowledge in your thesis statement.

"Know Your Audience" ( Paper Rater Blog)

This short blog post uses examples to show how implied audiences for essays differ. It reminds you to think of your instructor as an observer, who will know only the information you pass along.

How to Choose a Theme or Topic

"Research Tutorial: Developing Your Topic" (YouTube)

Take a look at this short video tutorial from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to understand the basics of developing a writing topic.

"How to Choose a Paper Topic" (WikiHow)

This simple, step-by-step guide (with pictures!) walks you through choosing a paper topic. It starts with a detailed description of brainstorming and ends with strategies to refine your broad topic.

"How to Read an Assignment: Moving From Assignment to Topic" (Harvard College Writing Center)

Did your teacher give you a prompt or other instructions? This guide helps you understand the relationship between an essay assignment and your essay's topic.

"Guidelines for Choosing a Topic" (CliffsNotes)

This study guide from CliffsNotes both discusses how to choose a topic and makes a useful distinction between "topic" and "thesis."

How to Come Up with an Argument

"Argument" (Univ. of North Carolina Writing Center)

Not sure what "argument" means in the context of academic writing? This page from the University of North Carolina is a good place to start.

"The Essay Guide: Finding an Argument" (Study Hub)

This handout explains why it's important to have an argument when beginning your essay, and provides tools to help you choose a viable argument.

"Writing a Thesis and Making an Argument" (University of Iowa)

This page from the University of Iowa's Writing Center contains exercises through which you can develop and refine your argument and thesis statement.

"Developing a Thesis" (Harvard College Writing Center)

This page from Harvard's Writing Center collates some helpful dos and don'ts of argumentative writing, from steps in constructing a thesis to avoiding vague and confrontational thesis statements.

"Suggestions for Developing Argumentative Essays" (Berkeley Student Learning Center)

This page offers concrete suggestions for each stage of the essay writing process, from topic selection to drafting and editing. 

How to Outline your Essay

"Outlines" (Univ. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill via YouTube)

This short video tutorial from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill shows how to group your ideas into paragraphs or sections to begin the outlining process.

"Essay Outline" (Univ. of Washington Tacoma)

This two-page handout by a university professor simply defines the parts of an essay and then organizes them into an example outline.

"Types of Outlines and Samples" (Purdue OWL Online Writing Lab)

Purdue OWL gives examples of diverse outline strategies on this page, including the alphanumeric, full sentence, and decimal styles. 

"Outlining" (Harvard College Writing Center)

Once you have an argument, according to this handout, there are only three steps in the outline process: generalizing, ordering, and putting it all together. Then you're ready to write!

"Writing Essays" (Plymouth Univ.)

This packet, part of Plymouth University's Learning Development series, contains descriptions and diagrams relating to the outlining process.

"How to Write A Good Argumentative Essay: Logical Structure" (Criticalthinkingtutorials.com via YouTube)

This longer video tutorial gives an overview of how to structure your essay in order to support your argument or thesis. It is part of a longer course on academic writing hosted on Udemy.

Now that you've chosen and refined your topic and created an outline, use these resources to complete the writing process. Most essays contain introductions (which articulate your thesis statement), body paragraphs, and conclusions. Transitions facilitate the flow from one paragraph to the next so that support for your thesis builds throughout the essay. Sources and citations show where you got the evidence to support your thesis, which ensures that you avoid plagiarism. 

How to Write an Introduction

"Introductions" (Univ. of North Carolina Writing Center)

This page identifies the role of the introduction in any successful paper, suggests strategies for writing introductions, and warns against less effective introductions.

"How to Write A Good Introduction" (Michigan State Writing Center)

Beginning with the most common missteps in writing introductions, this guide condenses the essentials of introduction composition into seven points.

"The Introductory Paragraph" (ThoughtCo)

This blog post from academic advisor and college enrollment counselor Grace Fleming focuses on ways to grab your reader's attention at the beginning of your essay.

"Introductions and Conclusions" (Univ. of Toronto)

This guide from the University of Toronto gives advice that applies to writing both introductions and conclusions, including dos and don'ts.

"How to Write Better Essays: No One Does Introductions Properly" ( The Guardian )

This news article interviews UK professors on student essay writing; they point to introductions as the area that needs the most improvement.

How to Write a Thesis Statement

"Writing an Effective Thesis Statement" (YouTube)

This short, simple video tutorial from a college composition instructor at Tulsa Community College explains what a thesis statement is and what it does. 

"Thesis Statement: Four Steps to a Great Essay" (YouTube)

This fantastic tutorial walks you through drafting a thesis, using an essay prompt on Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter as an example.

"How to Write a Thesis Statement" (WikiHow)

This step-by-step guide (with pictures!) walks you through coming up with, writing, and editing a thesis statement. It invites you think of your statement as a "working thesis" that can change.

"How to Write a Thesis Statement" (Univ. of Indiana Bloomington)

Ask yourself the questions on this page, part of Indiana Bloomington's Writing Tutorial Services, when you're writing and refining your thesis statement.

"Writing Tips: Thesis Statements" (Univ. of Illinois Center for Writing Studies)

This page gives plentiful examples of good to great thesis statements, and offers questions to ask yourself when formulating a thesis statement.

How to Write Body Paragraphs

"Body Paragraph" (Brightstorm)

This module of a free online course introduces you to the components of a body paragraph. These include the topic sentence, information, evidence, and analysis.

"Strong Body Paragraphs" (Washington Univ.)

This handout from Washington's Writing and Research Center offers in-depth descriptions of the parts of a successful body paragraph.

"Guide to Paragraph Structure" (Deakin Univ.)

This handout is notable for color-coding example body paragraphs to help you identify the functions various sentences perform.

"Writing Body Paragraphs" (Univ. of Minnesota Libraries)

The exercises in this section of Writing for Success  will help you practice writing good body paragraphs. It includes guidance on selecting primary support for your thesis.

"The Writing Process—Body Paragraphs" (Aims Online Writing Lab)

The information and exercises on this page will familiarize you with outlining and writing body paragraphs, and includes links to more information on topic sentences and transitions.

"The Five-Paragraph Essay" (ThoughtCo)

This blog post discusses body paragraphs in the context of one of the most common academic essay types in secondary schools.

How to Use Transitions

"Transitions" (Univ. of North Carolina Writing Center)

This page from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill explains what a transition is, and how to know if you need to improve your transitions.

"Using Transitions Effectively" (Washington Univ.)

This handout defines transitions, offers tips for using them, and contains a useful list of common transitional words and phrases grouped by function.

"Transitions" (Aims Online Writing Lab)

This page compares paragraphs without transitions to paragraphs with transitions, and in doing so shows how important these connective words and phrases are.

"Transitions in Academic Essays" (Scribbr)

This page lists four techniques that will help you make sure your reader follows your train of thought, including grouping similar information and using transition words.

"Transitions" (El Paso Community College)

This handout shows example transitions within paragraphs for context, and explains how transitions improve your essay's flow and voice.

"Make Your Paragraphs Flow to Improve Writing" (ThoughtCo)

This blog post, another from academic advisor and college enrollment counselor Grace Fleming, talks about transitions and other strategies to improve your essay's overall flow.

"Transition Words" (smartwords.org)

This handy word bank will help you find transition words when you're feeling stuck. It's grouped by the transition's function, whether that is to show agreement, opposition, condition, or consequence.

How to Write a Conclusion

"Parts of An Essay: Conclusions" (Brightstorm)

This module of a free online course explains how to conclude an academic essay. It suggests thinking about the "3Rs": return to hook, restate your thesis, and relate to the reader.

"Essay Conclusions" (Univ. of Maryland University College)

This overview of the academic essay conclusion contains helpful examples and links to further resources for writing good conclusions.

"How to End An Essay" (WikiHow)

This step-by-step guide (with pictures!) by an English Ph.D. walks you through writing a conclusion, from brainstorming to ending with a flourish.

