So You Think You Can Pitch? Here Are Some Guidelines! 2.0
An updated statement on how to pitch us
EDITORIAL TAKE
Moms Don’t Have Time to Write is a new Medium.com publication inspired by the award-winning podcast Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books, hosted by Zibby Owens.
The magazine will expand on the conversations and themes discussed in the MDHTTRB podcast (all the things moms don’t have time to do), and feature personal essays inspired by reading, cooking/eating, exercise, sleep, sex, socializing, and grief. Essays and pitches must be centered around one of these topics to be considered for publication. The articles should not necessarily be about the lack of time itself, but stories simply inspired by the topics. (For example, in exercise, the essay could be about overcoming exercise bulimia in your twenties. For socializing, it could be about the pain of being ghosted by a good friend.)
We are looking for well-written, professional, typo-free(!) essays that will make readers think, feel, laugh, cry, and connect. Think: award-winning essays! Write the story only you can tell.
PITCHING FORMAT
All stories must be sent through Medium via your Medium profile. If we have already added you as a writer to Moms Don’t Have Time to Write, please submit completed manuscripts between 500–1,500 words in the draft format through the Medium platform. If you haven’t been added to our publication yet, please send a short email to emily@zibbyowens.com with your Medium username and a draft of your story.
If you don’t have a Medium account, please follow this link to register for one. If you haven’t submitted to another publication on Medium before, please follow this link for a step-by-step explanation of the process.
In addition to submitting your story on Medium, please write a short email to emily@zibbyowens.com; in the subject line, please include the specific topic/category that the story falls under.
In the body of your email, provide:
- A short synopsis (no more than one paragraph) that sums up the premise of the story and gets to the core of the subject you’re exploring.
- A list of outlets you’ve written for previously, including a link to your website/social media channels, but also separate links to your most relevant clips regarding the topic or form of the story you’re pitching.
- For published authors, please include the titles of your most recent book(s).
- A short bio to be included at the end of your piece.
We will also accept pitches for stories that haven’t been written yet. In this case, write us an email and feel free to expand longer than one paragraph to outline the proposed story, as well as why you’d like to write it, why it should be written now, and why you.
Please note that we cannot offer compensation for submissions at this time. However, the writer will retain full rights to their work.
If we are interested, we will get back to you within two weeks with more information.
Thank you for considering Moms Don’t Have Time to Write for your work! We know how busy you are.
About Zibby
Zibby Owens is the creator and host of award-winning podcast Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books. Launched in March 2018, Zibby’s podcast has featured over 500 authors and been downloaded more than 2 million times. With an informal, conversational, and warm manner, Zibby routinely gets authors to open up about what’s important to them, giving busy readers the back story to their favorite (or as yet undiscovered) books.
Zibby, named “NYC’s Most Powerful Book-fluencer” by New York Magazine’s Vulture, conducts warm, inquisitive conversations with authors as wide-ranging as Alicia Keys and Lena Dunham to Delia Owens and Jennifer Weiner, making her show a top literary podcast as selected by Oprah.com in 2019 and 2020. She also created the Moms Don’t Have Time to Lose Weight community and hosts the accompanying podcast.
Zibby is a regular contributor to Good Morning America online and has recommended books in the Washington Post, Real Simple and other outlets. She has also contributed to Parents, Marie Claire, Redbook, the New York Times online, and many other publications. She has appeared on CBS This Morning, Good Morning America, the BBC, and many local news outlets. She currently has a two-book deal for children’s books with Flamingo, an imprint of Penguin Random House, and two upcoming anthologies with Skyhorse Publishing: Moms Don’t Have Time To: A Quarantine Anthology (02/16/21) and Moms Really Don’t Have Time To: A Second Anthology (11/21).
Zibby serves on the boards of the Mount Sinai Health System, the Mount Sinai Parenting Center, the Child Mind Institute, and co-chairs the Library Council of the New York Public Library. A graduate of Yale University and Harvard Business School, Zibby currently lives in New York with her husband, Kyle Owens of Morning Moon Productions, and her four children ages 6–13. She always has a book nearby.
