Tell Your Story
Welcome to The Opening
We’re excited to welcome you as a writer, and can’t wait to read and publish your stories! To ensure the submission and publishing process moves smoothly, please read through the following guidelines.
Review time
Your unpublished draft will be reviewed within 24–48 hours.
While we may be quieter on the weekends, please know you are always welcome to submit on those days.
If you’re a new writer, send a link to your draft (along with an introduction, your Medium username) to theopeningpublication@gmail.com
Please use the private note feature for any editing questions. We request that an email inquiry only be sent after that 48-hour mark has been passed.
Any story you’d like us to consider, please send in draft form on Medium — once you’re added as a writer, we don’t review drafts in our email.
Submission quantity
Please only submit one draft to us at a time. As soon as we’ve reviewed your draft, feel welcome to submit another.
Notes about editing
We reserve the right to make changes to any draft submitted to our publication (title/subtitle changes, picture changes, etc.), and will leave you a private note on your piece should we deem any large edits necessary. Smaller edits may include grammatical and/or spelling corrections, or the rewording of any sentences or phrases that are unclear. If we leave you a note about larger changes (title, subtitle, etc.) and we’ve not received a response from you after three days of our original editing note, the piece will be tabled.
Story genre
We are looking for stories written as personal essays, stories that have been hidden until now. Ideally there is a message, a lesson, or takeaway for readers. You have a story to tell, pour it out.
Use appropriate tags that designate the genre and content. This helps readers find your story.
Have a colorful, beautiful featured image either above or below the headline, with the source credited underneath the image. You can find free images on Pixabay, Unsplash, and numerous other sites. If it’s your own photo or graphic, please indicate that.
Story topics
We’re interested in powerful stories of womanhood, sisterhood, empowerment, relationships, love, intimacy, and life experience. Please be mindful that drafts are well-edited and without grammar or spelling mistakes.
Titles & subtitles
Make sure your title and subtitle in your article match the display title/subtitle and are written in title case format.
This Medium help article is helpful for custom titles.
General questions? Need help? Email us at theopeningpublication@gmail.com
We can’t wait to read your work!
