10 Great Sites For Publishing Your Personal Essays

6 min readJul 2, 2015

10 Great Sites For Publishing Your Personal Essays

This is the second in a series of several posts I will be doing about where to publish your personal essays. The first can be found HERE.

So many bloggers have personal essays and narratives they’d like to place on great sites. I love reading personal stories, and occasionally try my hand at writing one myself, though they don’t come easy for me.

Did you know there is a difference between and essay and a narrative? This presentationtakes about 30 seconds to click through and gives a way better explanation than I can. For the purposes of this series, I’m going to lump them together, but be sure to check out the submission guidelines for any site you submit to, and see if they specify a preference or any specific nuances they look for in personal stories.

If you have been published in one of the sites and magazines listed here, leave a comment and tell us about your experience!

Baby Boomer-Centric Narratives

BoomerCafe — “Now in its 16th year, BoomerCafe is the original digital magazine for baby boomers with active lifestyles and youthful spirits.” If you were born between the years of 1946 and 1964 and have a story to tell in 500 words or less (I know, I know, that’s a little shorter than the typical essay), try this established site. No pay, but it’s a labor of love. SUBMIT

Looking for an example of a personal essay on this site? Try One Baby Boomer’s Endless Summer by Erin O’Brien

Creative Nonfiction ($)

Creative Nonfiction — “We’re open to all types of creative nonfiction, from immersion reportage to personal essay to memoir. Our editors tend to gravitate toward submissions structured around narratives, but we’re always happy to be pleasantly surprised by work that breaks outside this general mold. Above all, we’re most interested in writing that blends style with substance, and reaches beyond the personal to tell us something new about the world. We firmly believe that great writing can make any subject interesting to a general audience.” Accepting both themed and non-themed submissions (check for current themes in submission guidelines), the magazine pays a $50 flat fee plus $10 per printed page. SUBMIT

Browse contents for back issues of Creative Nonfiction

What It Means To Be An Adult

Full Grown People — A web magazine about the other awkward age of adulthood. “The topics here run the whole gamut: romance, family, health, career, dealing with aging loved ones, and more. But what draws everything together is the sense that we’re all feeling our way along.” This site is coveted by many writers and publishes unique and compelling stories. Being published on Full Grown People will also put you into consideration for future anthologies published by the site. A considerable feather in your writing cap.SUBMIT

Looking for an example of a personal essay on this site? Try Animal House by Jodi Mace

Children of the ’80s Then and Now ($)

The Mid — “The Mid is about life in “the messy middle.” We’re working hard, raising families, laughing at the past, focused on the future. ” A fairly new website, they have 3 really big things going for them: (1) lots of buzz, (2) unique premise/content, and (3) ‘Scary Mommy’ Jill Smokler recently joining the ranks as Editor-in-Chief (I know, I know, does this woman ever sleep?). While they love the list, you;ll find some great essays too. P.S., they pay. SUBMIT

Looking for an example of a personal essay on this site? Try What Happened When I Tried To Give My Kids A 1980s Summer by Stephanie Sprenger

Life With Kids — The Good, Bad and Ugly

Great Moments In Parenting — “Great Moments in Parenting is a website where parents can share the agony and the ecstasy of life with kids. This is a community of moms and dads who understand just how funny (and challenging) it can be to raise kids.” In addition to essays, this site also publishes short ‘moments’, as well as photos and cartoons.SUBMIT

Looking for an example of a personal essay on this site? Try Does This Kid Make My Butt Look Big? by Sarah Honey

Contemporary Relationships ($)

Modern Love — “This weekly column in the Sunday Style section of the New York Times is a coveted placement for personal essays about contemporary relationships, marriage, dating, parenthood — any subject that might reasonably fit under the heading “Modern Love.” A paying and competitive gig, this highly regarded section of the Times is the summit of non-lit mag essay placements for many bloggers and writers. SUBMIT

Looking for an example of a personal essay on this site? Try Crawling Back From The Ledge by Alana Romain

About The Modern Man (or raising one)

The Good Men Project — “We are having a conversation about what it means to be a man in the 21st century — and it is wide and varied and mundane and provocative. But for a post to be considered, it must always must be about, by, for, or focused on men. (Please note that approximately 20% of our contributors are women. That’s great — we love women’s voices. But they write about men, or sometimes about raising boys who become men.)” Topics range from Politics, Ethics and Parenting, to Mental Heath, Masculinity, and Relationships, and everything in between. SUBMIT

Looking for an example of a personal essay on this site? Try Are You Raising Compassionate Boys? by Jenny Kanevsky

True Stories About People — Told Slowly ($)

Narratively — “Narratively is a platform devoted to untold human stories. We avoid the breaking news and the next big headline, and focus instead on slow storytelling, exploring one theme each week and publishing just one story a day.” This ‘slow’ approach to story telling is refreshing to many writers who feel rushed in the click-bait world of the internet. Rates range from $100-$200 and they hope to keep increasing them. SUBMIT

Looking for an example of a personal essay on this site? Try Why I Answered My Dad’s Gay Sex Ad by Aussa Laurens

Being Human

On Being Blog — “On Being is a Peabody Award-winning public radio conversation and podcast, a Webby Award-winning website and online exploration, a publisher and public event convener. On Being opens up the animating questions at the center of human life: What does it mean to be human, and how do we want to live? We explore these questions in their richness and complexity in 21st-century lives and endeavors.” It’s hard to put into words what works here. It’s better to read a few and you’ll get a feel for the subtle and not-so-subtle reflections on life, spirituality and faith that they contain. Better yet, take a listen to the radio show that the blog revolves around to catch the mood. SUBMIT

Looking for an example of a personal essay on this site? Try The Way Of The Horse by Monica Devine

Compelling Stories On A Theme ($)

Slice Magazine — “Slice magazine welcomes submissions for short fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. We’re looking for anyone with a fresh voice and a compelling story to share — basically any work that really knocks our socks off.” This publication has submission periods throughout the year on specific themes (‘resistance’ for example). Slice currently pays $100 for accepeted stories and essays. SUBMIT

Visit Slice to preview a past issue

Stay tuned for more great options for your personal essays!

Written by Beyond Your Blog