How to Write for reCognition
By: Karawynn Long
Tags: Autism, Writing, Actuallyautistic

How to Write for reCognition

Submission guidelines and general tips

ReCognition is looking for original essays by female and gender-diverse autistics. (As is common in the broader autistic community, we consider self-diagnosis to be valid.)

What kinds of work we publish

We are currently focused on first-person essays, and submitted pieces should reference autism in some way. We’re not currently looking for reported features, or for you to tell someone else’s story.

We are interested in articles that offer suggestions for coping as an autistic, but please present them in the context of your own experience, not in the form of traditional ‘self-help’. In other words: tell us how you live your life, rather than telling us how we should live ours.

How to send us your work

If you are new to Medium, first create a free Medium account. Then check out the Writing section of the Medium Help Center to get started on your essay. (Don’t be intimidated; I promise it’s really easy.)

If you have never written for reCognition before, send a link to your finished, unpublished story draft (along with an introduction, your Medium username, and links to any previously published works) to karawynn.long@gmail.com.

If you are already a writer for reCognition, open the draft that you’d like for us to publish, click on the three little dots beside the Publish icon in the right hand corner of your Draft page. Select ‘re-Cognition’, and send it our way.

Please submit only one draft at a time. We encourage writers to submit Medium member-only (gated paywall) pieces. This gives you the opportunity to earn money for your writing and also reach more readers via Medium topics. (You can always use a friend link to give access to non-subscribers.)

General Article Guidelines

Write a clear and descriptive title and subtitle for your essay

Headlines should accurately reflect the topic of your essay — this is not the time to be mysterious. Avoid titles that include numbers (like ‘Five Things You Should Know About Autism’ — don’t do that). Think ‘literary’, not ‘clickbait’. Use title case for the headline and sentence case for the subhead.

Include a relevant, eye-catching featured image above the headline

Photos are usually the best choice. You can find free stock photos on numerous sites including Unsplash, Pixabay, and Pexels.

For each image you use, assign credit by linking the image directly to the source. If it’s your own photo or illustration, you can indicate that either in the caption or with an italicized text credit at the bottom of your article. Here is an example of a text credit for a composite illustration made from multiple photos.

Edit and revise thoroughly before submitting

If you send us an unpolished piece — meaning there are multiple typos and grammatical mistakes, or a general lack of structure or purpose — we will return it to you for further work.

Avoid embedded videos, animated gifs, and excessive images or stylized text

These things all have the effect of distracting readers from the substance of the writing itself. Cleaner pieces look more professional, are more easily read, and are thus generally more effective.

Include links to support broad statements

If you make any assertions about autistics in general, or the autistic community, support them with links to other autistic voices on the web and/or peer-reviewed scientific studies. (An example from one of my essays: “Three, compensation takes a tremendous toll on one’s physical and mental health. This is widely reported in the autistic community, and backed up by recent scientific studies.”)

No marketing or selling

Your essay must be interesting in and of itself. We will not accept stories whose purpose is to advertise a product or service.

Do not link from your essay directly to a page where a product may be purchased. For example, if you want to reference a book, you may link to the author’s or publisher’s web site, but not directly to Amazon.

We also follow the Medium Content Guidelines, which requires that authors not include clap requests or other ‘calls to action’ in their stories. You are however welcome to include a link to your website, social media, or email list in italics at the end of your article. (Anything else you want to promote, including your own books, should go in your author bio.)