Mother’s Always Write

Writers’ Submission Guidelines

Mother’s Always Write is both a literary and ideas magazine for mothers (and fathers too). Published monthly online, our mission is twofold: 1) to offer parents beautiful and insightful reading that will elevate and deepen the parenting experience, and 2) to offer mother/father readers and writers a place to congregate during the sometimes isolating years (both early and late) of parenthood.

We offer essays and poetry that are intended to honor parenting as one of life’s greatest callings. We hope to rid the world of that-- I wish I had understood that when my children were young feeling. We love writing that portrays motherhood as it is, not as someone says it should be.

Our pieces fall into three categories:  (1) Early Years:  mothering the younger years (from birth to age 12), (2) Middle Years:  mothering the middle school and teenage years, and (3) Adult Children:  mothers facing the empty nest.

Please send your submissions through Submittable. Please mark your submission by category in the subject line (i.e. Early Years). Please also tell us in your cover letter where you heard of us.

Personal Essays:  Submit entire essay (up to 2,000 words). Please cover topics of parenting children of any age (don’t forget adult children) consistent with our mission statement. We are not looking for “how to” articles but for essays about parenting issues written with literary merit and offering moving insight.

Micro Nonfiction: Submit entire essay (up to 300 words). Please cover a poignant topic or insight of parenting. Again, we are looking for literary merit and moving insight.

Poetry: Submit up to three poems about the parenting experience. We prefer non-rhyming, free verse poetry that uses unique imagery, that offers thoughtful insight into the parenting experience, and that tugs a bit at the heartstrings.

For our Blog:  Submit (unpublished) post about parenting (up to 1,000 words). Posts should be essays about a particular parenting experience or insight about parenting or about being a mother writer. Posts are published more than once per month. Share your wisdom.

Please note what we don’t want:  We consider parenting a calling with a built-in duty to raise children in a safe, moral and loving environment. To that end, we will not publish any piece that is violent or vulgar. We are not looking for “How-to” articles.

We pay only for essays that are published in our once per month big issue on the third Monday of the month. Essays published on any other time during the month are not paid. Please know that we are working towards the important goal of being able to pay all of our writers.

Thank you for sharing your writing with us. (Revised effective 3/10/17)