personal essays washington post

Be Heard: Where to Submit Essays Related to Current Events

June 5, 2020.

Hello, friends! As lovers and publishers of creative nonfiction we’re aware that, right now, it’s so important to express ourselves through words. As writers, putting pen to paper is how we move forward, either to help ourselves or others understand things more clearly or to speak the truth and influence change. While some might be journaling privately, others may be urgently submitting their stories to lit mags, websites, dailies, and more.

Hippocampus publishes our regular issues bi-monthly; as of today, that means our next issue is our July/August 2020 issue.

But… much of the work being created now needs to be heard NOW.

As we aren’t the right outlet for a timely piece, we wanted to point our readers/submitters to places where their submissions will get more immediate attention, whether literary magazines or outlets that publish personal essays more frequently, even daily, or to special calls for submissions, either for special issues or forthcoming anthologies.

Curated Lists of Opps from Our Friends Around the Web

Other publications and outlets have spent time creating lists and curating opps, so we’d like to link directly to their work:

• Submittable created a COVID-19 Creative Calls for Submission , which seems to be updated to add new content as they find it; multigenre.
• The New York Times article, “12 Ideas for Writing Through the Pandemic” includes some submission info
• We’ll continue to add to this list as we find resources or receive suggestions

Literary Magazines & Other Publications: Specific Calls

• COVID Lit – various genres/forms (rolling submissions)
• “For this issue, we want to examine the truths and the lies that we’re uncovering amid this global pandemic. With this call, we seek to elevate the already and the always, the ordinary and the overlooked.” — from the submission guidelines
• The Syndrome Magazine – Black Voices Matter – submissions from women/non-binary writers – deadline June 30
• Uncomfortable Revolution – seeking timely articles/stories on the intersection of pop culture, disability, race, and ethnicity. (rolling submissions)
• The HerStories Project – GenX women and impact of COVID-19 – June 30 deadline
• essays, poems, and art, “… that amplify the experiences of Black and African American writers in American society.” — from the guidelines
• “Art as resistance is not naïve or futile—it is bold and courageous. It embraces that which makes us human—our love, our anger, and our passion.” — from the guidelines
• Allegory Ridge – open to personal essays with the theme “Grow” (complete or pitch) – deadline June 12
• Vessel – op-eds (complete or pitch) – (rolling submissions)
• “…Queer Loving while also elevating Black and queer voices and creating a space of love, courage, and solidarity…” – from the guidelines
• PlanPhilly/WHYY – op-eds (Philadelphia-related) for the Eyes on the Street Section – (rolling submissions)
• Policy Network (based in Europe) – op-eds/articles for new series, Aftershock: Society and Politics After the Pandemic
• Longreads – current themes include Life in the Time of Covid and Amplify: Stories of Racism in America
• Entropy – new series, Food and COVID-19 (rolling submissions for now)
• T MI Project – COVID-related submisions (rolling submissions for now)

National Publications & Other Outlets: General Rolling Submissions

These publications traditionally accept personal essays, op-eds, and story pitches. (We linked to submissions pages where we could find them; others only list contact information.)

• How to submit an op-ed
• Inspired Life
• Boston Globe (essays, op-eds)
• General submissions
• Guardian Opinion
• Vox First Person
• Business Insider (op-eds and personal essays)
• HuffPost Personal
• Well + Good
• New York/The Cut
• Toward Freedom
• Various Outlets , the Op-Ed Project offers a database of papers and pubs that accept opinion submissions
• Medium publications , various – explore the many editorial publications at Medium that are open for submissions

Miscellaneous

Our suggestions are geared toward personal essays/literary CNF because that’s our main audience, but because we’re sharing this post on social media, we know a broader audience might see this. So we also wanted to include ideas for other ways to publish work/share your voice:

• An op-ed to your local or regional newspaper
• An op-ed to a local, independent online news publication
• A letter or story pitch to your alumni magazine or college publications (if they are publishing online during the summer)

If you’re working on something super-timely, we hope that this list of resources is helpful in finding your words a home. Hippocampus Magazine is always open to simultaneous submissions, so you may also submit work to us and withdraw it if it’s accepted elsewhere.

Special Note About Our July/August 2020 Issue

Right now, Hippocampus Magazine is selecting and finalizing pieces for the July/August issue. Typically, we have a 3-4 month lead time to review submissions, since we read pieces in the order that we receive them. However, given the gravity of the moment and the urgency and necessity of writing that reflects the world as it truly is, we plan to keep a close eye on more recent submissions as well.

(If you know of another opportunity not listed here, you can share it with us in the comments; we’ll try to update this post to add new suggestions, elevating them from the comments.)

P.S. Additional Opportunities (related, but longer-term deadlines)

While not timely in the sense of being published within the next few weeks, the following are related calls for submissions for magazines, special projects, and anthologies; we discovered them in our search and thought we should still share them here:

• 805 Lit + Art – special 19th Amendment/Black Women Issue (August 2020) – deadline June 7
• Flash Nonfiction COVID-19 : 73 Short, True Stories from the Front Lines of the Pandemic (publishes fall 2020) – deadline June 30
• CATALYST ( from Prevention at the Intersections, debut issue, Sept. 2020) – Mind, Body & Gender theme – deadline July 31
• Being Home: An Essay Anthology – Madville Publishing – deadline August 1
• About Place Journal – Works of Resistance, Resilience (for fall issue) – deadline August 1
• We’ll continue to add to this list as we spot opps or receive suggestions

IMAGE CREDIT: Flickr Creative Commins/ Pierre Metivier

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University of Washington Essays

Currently working on my application of University of Washington. Their essay prompt for the personal statement is this: "Tell a story from your life, describing an experience that either demonstrates your character or helped to shape it. "

I've already written my personal statement for Common App schools and other Coalition schools that don't require a specific prompt, but it's in a montage format. The wording of the prompt says "a story", so I'm not sure if a montage essay would work since it's by nature made of multiple stories.

