Call For Submissions — What Do You Do Before Hitting Publish?

As we approach Mother’s Day, we can’t ignore the parallels of giving birth to life with giving birth to a new piece of writing.

Obviously, there’s nothing that can replace true birth, but as writers, we conceive stories and deliver them to the world. That is certainly a form of birth that is meaningful to us all.

That said, there’s a lot to consider before pushing publish. How do you prepare yourself emotionally before sharing your words with the world? Do you have any rules or a routine? I know I don’t publish anything on the same day I’ve written it. I need at least a day of editing and reworking before sharing my pieces.

From the emotional perspective, I make sure that what I’m writing is what I’m feeling. Especially if what I’m writing about is an opinion on an aspect of popular culture, I want to make sure that no matter the reaction, I stand by my words.

What about you? What’s your preparation look like? Have you ever published something then regretted it or felt differently later?

Same rules as always:

• If you’re already a writer for CRY, go ahead and submit.
• If you’re not a writer for CRY but would like to submit to this request, let us know and we’ll add you ASAP.
• Be as creative as you want in your submissions. As long as you stick to the topic, we’ll consider it.
• Just because you submit doesn’t mean we’ll post. If you haven’t heard back from us in three days, consider that a pass.
• The deadline to submit is Monday, May 10, 2021.

Please reach out if you have any questions at all. If you are new to Medium, here’s how you submit a draft to a publication.