How to submit to ‘Diverse Motherhood’

Your Words Matter

Hello there. We’re so glad to have you! Below is listed the most updated information regarding submissions.

Please note: these rules are subject to change as Diverse Motherhood grows.

Who is Diverse Motherhood For?

Let’s be honest: No matter how many things we do in our lives, nothing has the power to change us like motherhood.

The overwhelming love. The fear of messing it all up. The sweet snuggles. The never-ending exhaustion. The eternal juggle. The struggle to find ourselves amongst the joys and pains of motherhood. Motherhood is all we’ve ever dreamed it to be and everything we feared at once. For most of us, it’s the most all-consuming thing we’ll ever do. Mothers come in all shapes and sizes, and so DM wants to bring stories of all kinds of mothers. No motherhood experience is similar to another, and so do not be afraid to share yours.

It is for the mothers looking for a place to publish her:

• fiction
• poetry
• honest, authentic, raw articles about motherhood.

What Does DM Want?

We would love to read stories that make us laugh, cry, stand up and cheer. We want to hear stories and articles that show the honest experiences of different kinds of mothers, all kinds of mothers, those whose voices we often do not hear. We want your words to make us feel something. We want to show that there is not one kind of motherhood. We want to share different voices, journeys and experiences, and we want to normalise motherhood.

The Basic Rules

1. We prefer drafts fresh off the keyboard. That way we have the chance to work with you and polish the piece if need be, plus it gives your story more time on our front page. It’s better for you and our readers.
2. One submission a day per writer. We want to give everyone a chance to share their words and this helps vary the featured stories.
3. The editors are more curators than proofreaders. It is the writer’s responsibility to send high quality, proofread work.
4. DM articles focus on the struggles and joys of being a mother, a parent. We do not prescribe what kind of mother, and we do not judge. We want to see pieces about motherhood — Articles that veer off this focus may be rejected.
5. Stories and poems can be any genre. We simply want you to show off your best creative work.

We are a new publication, but we are hoping to grow, and we can do this with your support.

What We Don’t Want

1) Pieces that are divisive, erotic, or gratuitously violent.

2) Articles that stray too far from our focus.

3) Excessive spelling and grammatical errors.

4) Stories that are not fully developed or are missing a plot or point.

5) Stories that were published in other Medium publications. Again, we have to play fair.

How To Submit?

1. Simply respond to this post saying that you’d like to write for us.

It’s that easy.

Also

2. If you are already a contributor you can submit via the “…” drop down menu and choosing Diverse Motherhood from the ‘Add to publication option’. You can find the drop down button when you’re editing the story at the top right hand corner. And near the bottom of a published story.

Before you submit it’s a good idea to:

• Choose a pretty picture from somewhere like unsplash.com and with site credit. Tip: Make the picture large, it looks better as a thumbnail.
• Add some tags.

What to Expect

• You should receive a response in about 2–3 days. Sometimes 4–5 depending on the health status of our families, and other work commitments. We hope you understand and know we are excited to read your submissions.
• If you don’t hear back within this timeframe, feel free to contact us again, or submit to another publication.
• We may make changes to your story to fix little typos we catch or problems with formatting.

Please Do

• Highlight, comment, share and respond to stories you love on DM.
• Respond to comments on your article or stories.
• Subscribe to this publication to get updates.
• Have fun!

Please be sure to always ask if you have any questions. Diverse Motherhood is a place for you and we want to know what you think, even if it’s just to say hello.

You can email us at hello@hedgeandhogprints.com

Let’s hear your story.

Pragya Agarwal