"Ending the Essay: Conclusions" (Harvard College Writing Center)

This page collates useful strategies for writing an effective conclusion, and reminds you to "close the discussion without closing it off" to further conversation.

How to Include Sources and Citations

"Research and Citation Resources" (Purdue OWL Online Writing Lab)

Purdue OWL streamlines information about the three most common referencing styles (MLA, Chicago, and APA) and provides examples of how to cite different resources in each system.

EasyBib: Free Bibliography Generator

This online tool allows you to input information about your source and automatically generate citations in any style. Be sure to select your resource type before clicking the "cite it" button.

CitationMachine

Like EasyBib, this online tool allows you to input information about your source and automatically generate citations in any style. 

Modern Language Association Handbook (MLA)

Here, you'll find the definitive and up-to-date record of MLA referencing rules. Order through the link above, or check to see if your library has a copy.

Chicago Manual of Style

Here, you'll find the definitive and up-to-date record of Chicago referencing rules. You can take a look at the table of contents, then choose to subscribe or start a free trial.

How to Avoid Plagiarism

"What is Plagiarism?" (plagiarism.org)

This nonprofit website contains numerous resources for identifying and avoiding plagiarism, and reminds you that even common activities like copying images from another website to your own site may constitute plagiarism.

"Plagiarism" (University of Oxford)

This interactive page from the University of Oxford helps you check for plagiarism in your work, making it clear how to avoid citing another person's work without full acknowledgement.

"Avoiding Plagiarism" (MIT Comparative Media Studies)

This quick guide explains what plagiarism is, what its consequences are, and how to avoid it. It starts by defining three words—quotation, paraphrase, and summary—that all constitute citation.

"Harvard Guide to Using Sources" (Harvard Extension School)

This comprehensive website from Harvard brings together articles, videos, and handouts about referencing, citation, and plagiarism. 

Grammarly contains tons of helpful grammar and writing resources, including a free tool to automatically scan your essay to check for close affinities to published work. 

Noplag is another popular online tool that automatically scans your essay to check for signs of plagiarism. Simply copy and paste your essay into the box and click "start checking."

Once you've written your essay, you'll want to edit (improve content), proofread (check for spelling and grammar mistakes), and finalize your work until you're ready to hand it in. This section brings together tips and resources for navigating the editing process. 

"Writing a First Draft" (Academic Help)

This is an introduction to the drafting process from the site Academic Help, with tips for getting your ideas on paper before editing begins.

"Editing and Proofreading" (Univ. of North Carolina Writing Center)

This page provides general strategies for revising your writing. They've intentionally left seven errors in the handout, to give you practice in spotting them.

"How to Proofread Effectively" (ThoughtCo)

This article from ThoughtCo, along with those linked at the bottom, help describe common mistakes to check for when proofreading.

"7 Simple Edits That Make Your Writing 100% More Powerful" (SmartBlogger)

This blog post emphasizes the importance of powerful, concise language, and reminds you that even your personal writing heroes create clunky first drafts.

"Editing Tips for Effective Writing" (Univ. of Pennsylvania)

On this page from Penn's International Relations department, you'll find tips for effective prose, errors to watch out for, and reminders about formatting.

"Editing the Essay" (Harvard College Writing Center)

This article, the first of two parts, gives you applicable strategies for the editing process. It suggests reading your essay aloud, removing any jargon, and being unafraid to remove even "dazzling" sentences that don't belong.

"Guide to Editing and Proofreading" (Oxford Learning Institute)

This handout from Oxford covers the basics of editing and proofreading, and reminds you that neither task should be rushed. 

In addition to plagiarism-checkers, Grammarly has a plug-in for your web browser that checks your writing for common mistakes.

After you've prepared, written, and edited your essay, you might want to share it outside the classroom. This section alerts you to print and web opportunities to share your essays with the wider world, from online writing communities and blogs to published journals geared toward young writers.

Sharing Your Essays Online

Go Teen Writers

Go Teen Writers is an online community for writers aged 13 - 19. It was founded by Stephanie Morrill, an author of contemporary young adult novels. 

Tumblr is a blogging website where you can share your writing and interact with other writers online. It's easy to add photos, links, audio, and video components.

Writersky provides an online platform for publishing and reading other youth writers' work. Its current content is mostly devoted to fiction.

Publishing Your Essays Online

This teen literary journal publishes in print, on the web, and (more frequently), on a blog. It is committed to ensuring that "teens see their authentic experience reflected on its pages."

The Matador Review

This youth writing platform celebrates "alternative," unconventional writing. The link above will take you directly to the site's "submissions" page.

Teen Ink has a website, monthly newsprint magazine, and quarterly poetry magazine promoting the work of young writers.

The largest online reading platform, Wattpad enables you to publish your work and read others' work. Its inline commenting feature allows you to share thoughts as you read along.

Publishing Your Essays in Print

Canvas Teen Literary Journal

This quarterly literary magazine is published for young writers by young writers. They accept many kinds of writing, including essays.

The Claremont Review

This biannual international magazine, first published in 1992, publishes poetry, essays, and short stories from writers aged 13 - 19.

Skipping Stones

This young writers magazine, founded in 1988, celebrates themes relating to ecological and cultural diversity. It publishes poems, photos, articles, and stories.

The Telling Room

This nonprofit writing center based in Maine publishes children's work on their website and in book form. The link above directs you to the site's submissions page.

Essay Contests

Scholastic Arts and Writing Awards

This prestigious international writing contest for students in grades 7 - 12 has been committed to "supporting the future of creativity since 1923."

Society of Professional Journalists High School Essay Contest

An annual essay contest on the theme of journalism and media, the Society of Professional Journalists High School Essay Contest awards scholarships up to $1,000.

National YoungArts Foundation

Here, you'll find information on a government-sponsored writing competition for writers aged 15 - 18. The foundation welcomes submissions of creative nonfiction, novels, scripts, poetry, short story and spoken word.

Signet Classics Student Scholarship Essay Contest

With prompts on a different literary work each year, this competition from Signet Classics awards college scholarships up to $1,000.

"The Ultimate Guide to High School Essay Contests" (CollegeVine)

See this handy guide from CollegeVine for a list of more competitions you can enter with your academic essay, from the National Council of Teachers of English Achievement Awards to the National High School Essay Contest by the U.S. Institute of Peace.

Whether you're struggling to write academic essays or you think you're a pro, there are workshops and online tools that can help you become an even better writer. Even the most seasoned writers encounter writer's block, so be proactive and look through our curated list of resources to combat this common frustration.

Online Essay-writing Classes and Workshops

"Getting Started with Essay Writing" (Coursera)

Coursera offers lots of free, high-quality online classes taught by college professors. Here's one example, taught by instructors from the University of California Irvine.

"Writing and English" (Brightstorm)

Brightstorm's free video lectures are easy to navigate by topic. This unit on the parts of an essay features content on the essay hook, thesis, supporting evidence, and more.

"How to Write an Essay" (EdX)

EdX is another open online university course website with several two- to five-week courses on the essay. This one is geared toward English language learners.

Writer's Digest University

This renowned writers' website offers online workshops and interactive tutorials. The courses offered cover everything from how to get started through how to get published.

Writing.com

Signing up for this online writer's community gives you access to helpful resources as well as an international community of writers.

How to Overcome Writer's Block

"Symptoms and Cures for Writer's Block" (Purdue OWL)

Purdue OWL offers a list of signs you might have writer's block, along with ways to overcome it. Consider trying out some "invention strategies" or ways to curb writing anxiety.

"Overcoming Writer's Block: Three Tips" ( The Guardian )

These tips, geared toward academic writing specifically, are practical and effective. The authors advocate setting realistic goals, creating dedicated writing time, and participating in social writing.

"Writing Tips: Strategies for Overcoming Writer's Block" (Univ. of Illinois)

This page from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's Center for Writing Studies acquaints you with strategies that do and do not work to overcome writer's block.

"Writer's Block" (Univ. of Toronto)

Ask yourself the questions on this page; if the answer is "yes," try out some of the article's strategies. Each question is accompanied by at least two possible solutions.

