Submissions Page for Make it Personal
By: Matthew Black
Tags: Personal Essay, Ｍedium, Short Story, Publication, Pop Culture

What We’re Looking For (nonfiction)

We want pieces that tell us something about the world around us in a way that isn’t just standard reporting, that isn’t just a collection of facts and arguments from a narrator the reader never really gets to know. We want deep, engaging essays with some kind of personal touch.

You can cover a topic involving TV, film, books, politics, internet culture, and regular culture. To get a good idea of the sort of stuff we’re looking for, please read at least a few of our essays to get a good idea. It’s very easy to tell if a submitter hasn’t read anything from our site, and that kind of negligence will definitely hurt your chances of being rejected. Basic guidelines:

There are no hard limits on how long the piece can be, so long as the length is justified. Your piece needs to be compelling the whole way through.

The minimum word count is 1500 words , or around a five minute read. Anything shorter than that is not a good fit for this publication.

, or around a five minute read. Anything shorter than that is not a good fit for this publication. No standard film reviews of any book/film/show. We’re not interested in whether you think a film was good or not. You need to go deeper than that.

We’re not interested in whether you think a film was good or not. You need to go deeper than that. No political takes that are just about arguing for a particular policy or a particular candidate. Your piece can have an argument, (in fact it needs to have some kind of argument), but it has to be rooted more in personal experience rather than facts and data. Facts and data is definitely allowed, (encouraged, even), but there are better publications on Medium for pieces like that.

Your piece can have an argument, (in fact it needs to have some kind of argument), but it has to be rooted more in personal experience rather than facts and data. Facts and data is definitely allowed, (encouraged, even), but there are better publications on Medium for pieces like that. Nothing centered entirely around Covid-19 . It’s an important issue, but we could use a break from being reminded about it every ten seconds. Unless you’ve got an extremely unique, compelling story centered on the pandemic, don’t bother submitting it here any time soon.

. It’s an important issue, but we could use a break from being reminded about it every ten seconds. Unless you’ve got an extremely unique, compelling story centered on the pandemic, don’t bother submitting it here any time soon. Make sure you’re following Medium curation guidelines when you submit your story to us.

Every piece needs to either evoke emotion in the reader or make them look at something in a whole new way. Preferably both.

What we’re looking for (fiction):

We’re looking for speculative fiction. It can be fantasy, horror, sci-fi or so on, just as long as it includes something that we don’t currently have in our own world.

Stay within 1,000 to 10,000 words long.

We’re not looking for poetry or flash fiction at the moment.

Stories should be as polished as possible before submitting. You should’ve already gotten some beta readers and have done some revisions before submitting your piece.

Earnings:

We no longer pay anything upfront articles.

Our average post so far has made around $10-$30, with one post already in the +$250 range. We will do our best to promote your story to ensure that it can earn as much as possible, but we want to make sure that no matter what happens, our writers at least get ten bucks out of it.

[Note: we take first rights for your story. You’re free to do whatever you want with it — you can remove it, publish it elsewhere, etc. — but keep in mind that you’d only be able to sell the story as a reprint afterward to most other publications.]

How to Submit:

(This is the same for both fiction or personal essays.)

Email your piece to makeitpersonal315@gmail.com. Make sure “[Fiction/Personal Essay] Submission to Make it Personal” is the subject header. Make sure to include a link to your finished draft in your email, as well as give us a quick idea of what the draft’s about. Feel free to include a little about yourself while you’re at it.

If we accept your piece, we’ll add you as a writer. Submit your piece to our publication following this guide, then email us once you’ve submitted it.

Your piece will go through a round of copy editing before it’s published. We will also offer a structural advice on your piece if we think it has potential, but still needs major work to fit in at this publication.

Reminder: although we may be a new publication, our standards are still high. Do not email us with work you aren’t proud of, and don’t take it personally if your piece is rejected.