If you have essays to write but are short on ideas, this section's links to prompts, example student essays, and celebrated essays by professional writers might help. You'll find writing prompts from a variety of sources, student essays to inspire you, and a number of essay writing collections.

Essay Writing Prompts

"50 Argumentative Essay Topics" (ThoughtCo)

Take a look at this list and the others ThoughtCo has curated for different kinds of essays. As the author notes, "a number of these topics are controversial and that's the point."

"401 Prompts for Argumentative Writing" ( New York Times )

This list (and the linked lists to persuasive and narrative writing prompts), besides being impressive in length, is put together by actual high school English teachers.

"SAT Sample Essay Prompts" (College Board)

If you're a student in the U.S., your classroom essay prompts are likely modeled on the prompts in U.S. college entrance exams. Take a look at these official examples from the SAT.

"Popular College Application Essay Topics" (Princeton Review)

This page from the Princeton Review dissects recent Common Application essay topics and discusses strategies for answering them.

Example Student Essays

"501 Writing Prompts" (DePaul Univ.)

This nearly 200-page packet, compiled by the LearningExpress Skill Builder in Focus Writing Team, is stuffed with writing prompts, example essays, and commentary.

"Topics in English" (Kibin)

Kibin is a for-pay essay help website, but its example essays (organized by topic) are available for free. You'll find essays on everything from  A Christmas Carol  to perseverance.

"Student Writing Models" (Thoughtful Learning)

Thoughtful Learning, a website that offers a variety of teaching materials, provides sample student essays on various topics and organizes them by grade level.

"Five-Paragraph Essay" (ThoughtCo)

In this blog post by a former professor of English and rhetoric, ThoughtCo brings together examples of five-paragraph essays and commentary on the form.

The Best Essay Writing Collections

The Best American Essays of the Century by Joyce Carol Oates (Amazon)

This collection of American essays spanning the twentieth century was compiled by award winning author and Princeton professor Joyce Carol Oates.

The Best American Essays 2017 by Leslie Jamison (Amazon)

Leslie Jamison, the celebrated author of essay collection  The Empathy Exams , collects recent, high-profile essays into a single volume.

The Art of the Personal Essay by Phillip Lopate (Amazon)

Documentary writer Phillip Lopate curates this historical overview of the personal essay's development, from the classical era to the present.

The White Album by Joan Didion (Amazon)

This seminal essay collection was authored by one of the most acclaimed personal essayists of all time, American journalist Joan Didion.

Consider the Lobster by David Foster Wallace (Amazon)

Read this famous essay collection by David Foster Wallace, who is known for his experimentation with the essay form. He pushed the boundaries of personal essay, reportage, and political polemic.

"50 Successful Harvard Application Essays" (Staff of the The Harvard Crimson )

If you're looking for examples of exceptional college application essays, this volume from Harvard's daily student newspaper is one of the best collections on the market.

Are you an instructor looking for the best resources for teaching essay writing? This section contains resources for developing in-class activities and student homework assignments. You'll find content from both well-known university writing centers and online writing labs.

Essay Writing Classroom Activities for Students

"In-class Writing Exercises" (Univ. of North Carolina Writing Center)

This page lists exercises related to brainstorming, organizing, drafting, and revising. It also contains suggestions for how to implement the suggested exercises.

"Teaching with Writing" (Univ. of Minnesota Center for Writing)

Instructions and encouragement for using "freewriting," one-minute papers, logbooks, and other write-to-learn activities in the classroom can be found here.

"Writing Worksheets" (Berkeley Student Learning Center)

Berkeley offers this bank of writing worksheets to use in class. They are nested under headings for "Prewriting," "Revision," "Research Papers" and more.

"Using Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism" (DePaul University)

Use these activities and worksheets from DePaul's Teaching Commons when instructing students on proper academic citation practices.

Essay Writing Homework Activities for Students

"Grammar and Punctuation Exercises" (Aims Online Writing Lab)

These five interactive online activities allow students to practice editing and proofreading. They'll hone their skills in correcting comma splices and run-ons, identifying fragments, using correct pronoun agreement, and comma usage.

"Student Interactives" (Read Write Think)

Read Write Think hosts interactive tools, games, and videos for developing writing skills. They can practice organizing and summarizing, writing poetry, and developing lines of inquiry and analysis.

This free website offers writing and grammar activities for all grade levels. The lessons are designed to be used both for large classes and smaller groups.

"Writing Activities and Lessons for Every Grade" (Education World)

Education World's page on writing activities and lessons links you to more free, online resources for learning how to "W.R.I.T.E.": write, revise, inform, think, and edit.

• PDFs for all 136 Lit Terms we cover
• Downloads of 1905 LitCharts Lit Guides
• Teacher Editions for every Lit Guide
• Explanations and citation info for 40,109 quotes across 1905 books
• Downloadable (PDF) line-by-line translations of every Shakespeare play

Need something? Request a new guide .

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12 Free Platforms For Writers To Publish Articles Online

Are you a new writer looking to publish your articles online? It might be a little confusing at first trying to choose the right digital publishing platform to use.

Before looking for the best publishing options, you need to decide which platforms are suited to your topic or writing style. Are you interested in writing opinion pieces, sharing personal experiences, providing expert advice, or publishing on academic topics?

Every platform has its own strengths and weaknesses. It’s all about finding one that aligns best with your writing style, topics, and intended audience.

You can check the suggestions in this article to help you decide which platforms will offer you the best chance of finding new readers.

In This Article

You can publish articles online right now

With digital publishing, it is easy for anyone to learn how to write and publish articles online.

There are many online publishing platforms for writers, so you can publish your writing in a matter of minutes.

What works for one writer might not work for the other. Are you writing essays or how-to guides ? It is also important to know who your audience is when choosing article publishing sites.

Do you want to reach teens, young adults, or adults? Are you trying to reach young entrepreneurs or established business owners?

Are you writing poems? There are also many free sites where you can publish your poetry .

Consider the types of articles you want to write and the audience you want to write for. Then, you can go ahead and find the best online publishing platforms.

There are also plenty of free writing apps to help you write great content that readers will love. But you should always use a reliable online grammar checker to make sure your writing is as perfect as possible.

Then, you can bring your vision and ideas to the world with digital content. With so many people reading articles and online content on laptops, smartphones, and tablets, there is always an audience for new writers.

There are many online magazines and sites that accept articles for free. It’s up to you to find the best digital publishing solution to suit your needs.

To get you started, here is a list of platforms offering free article publishing.

Medium is a very popular free publishing site where you can share your writing. You can connect with more sophisticated and dedicated readers than you might find on other social media platforms like Twitter or Facebook.

However, it is similar to a social network in its ease of connecting with other Medium users. But it is best suited to long-form writing.

It is very easy to create and set up your Medium account. Then, take a quick tour and read the FAQs. You are now ready to be published online with your first article.

The publishing tools are super easy to use with click and edit or drag and drop to move elements.

Your content on Medium should be full-length articles that are highly informative. Using original images is highly recommended.

Be aware, though, that it is not a publishing platform suited to short and obvious promotional blog posts.

You can read our how-to-use Medium guide for more detailed information about the submission guidelines. But they are quite straightforward.

2. Linkedin Articles

You are probably already on Linkedin. So why not publish your articles there?

Follow the instructions for publishing LinkedIn articles , and you are ready to go.

With so many people on the site, you are bound to find readers for professional articles.

It has to be one of the best places to easily publish your articles.

3. Publish PDF

This really is the easiest way to publish your writing online.

You don’t even need to have a website or blog.

All you need is a PDF file and your Google account.

Best of all, Google indexes PDF documents , so there’s a good chance that yours will appear on Google Search.

Read our quick tutorial on how to publish a PDF article online , and you will be ready to publish your articles online immediately.

4. Scoop.It

Scoop.It is one of the most popular free publishing platforms for new writers.

You can publish great magazines on this website, and it does what it promises.

There is a function where you can find great content to help as inspiration.

Simply use appropriate keywords, and you will be flooded with information.

You can find some excellent content on Issuu  and some entertaining writing as well.

It is a user-friendly platform where anyone can create digital publications.

You don’t need to use any publishing software.

You can also sell your digital magazine directly from the website, making it possible to earn some money.

Issuu is definitely one of the leading platforms for anyone who has something worthwhile to say.

With more than 15,000 updates daily, you can see why it is so popular with writers who are publishing articles online.

It also gives you the opportunity to reach a lot of people with your writing. It doesn’t matter what your passion is; there is a place for you on this platform.

Your magazine can be about anything from cats to basketball, so there are no boundaries.

If you are a photographer who wants to share your multimedia with the world, you might find that Yudo is for you.

On this platform, you can mix your writing, videos, photographs, and audio.

Who wouldn’t like to read a digital magazine that offers all of these features?

It makes for a more exciting read, so it could be worth a shot.

All you need to have is a passion and start working hard at it.

7. ArticleSeen

ArticleSeen  prefers original content. But that is what you should do when posting your articles online.

If you want free exposure for your writing, this is a good site to help you on your way.

There is a good choice of categories, which means you are sure to find one that suits your writing topic.

8. PUB HTML5

PUB HTML5 is free of charge, so you can see if it is the right digital publishing tool for you.

The design is sleek and simple, which is what you want as a beginner.

You don’t want websites that are confusing to use.

But the great thing about this platform is that your publications will appear professional on all devices.

It can be a computer or a mobile device. The results are the same.

You can publish interactive elements in magazines, catalogs, and brochures and create rich-media flipping books.

If you are trying to get your name out there as an influential writer, you might want to give this website a try.

With over 500,000 publishers using this website, you can understand why I included Joomag  in this list.

You can manage your subscribers on this platform and add more when you please.

It gives you full control over your publications.

Use a good grammar checker to help you write flawless articles. Then, you can launch your own campaign.

You can use your mailing list to notify all of your subscribers when you publish a new article.

As a plus, you can send emails that you write for your subscribers to make them feel part of the team.

It is an easy way to promote your work.

10. ArticleBiz

ArticleBiz offers you the chance to get your articles picked up by online publishers.

It’s very easy to submit your articles.

When you do, you will also complete a resource box. It is a short bio about yourself. You can include your email and website address information.

You can choose from a huge range of categories for your articles.

It has an Alexa ranking of 210,908. So it certainly gets a lot of traffic and readers.

If you are new to article writing, it is a great site to make a start with your online publishing.

11. Substack

For writers open to a different approach in publishing, Substack is well worth investigating.

It’s a free platform you can join to publish your articles. But the big focus with Substack is on getting readers to subscribe to your writing.

Your articles will certainly be available online. But if your sole aim is to get your articles to rank high on search engines, Medium might be a better option.

However, if you want to build a loyal readership, there’s no better way than to attract email subscribers.

You can start by offering your articles for free. But if you can build some traction and your mailing list, there is an option to monetize your writing later.

There are a lot of high-profile writers already earning money from paid subscribers. But many new writers are succeeding too.

If you only want to publish one or two articles, it’s not the platform for you.

But if you want to make writing your passion and publish regular articles on your topic, Substack might be precisely the right publishing option for you.

12. Google Sites

When you want to have more control over your articles, you might consider using Google Sites .

It’s a simple website builder from Google. The two big advantages are that it’s free and very easy to use.

All you need is your Google account to log in and get started.

You can set up your new site in only a few minutes. Just make sure you make it available online.

Once you start adding your articles, you then have a chance of them being indexed by Google.

Like other website platforms, you can add gadgets to create interest. But they are basic.

Submitting your articles to a lot of different sites can be time-consuming and difficult to track.

But with your own site, you are in control of all your content.

Google Sites is a great option when all you want is a free, simple, and easy way to publish articles online in one place.

When you see the choices you have, there are no limits today on interactive content creation and digital publishing.

Anyone can learn to publish articles online once they decide to start. All you need to do is find new topic ideas .

With all these fantastic platforms available to you, all you have to do is get to work and start writing.

Many have native apps for iOS, Android, and Google Play. Check your App stores.

Before you know it, you are going to be writing for free article submission sites .

All you need is to use your drive and passion to get you heading toward your goals.

Give one of these websites a try, and you will be publishing your fantastic articles in no time at all.

Related reading: Where To Publish Short Stories Online

About The Author

Derek Haines

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52 thoughts on “12 free platforms for writers to publish articles online”.

I am a retired man with a technical background. I have written many articles on varied subjects but have never published. The subject matter includes science, religion, political and current events. The articles vary in length from one page to 20 pages. Have you ane suggestions for an appropriate posting site?

You cover a lot of topics, and different lengths, Phil.

It might be difficult to find one platform for them all.

Perhaps setting up a free blog, such as with Blogger or WordPress, might be a better move.

Thanks, I’ll look into that.

I have written quite a few articles, most of them being inspirational. Some are in the form of messages learnt from incidents in everyday life. I also feel that as a citizen on this planet, it is my duty to share the good things I have learnt, so others can benefit too. Am wondering where would be a good place to begin publishing. Thanks.

Derek, I am a decent lady, not available for romance, but just want you to know that I like your way; I just like your website & the way you make your comments and respond to questions. There’s just something about you. I like you.

Thank you. I’m happy to hear that you enjoy the content of the site.

I think writing story’s and publishing them and seeing how people comment, will help me when i get older and see what I want to be. I haven’t chosen yet I’ve always wanted to be a journalist or a media worker, honestly, I don’t yet…

I notice that as a new writer, I have strong passion to publish. But I believe there is the need to learn to make my writing ‘clean’, mistake-free and perfect for my readers before publishing. What writing training apps would you recommend to help me ‘sanitize’ my writing?

I would suggest Prowritingaid for a new writer. It’s got everything you need to edit and improve your writing.

Will be paid for publishing articles on this platform listed above?

Will try this

I’m seventy-two and have been writing for a long time. I have a folder full of articles and I also have a folder full of science fiction stories. I have poetry and comics. I need a platform that allows me to publish as I please.

I’m an unpublished writer with several manuscripts. Do these platforms here publish novels?

No, Samuel. These sites are only suitable for publishing articles.

If you want to publish novels, try Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) or Draft2Digital.

Hello Derek, I’m new to writing articles, but I wasn’t to write articles focusing on Young People and their struggles. I would like to build some readership for my article. What site do you recommend? Thank you.

You can use any site, Paul. But before you do, make sure your writing is perfect. In your comment, I’m sure you meant, wanted to write, and not wasn’t to write. You can’t expect to find readers if you make errors like this. Always, always check your writing before you hit the button.

Dear Derek, I would like to write articles about personal awareness and development. I am a new writer and I would like to reach a large odience eventually .. which platform would you recommend, please?

The best platform is always the one that you feel will work for you, Paoletta. But if you are looking at building a readership, Medium and Substack are two you might consider.

I’m really grateful to have stumbled on this site which I believe will greatly help me in publishing my articles. I do news articles that focus much more on culture. But I sort of publish stuff that is newsworthy so I also write on crisis in Africa.

Be aware that on Medium your articles and you as an author won’t be searchable until you get a critical mass of readers and followers/claps. Which means that you need to actively promote your writing, for strangers to find your page on any given day (except the few first hours of the publication). Very disappointed.

Medium is no different from any other form of publishing articles. You need a certain amount of traction before it can rank in Google Search.

For a blog post, you need backlinks. On Medium, you need followers and claps.

It’s pretty standard stuff, but not disappointing if you know how to promote what you post.

There are no free rides at getting articles to rank. You still need to work on it to be successful.

i need to publish my story about chronic kidney disease and kidney transplants, the need for kidney donors and how this need is affected by the Covid pandemic.; and my personal need for a transplant to save my life. Where is the best place to submit my article?

Use any of the sites listed in this article. But I would try Medium first.

I need to publish my article which are explain about lidar technology. Where can I publish my article?

Dear sir I need to publish my paper which concerns on climate. so how can I publish it?

Really grateful to get these platforms to publish my article. Thanks to you for gifting us such information for these platforms.

how I can publish the article ??

Good information but why did you not include Substack?

this is great where do i publish my scholarly articles and class modules

Hi Derek, Impressive Collection shared on Free Publishing Articles. Would like to know where we can share technical content.

Ok how can I publish

Hey this is Simeone here. I already participate in the Medium corporative community, it is a good platform for publishing your stories online. I only have a technical problems with the platform. I’m hoping to enjoy my writing of articles with these other platforms.

According to me the best usage of time is writing. It makes an individual to think widely on every aspect. Writing enable person to do brainstorming over the topic. This improves the writing work of writer.

Thank you very much! I spent about 2-3 hours and looked at these sites. Medium appears to be educational and very helpful for beginning writers! I will use it and promote it! See where I am with it by the end of the year! Thank you again! Edina Back, Executive Establishment Officer, Personnel Efficiency Foundation

Good morning. Please I am a prolific writer. I write on a broad range of topics and areas ranging from Marriage, Relationship, Politics, amongst others. How do I publish my articles please?

Fine, thank you.

I want to publish my poetries. Where I can get it published?

I have 200 pages of musings and poetry in RHYMING format. Deep thoughts and shallow—-should it be published? C R Petty Col USMC Ret.

I’m looking for free publishing platform. I want to publish an article I wrote while I was in college. This an academic article for educators (teaching profession). What is the appropriate website for that.

Hlo sir/mam, we are the students of masters. Sir we want to publish our research article in your site. So sir please give us the details regarding publication criteria or fees. We shall be thankful to you for this kind of purpose.

As they say always seek knowledge I would like to seek knowledge and become one of the best poets ever in history by explaining to people about what’s love

Kindly please keep providing me the work related to writing . Iam hard working and dedicated.

“Life is my teacher and living is my lesson.” I believe everyday you live, you learn alot from life. When you stop living is when the lessons stop. Article is informative and useful. Reading it has set me in motion. I now know how to proceed. The lessons are a step forward in the right direction.

Very valuable information. Lot of secrets, thank you.

Hello Lisa, Great article. Thanks for bringing these tools on one platform for the world. Keep up the good work. Regards

Hello we are publishing house based in Rwanda Africa, we would like to get in touch with you for more information on the on how we can work with you in publishing working in have books for kids both fiction and non fiction kindly tell me how we can work together. Waiting from you soonest Best Regards Andrew.

Please use our site contact form if you wish to get in touch with us.

I want to publish a book. What is the process ? Can I contact you ?Nearest office ?

We only offer advice articles on our site, Abraham. Sorry, but we do not offer personal support or coaching.

Is it possible to publish a small article regarding medical science

Frankly speaking, and as human beings, we always learn from one another. You may good in x and I’m good at y, for that reason I may need your help and you may need my help. It’s a mutual learning.

Hi Derek Haines, I would like to publish my short gospel articles, Where do I start?

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Need help submitting your writing to literary journals or book publishers/literary agents?  Click here! →

How To Publish A Collection Of Essays

by Writer's Relief Staff | Craft: Short Story Writing , Submit A Book For Publication , Submit A Short Story Or Essay , Submit Your Writing | 7 comments

Review Board is now open! Submit your Short Prose, Poetry, and Book today!

Deadline: thursday, april 18th.

At Writer’s Relief we are often asked how writers can get their collection of essays published, and we recommend the following tips to help essay writers approach editors and literary agents with greater confidence and success.

How can I generate an editor or agent’s interest in my book of essays?

Publication credits . If you’ve previously published essays in reputable literary journals, make sure to include these credits in your query letter . We highly recommend that you build your publication credits before approaching an editor or agent with a collection of unpublished essays. The market for an essay collection is limited unless you have significantly newsworthy experiences or have a background that proves your writing has mass appeal. Wide publication credits will help indicate readers’ interest in your work.

If you are still in the process of building credits, investigate local venues for your essays—newspapers, newsletters, etc. There are also free specialty publications covering every imaginable topic (check out coffee shops and bookstores) that may be receptive to personal essays). Start locally but aim for national exposure for the best results. If you’ve published a personal essay in a reputable national literary magazine, you’ve increased your odds of selling a collection by quite a bit.

Theme . Collections do well when they include essays with a common theme. For example, David Sedaris is best known for his humorous essays, and C.S. Lewis once published a collection of religious essays. Other themes may include women’s studies, travel, sports, or city life. Unique themes get attention—people love to read about real-life experiences that are highly unusual—but even the most outrageous stories must be backed by good writing.

How can I find editors or literary agents who work with essay collections?

Research, research, research . Study the essay collections at local bookstores and libraries—and don’t forget to investigate the nonfiction areas such as travel, cooking, or parenting. Note who publishes these collections and what kind of essays are selling. Check the books’ acknowledgment pages for possible references to literary agents or editors.

Study book reviews and buy compilations of essays (for example, The Best American Essays ) to learn where each was published. And don’t forget about networking. Writers’ groups, college English departments, conferences—get to know fellow writers and ask questions.

Search for literary agents who welcome essay collections. You can find thousands and thousands of resources online and in bookstores. You’ll need to examine literary agency listings carefully in order to determine which are best for you. And, if you’re short on time, Writer’s Relief can help you. We maintain a database of information—current and constantly updated—to help you target your submissions more successfully. We’ve been helping writers get their work published since 1994.

Interesting, always go the independent route. Learn to believe in your own merit. Take your time when writing. Don’t get into this industry with the mindset that you are going to make copious amount of money. Frankly, the writung industry has been depreciated by too many 2nd-rate writers.

My essay project is “Integral Perspective Of The Human Factor In A Mechanical, Digital World Environment”. It is 14 double-spaced pages, consisting of 7 parts, an introduction, a brief conclusion, and my background. It is a positive response for thought and action in the dehumanizing trend we are living in technology, climate change, education, culture,economy, and interpersonal relations. I want to publish the essay if I can. Whether I receive any compensation is immaterial.

Hi, I am working on editing 20 essays from different writers,they share a main event in their journey which is the theme of the collection. Do you have any advise on how to find a publisher for such a collection¿ Thank you

There are a few options you have. You may find this article about querying for short story collections useful: https://writersrelief.com/2018/05/03/query-letter-genre-essentials-pitching-a-collection-of-short-stories-writers-relief/

Also, we’ve found that submitting your essays individually and having them published in different literary journals increases your chances of getting a collection of them picked up for publication.

My essays have been published individually, but now I want them in one publication without the editor’s having edited out some of my breezy writing style!!! I write on art/artists/events such as the Medici’s at the Met Museum and just about anything I feel like writing. I am published in two online magazines and have been published in print magazines.

I’ve only written one essay so far, but I’m confident that I can develop it into a “series,” so to speak. The essay was my response to a school assignment requesting a story about a tragedy or significant adversity I’d experienced and how I overcame it. I chose to write about my four-month-recent suicide attempt. The detail I went into is truly gut-wrenching, but it is my truth, and I need to live it and speak it unapologetically. I shared my essay with a few other staff members at my school, most of whom have provided me with encouraging feedback. If I were to continue the essay into a series, I would most likely focus on my mental health journey and the incredible ways in which it has impacted me. It’s always been my dream (a rather stubborn one, might I add) to write and publish a book, but I never knew I could publish a collection of essays. Truth be told, I wasn’t aware they were a possibility until very recently; a memoir and a poetry book were really the only ideas I had. But a series of essays compiled under a single main theme seems much more achievable and tolerable, especially at my age (I’m a minor). I haven’t the slightest clue how to go about making this dream into a reality, but I know for certain that I’m willing to try. As ambitious as I am, however, I can’t do it alone; I would greatly appreciate a bit of guidance from anyone willing (and qualified) to give it. I understand that I have a lot to learn – I’ve barely even grazed the surface thus far – but I believe I am fully capable. I’m young, yes; one would assume I have ample time. The hard truth? Life is short. That’s something I’ve already learned time and time again even prior to The Incident. I’ve fought this war my entire life up to this point, and I will never stop fighting it. That’s not okay, not by any means – but most things aren’t, right? As world-shattering as the truths that hide in the dark crawlspaces of Life are, they’re still the truth. They’re still my truths, still my stories. Stories I need to share with the world. There are people out there like me – more than we want to admit – and they need to hear my story. They need to see my strength to find within themselves their own. I am determined to fight as long as I must to give them that, and that fight starts with finding my own Village to help me. So to whoever may read this: if you are willing, capable, and qualified to provide advice or guidance, I ask that you please take a little time to do so, and I in turn will give you my time. Thank you to all who read this, and thank you to Writer’s Relief for giving me the space and opportunity to share.

Hi Isabella,

Thank you for reaching out to us, and for sharing your journey with us.

We recommend taking a look at our free publishing toolkit. There are numerous articles about writing, publishing, finding an agent, etc. https://writersrelief.com/free-publishing-resources-toolkit-for-writers/

We also think the following articles might be helpful: https://writersrelief.com/how-to-write-about-trauma-in-your-memoir-writers-relief/ and https://writersrelief.com/how-to-write-a-personal-essay-worth-publishing-writers-relief/

We hope these resources will help you with your writing journey.

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NPR defends its journalism after senior editor says it has lost the public's trust

David Folkenflik

NPR is defending its journalism and integrity after a senior editor wrote an essay accusing it of losing the public's trust. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

NPR is defending its journalism and integrity after a senior editor wrote an essay accusing it of losing the public's trust.

NPR's top news executive defended its journalism and its commitment to reflecting a diverse array of views on Tuesday after a senior NPR editor wrote a broad critique of how the network has covered some of the most important stories of the age.

"An open-minded spirit no longer exists within NPR, and now, predictably, we don't have an audience that reflects America," writes Uri Berliner.

A strategic emphasis on diversity and inclusion on the basis of race, ethnicity and sexual orientation, promoted by NPR's former CEO, John Lansing, has fed "the absence of viewpoint diversity," Berliner writes.

NPR's chief news executive, Edith Chapin, wrote in a memo to staff Tuesday afternoon that she and the news leadership team strongly reject Berliner's assessment.

"We're proud to stand behind the exceptional work that our desks and shows do to cover a wide range of challenging stories," she wrote. "We believe that inclusion — among our staff, with our sourcing, and in our overall coverage — is critical to telling the nuanced stories of this country and our world."

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She added, "None of our work is above scrutiny or critique. We must have vigorous discussions in the newsroom about how we serve the public as a whole."

A spokesperson for NPR said Chapin, who also serves as the network's chief content officer, would have no further comment.

Praised by NPR's critics

Berliner is a senior editor on NPR's Business Desk. (Disclosure: I, too, am part of the Business Desk, and Berliner has edited many of my past stories. He did not see any version of this article or participate in its preparation before it was posted publicly.)

Berliner's essay , titled "I've Been at NPR for 25 years. Here's How We Lost America's Trust," was published by The Free Press, a website that has welcomed journalists who have concluded that mainstream news outlets have become reflexively liberal.

Berliner writes that as a Subaru-driving, Sarah Lawrence College graduate who "was raised by a lesbian peace activist mother ," he fits the mold of a loyal NPR fan.

Yet Berliner says NPR's news coverage has fallen short on some of the most controversial stories of recent years, from the question of whether former President Donald Trump colluded with Russia in the 2016 election, to the origins of the virus that causes COVID-19, to the significance and provenance of emails leaked from a laptop owned by Hunter Biden weeks before the 2020 election. In addition, he blasted NPR's coverage of the Israel-Hamas conflict.

On each of these stories, Berliner asserts, NPR has suffered from groupthink due to too little diversity of viewpoints in the newsroom.

The essay ricocheted Tuesday around conservative media , with some labeling Berliner a whistleblower . Others picked it up on social media, including Elon Musk, who has lambasted NPR for leaving his social media site, X. (Musk emailed another NPR reporter a link to Berliner's article with a gibe that the reporter was a "quisling" — a World War II reference to someone who collaborates with the enemy.)

When asked for further comment late Tuesday, Berliner declined, saying the essay spoke for itself.

The arguments he raises — and counters — have percolated across U.S. newsrooms in recent years. The #MeToo sexual harassment scandals of 2016 and 2017 forced newsrooms to listen to and heed more junior colleagues. The social justice movement prompted by the killing of George Floyd in 2020 inspired a reckoning in many places. Newsroom leaders often appeared to stand on shaky ground.

Leaders at many newsrooms, including top editors at The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times , lost their jobs. Legendary Washington Post Executive Editor Martin Baron wrote in his memoir that he feared his bonds with the staff were "frayed beyond repair," especially over the degree of self-expression his journalists expected to exert on social media, before he decided to step down in early 2021.

Since then, Baron and others — including leaders of some of these newsrooms — have suggested that the pendulum has swung too far.

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New York Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger warned last year against journalists embracing a stance of what he calls "one-side-ism": "where journalists are demonstrating that they're on the side of the righteous."

"I really think that that can create blind spots and echo chambers," he said.

Internal arguments at The Times over the strength of its reporting on accusations that Hamas engaged in sexual assaults as part of a strategy for its Oct. 7 attack on Israel erupted publicly . The paper conducted an investigation to determine the source of a leak over a planned episode of the paper's podcast The Daily on the subject, which months later has not been released. The newsroom guild accused the paper of "targeted interrogation" of journalists of Middle Eastern descent.

Heated pushback in NPR's newsroom

Given Berliner's account of private conversations, several NPR journalists question whether they can now trust him with unguarded assessments about stories in real time. Others express frustration that he had not sought out comment in advance of publication. Berliner acknowledged to me that for this story, he did not seek NPR's approval to publish the piece, nor did he give the network advance notice.

Some of Berliner's NPR colleagues are responding heatedly. Fernando Alfonso, a senior supervising editor for digital news, wrote that he wholeheartedly rejected Berliner's critique of the coverage of the Israel-Hamas conflict, for which NPR's journalists, like their peers, periodically put themselves at risk.

Alfonso also took issue with Berliner's concern over the focus on diversity at NPR.

"As a person of color who has often worked in newsrooms with little to no people who look like me, the efforts NPR has made to diversify its workforce and its sources are unique and appropriate given the news industry's long-standing lack of diversity," Alfonso says. "These efforts should be celebrated and not denigrated as Uri has done."

After this story was first published, Berliner contested Alfonso's characterization, saying his criticism of NPR is about the lack of diversity of viewpoints, not its diversity itself.

"I never criticized NPR's priority of achieving a more diverse workforce in terms of race, ethnicity and sexual orientation. I have not 'denigrated' NPR's newsroom diversity goals," Berliner said. "That's wrong."

Questions of diversity

Under former CEO John Lansing, NPR made increasing diversity, both of its staff and its audience, its "North Star" mission. Berliner says in the essay that NPR failed to consider broader diversity of viewpoint, noting, "In D.C., where NPR is headquartered and many of us live, I found 87 registered Democrats working in editorial positions and zero Republicans."

Berliner cited audience estimates that suggested a concurrent falloff in listening by Republicans. (The number of people listening to NPR broadcasts and terrestrial radio broadly has declined since the start of the pandemic.)

Former NPR vice president for news and ombudsman Jeffrey Dvorkin tweeted , "I know Uri. He's not wrong."

Others questioned Berliner's logic. "This probably gets causality somewhat backward," tweeted Semafor Washington editor Jordan Weissmann . "I'd guess that a lot of NPR listeners who voted for [Mitt] Romney have changed how they identify politically."

Similarly, Nieman Lab founder Joshua Benton suggested the rise of Trump alienated many NPR-appreciating Republicans from the GOP.

In recent years, NPR has greatly enhanced the percentage of people of color in its workforce and its executive ranks. Four out of 10 staffers are people of color; nearly half of NPR's leadership team identifies as Black, Asian or Latino.

"The philosophy is: Do you want to serve all of America and make sure it sounds like all of America, or not?" Lansing, who stepped down last month, says in response to Berliner's piece. "I'd welcome the argument against that."

"On radio, we were really lagging in our representation of an audience that makes us look like what America looks like today," Lansing says. The U.S. looks and sounds a lot different than it did in 1971, when NPR's first show was broadcast, Lansing says.

A network spokesperson says new NPR CEO Katherine Maher supports Chapin and her response to Berliner's critique.

The spokesperson says that Maher "believes that it's a healthy thing for a public service newsroom to engage in rigorous consideration of the needs of our audiences, including where we serve our mission well and where we can serve it better."

Disclosure: This story was reported and written by NPR Media Correspondent David Folkenflik and edited by Deputy Business Editor Emily Kopp and Managing Editor Gerry Holmes. Under NPR's protocol for reporting on itself, no NPR corporate official or news executive reviewed this story before it was posted publicly.

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José Andrés: Let People Eat

By José Andrés

Mr. Andrés is the founder of World Central Kitchen.

In the worst conditions you can imagine — after hurricanes, earthquakes, bombs and gunfire — the best of humanity shows up. Not once or twice but always.

The seven people killed on a World Central Kitchen mission in Gaza on Monday were the best of humanity. They are not faceless or nameless. They are not generic aid workers or collateral damage in war.

Saifeddin Issam Ayad Abutaha, John Chapman, Jacob Flickinger, Zomi Frankcom, James Henderson, James Kirby and Damian Sobol risked everything for the most fundamentally human activity: to share our food with others.

These are people I served alongside in Ukraine, Turkey, Morocco, the Bahamas, Indonesia, Mexico, Gaza and Israel. They were far more than heroes.

Their work was based on the simple belief that food is a universal human right. It is not conditional on being good or bad, rich or poor, left or right. We do not ask what religion you belong to. We just ask how many meals you need.

From Day 1, we have fed Israelis as well as Palestinians. Across Israel, we have served more than 1.75 million hot meals. We have fed families displaced by Hezbollah rockets in the north. We have fed grieving families from the south. We delivered meals to the hospitals where hostages were reunited with their families. We have called consistently, repeatedly and passionately for the release of all the hostages.

All the while, we have communicated extensively with Israeli military and civilian officials. At the same time, we have worked closely with community leaders in Gaza, as well as Arab nations in the region. There is no way to bring a ship full of food to Gaza without doing so.

That’s how we served more than 43 million meals in Gaza, preparing hot food in 68 community kitchens where Palestinians are feeding Palestinians.

We know Israelis. Israelis, in their heart of hearts, know that food is not a weapon of war.

Israel is better than the way this war is being waged. It is better than blocking food and medicine to civilians. It is better than killing aid workers who had coordinated their movements with the Israel Defense Forces.

The Israeli government needs to open more land routes for food and medicine today. It needs to stop killing civilians and aid workers today. It needs to start the long journey to peace today.

In the worst conditions, after the worst terrorist attack in its history, it’s time for the best of Israel to show up. You cannot save the hostages by bombing every building in Gaza. You cannot win this war by starving an entire population.

We welcome the government’s promise of an investigation into how and why members of our World Central Kitchen family were killed. That investigation needs to start at the top, not just the bottom.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said of the Israeli killings of our team, “It happens in war.” It was a direct attack on clearly marked vehicles whose movements were known by the Israel Defense Forces.

It was also the direct result of a policy that squeezed humanitarian aid to desperate levels. Our team was en route from a delivery of almost 400 tons of aid by sea — our second shipment, funded by the United Arab Emirates, supported by Cyprus and with clearance from the Israel Defense Forces.

The team members put their lives at risk precisely because this food aid is so rare and desperately needed. According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification global initiative, half the population of Gaza — 1.1. million people — faces the imminent risk of famine. The team would not have made the journey if there were enough food, traveling by truck across land, to feed the people of Gaza.

The peoples of the Mediterranean and Middle East, regardless of ethnicity and religion, share a culture that values food as a powerful statement of humanity and hospitality — of our shared hope for a better tomorrow.

There’s a reason, at this special time of year, Christians make Easter eggs, Muslims eat an egg at iftar dinners and an egg sits on the Seder plate. This symbol of life and hope reborn in spring extends across religions and cultures.

I have been a stranger at Seder dinners. I have heard the ancient Passover stories about being a stranger in the land of Egypt, the commandment to remember — with a feast before you — that the children of Israel were once slaves.

It is not a sign of weakness to feed strangers; it is a sign of strength. The people of Israel need to remember, at this darkest hour, what strength truly looks like.

José Andrés is a chef and the founder of World Central Kitchen.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

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NPR Editor's Critical Op-Ed Ignites Debate Over Political Bias in Journalism: 'This Essay Has It Backwards'

A scathing op-ed from NPR veteran and current senior business editor Uri Berliner published in The Free Press on Tuesday has intensified debates over whether the publicly funded news organization has adopted a partisan lean in recent years. 

In the piece , Berliner details a culture shift at the organization, in which "An open-minded spirit no longer exists within NPR, and now, predictably, we don't have an audience that reflects America."

Berliner argued that NPR is plagued with an "absence of viewpoint diversity," which he considers to be a result of leadership's emphasis on promoting diversity and inclusion on the basis of race and sexual orientation. He also claims that he found "87 registered Democrats working in editorial positions and zero Republicans."

NPR editor-in-chief Edith Chapin defended the organization in response to the piece, saying she the leadership team "strongly disagree with Uri's assessment of the quality of our journalism."

While Chapin backed the "exceptional work that our desks and shows do to cover a wide range of challenging stories," she added that "None of our work is above scrutiny or critique. We must have vigorous discussions in the newsroom about how we serve the public as a whole."

According to NPR media reporter David Folkenflik , several journalists inside the organization question how they can proceed with Berliner as a colleague, with concerns about whether he can be a trusted member of NPR in the aftermath of the op-ed. Additionally, Berliner did not seek NPR's approval to publish the piece, nor did he seek comment from the organization ahead of time; though he does say in his piece that he sought to raise his concerns with leadership on several occasions.

Meanwhile, outside of the organization, debates regarding the content of Berliner's piece have sprouted up across social media, with many coming to the defense of the storied NPR institution. 

Some argued that the shift that occurred in political coverage across the media industry was forced on institutions due to the changing nature of the Republican Party since the election of Donald Trump in 2016. 

Some came to Berliner's defense, including former NPR vice president for news Jeffrey Dvorkin who vouched for the changes to the organization. 

The post NPR Editor's Critical Op-Ed Ignites Debate Over Political Bias in Journalism: 'This Essay Has It Backwards' appeared first on TheWrap .

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Guernica editor who published Israeli writer’s coexistence essay resigns, saying she disagreed with retraction

( JTA ) – The editor-in-chief of the prestigious literary magazine Guernica whose decision to publish an Israeli writer’s essay about the war in Gaza last month led to the mass resignation of the magazine’s staff has herself resigned from the publication, saying she disagreed with the decision to retract the essay.

Jina Moore announced her resignation in a blog post on Friday , nearly a month after Guernica retracted the essay by the British-Israeli writer and translator Joanna Chen.

“The magazine stands by its retraction of the work; I do not,” Moore wrote in the post.

On the social network X, Moore issued a more pointed critique of the Guernica staffers who objected to Chen’s piece . “After weeks of difficult conversation, it is clear to me that Guernica’s space for writing on war, injustice, and oppression has evolved away from commitments I consider essential,” she wrote.

Chen’s essay, “From the Edges of a Broken World,” ignited a firestorm at the heart of the literary world’s deeply polarized reaction to the war. After the piece was published in early March, Guernica’s co-publisher called it an “apologia for Zionism and the ongoing genocide in Palestine,” and more than 15 members of the all-volunteer staff resigned in protest. The journal also removed Chen’s essay, appending a note online promising “a more fulsome explanation” for the decision, though none has appeared to date.

For some Jews who have questioned their place in progressive and literary spaces since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, Guernica’s retraction offered new evidence of a toxic discourse in which no Israeli or Jew can pass muster. “The problem, when it really comes down to it, is that it presents an Israeli as human,” the Jewish writer Emily Fox Kaplan tweeted at the time.

Moore said she disagreed with the criticism of the essay.

“Many critics have said the essay normalized the violence Israel has unleashed in Gaza. I disagree,” Moore wrote in her Friday post. “I saw the piece as an example of the difficult work that Guernica is known for: capturing, with complexity and nuance, how such violence is normalized, and how a violent state extracts complicity from its citizens.”

Moore had served as Guernica’s top editor for three years and its co-publisher since 2003. A former East Africa bureau chief for The New York Times who has worked to support journalists in the aftermath of violence, Moore is managing editor of the Harvard Public Health Magazine. Moore was a Truman Scholar at Boston University, where she led a Holocaust education club, studied with Elie Wiesel and conducted research into the Holocaust. “I want to address genocide — why it happens, and what it means for those of us living secure lives as it occurs,” she told the university newspaper as an undergraduate in 2001.

Moore previously spearheaded a women’s rights reporting initiative at Buzzfeed. In her Guernica resignation announcement, she wrote, “A personal essay by a woman writer about the political nature of caregiving also struck me as aligned with a long tradition of feminist writing in Guernica’s pages.” In the essay, Chen, a peace activist who volunteers as a medical transport driver for Palestinians, describes her conflicted emotions after Oct.7.

Moore’s resignation was itself pilloried by some progressive writers. “There was nothing feminist about that essay,” Palestinian-American novelist Susan Muaddi Darraj wrote on X. “I am shocked by people who cannot see how harmful it was.”

“Good riddance!” added anti-Zionist Jewish writer Joshua Gutterman Trannen.

After being retracted, Chen’s piece was later re-published by The Washington Monthly , a center-left publication.

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Entertainment | David Sedaris bringing trademark wit to the Bay…

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Entertainment | deja vu: overturned trailer truck creates commute havoc on i-880, entertainment, entertainment | david sedaris bringing trademark wit to the bay area.

“If I were to read things from a book or to read old things, the audience would think, ‘God, haven’t you done anything since we saw you three years ago?’” he said in an interview with the Sentinel.

Thus, Sedaris’ current tour consists of essays he recently wrote but has not yet published, inspired by his travels and other topics. His sardonic wit and way with words will be front and center when he stops by UC Berkeley, Santa Cruz and Santa Rosa this May.

Sedaris grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina, as the second oldest of six siblings — including his sister Amy, a comedienne and actress with many credits — and his upbringing is a frequent subject in his writing. In the early ’90s, future “This American Life” host Ira Glass saw Sedaris reading a diary he had kept since 1977 at a Chicago club and asked him to appear on his local radio show “The Wild Room.” That led to his first NPR appearance in 1992, where he read his essay “The Santaland Diaries” about his experiences working as a Christmas elf at Macy’s iconic Herald Square location in New York City.

The reading was a success, even going so far as to be adapted into a one-act play at New York’s Atlantic Theater Company with Timothy Olyphant in the starring role. It also launched Sedaris’ writing career, propelling him to write 11 essay collections, including “Barrel Fever,” “Me Talk Pretty One Day,” “Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim,” “Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls,” “Calypso” and “Happy-Go-Lucky.” Many of his books have topped the New York Times Best Seller list, and he is also the recipient of two Lambda Literary Awards and two Audie Awards for his audiobook readings.

Sedaris’ newest book, “Pretty Ugly,” is his first children’s book. Illustrated by the late Ian Falconer, it tells the story of an ogre girl whose attempts to gross out her family backfire so she becomes stuck with a face that her ogre peers consider hideous: that of a picturesque, rosy-cheeked human girl.

The story was actually first published in 2001 in Francoise Mouly and Art Spiegelman’s comic book anthology “Little Lit: Strange Stories for Strange Kids.” Mouly, the art director for the New Yorker, recruited well-known illustrators such as Jules Feiffer, Crockett Johnson, Barbara McClintock and Maurice Sendak. She paired Sedaris with Falconer, best known nowadays for his “Olivia” series and for creating the covers for 30 New Yorker issues, who also previously worked with Sedaris on the set design for “The Santaland Diaries” and later did the illustrations for Sedaris’ short story collection “Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk.”

The story was republished in February as a standalone book by Mouly’s Toon Books. Sedaris said he never expected to write a children’s book, as he never had any interest in it, but it took him five minutes to write the story.

Falconer never got to see the story’s wider publication as he died in 2023. Sedaris praised him as a brilliant artist and loved the way the book turned out, despite the story and illustrations being worked on separately.

“I handed (the story) over to Ian, and he came up with the drawings and I didn’t question them,” he said. “We just completely left each other alone, and it worked out great. I don’t know what the experience is like for other people — I don’t know if there’s a big back and forth between the illustrator and the author — but there have been times in my life when I’m working with a professional, and I figure this is what they do for a living, and they’ve made a name for themselves, and I’m certainly not going to tell them what to do, and that was the case with Ian.”

Sedaris hasn’t gotten many reactions from kids to “Pretty Ugly,” except for the goddaughter of his partner Hugh Hamrick who said she wanted to have it read to her over and over again.

“That seems like a pretty good endorsement,” he said.

Apart from that, children’s books are a new world for Sedaris.

“As a rule, I’d say it’s a pretty bad idea to write books for people that don’t have any money,” he said. “It’s not like children can go out and buy the books themselves, so I guess the real audience are parents and grandparents.”

Sedaris will not be reading from “Pretty Ugly” on his tour, nor will he read from any of his other published books. Instead, he will be reading from essays he recently wrote.

“Some of them I wrote a few months ago, and then I just put them in a file called ‘Spring 2024,’” he said. “I’m looking back on them and saying ‘Hmm, OK, this ending isn’t strong enough’ or ‘Wow, this really works’ or ‘Maybe I need to scrap this.’”

Sedaris said the process allows him to test out and tinker with his essays if they ever do get published.

“I had an essay in the New Yorker in January ,” he said. “It’s one of the ones I brought with me on my fall tour, so I read it out loud, I don’t know, 30 times? Every night, I would change it, even if I was just changing a word or two, but I had the audience in front of me, so I thought, ‘Why would I waste this opportunity to discover if this word works better than this one?’ By the time I gave it to the New Yorker, the rewriting was really minimal.”

Most of the essays Sedaris is reading on his tour are about places he has visited, such as France, England, Kenya, Tanzania and Pakistan. He said these essays have taught him why he does not write for travel magazines.

“Travel magazines, you can never say anything bad about a place because the hotels and the restaurants and such are the advertisers, so they simply don’t allow it,” he said.

Thankfully, Sedaris had positive experiences in all the places he visited, especially Pakistan.

“I’ve never been to Disneyland, but it would really have to work to outdo Pakistan for the title of ‘The Friendliest Place on Earth,’” he said. “It was insane how friendly people were, how welcoming they were, complete strangers stopping you over and over and over in the street: ‘Can we get a picture together?’ ‘Can you talk to my wife on the telephone?’ … They don’t get any visitors, so when you bother going there, they’re just so friendly and honored.”

In addition, Santa Cruz audiences might hear some essays Sedaris had written during the previous tour alongside stories he wrote for this tour.

“Depending on how the new stuff goes, I might find myself reading things from the last tour at this show as well, but none of it will have been published in a book,” he said.

BAY AREA TOUR DATES

MAY 5: BERKELEY | CAL PERFORMANCES, UC BERKELEY

MAY 6: SANTA CRUZ |  SANTA CRUZ CIVIC AUDITORIUM

MAY 7: SANTA ROSA  | LUTHER BURBANK CENTER FOR THE ARTS

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