What do you think?

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• Faculty & Staff

The Office of Admissions will be closed on Wednesday, July 24. We will be available via phone and email . Campus tours will remain as scheduled.

Freshman writing section

At the UW, we consider the college essay as our opportunity to see the person behind the transcripts and the numbers. Some of the best statements are written as personal stories. In general, concise, straightforward writing is best, and good essays are often 300-400 words in length.

Please note that the UW essay questions must be answered within our application. For the Common App, that means within our UW questions. We do not consider the Common App essay.

Essay prompt [required]

Tell a story from your life, describing an experience that either demonstrates your character or helped to shape it.

Maximum length : 650 words

Short response [required]

Our families and communities often define us and our individual worlds. Community might refer to your cultural group, extended family, religious group, neighborhood or school, sports team or club, co-workers, etc. Describe the world you come from and how you, as a product of it, might add to the diversity of the UW.

Maximum length : 300 words

Tip :  Keep in mind that the UW strives to create a community of students richly diverse in cultural backgrounds, experiences, values and viewpoints.

Additional information about yourself or your circumstances [optional]

You are not required to write anything in this section, but you may include additional information if something has particular significance to you. For example, you may use this space if:

• You have experienced personal hardships in attaining your education
• Your activities have been limited because of work or family obligations
• You have experienced unusual limitations or opportunities unique to the schools you attended

Maximum length : 200 words

Format for the essays

• Content is important, but spelling, grammar and punctuation are also considered.
• We recommend composing in advance, then copying and pasting into the application. Double-spacing, italics and other formatting will be lost, but this will not affect the evaluation of your application.
• We’ve observed most students write a polished formal essay, yet submit a more casual short response. Give every part of the writing responses your best effort, presenting yourself in standard, formal English.
• Proofread, proofread, proofread!

Tip :  Write like it matters, not like you’re texting. This is an application for college, not a message to your friend. Get some hints in the video:

All writing in the application, including your essay/personal statement and short responses, must be your own work.  Do not use another writer’s work and do not use artificial intelligence software (ChatGPT, Bard, etc.) to assist or write your statement.

Per Washington state law and University of Washington policy , all admissions staff are mandatory reporters of child abuse and neglect. Any statements in written materials that give admissions staff reasonable cause to believe abuse or neglect of someone under the age of 18 may have occurred must be reported to Child Protective Services or the police. Learn more about University reporting requirements . 

If you or someone you know is a survivor of sexual assault or other sexual misconduct, RAINN is a national hotline that provides support and referrals. Call 800.656.4673 or visit the website for a chat option. For individuals who have experienced domestic violence or intimate partner violence, the National DV Hotline offers phone, chat, and text options for support.

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Amy Ettinger, who inspired readers with her life-affirming essays on dying, succumbs to cancer at 49

( JTA ) — Amy Ettinger,  an author and creative writing instructor who chronicled the last months of her life in articles for the Washington Post , died March 20 from cancer at her home in Santa Cruz, California. She was 49.

Ettinger’s essays focused on the things she was able to do and cherish despite her diagnosis with a rare, incurable cancer called leiomyosarcoma : seeing a live performance of “Mamma Mia!” with her 14-year-old daughter, Julianna; eating her favorite pastry from a San Francisco bakery.

“ I’ve learned that life is all about a series of moments, and I plan to spend as much remaining time as I can savoring each one, surrounded by the beauty of nature and my family and friends,”she wrote.

Ettinger was an occasional contributor to Kveller, the Jewish family website that is a Jewish Telegraphic Agency partner. There she wrote about her mother’s kugel recipe (“light brown on its crispy top, and the color of milky coffee in the middle”) , and how she, as a “non-observant Jew,” marked Yom Kippur — which in 2013 happened to fall on her 10th wedding anniversary .

“Like Yom Kippur, a wedding anniversary is a time to take a step back from your daily life — to weigh the good and bad, to contemplate your triumphs and missteps, to make a vow to do better individually and as a couple,” she wrote.

Ettinger was born in Rochester, New York, and grew up in Cupertino, California. She discovered her calling as a journalist in high school. She majored in American literature at UC Santa Cruz and earned a master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University in 1999.

Her writing appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, New York Magazine, Salon, CNN and Newsweek. In a 2021 article for AARP, she wrote how her mother’s death inspired her to learn Sheila Ettinger’s favorite game: mahjong. She taught writing classes at Stanford Continuing Studies.

In 2017,  Penguin Random House published her memoir-cum-travelogue “Sweet Spot: An Ice Cream Binge Across America.” In it she wrote how she keeps “between fifteen and thirty dollars’ worth of ice cream in my freezer at all times” — not to eat, but as an “emergency backup system” in case one of her favorite shops or stores runs out.

Her follow-up story to her Washington Post article, titled  “I Have Little Time Left. I Hope My Goodbye Inspires You,” appeared on the newspaper’s homepage less than two weeks before she died.

“I am choosing to focus my limited time and energy on doing the things I love with the people I care most about. It’s a formula that works, I think, no matter where you are in your life,” she wrote.

In an article written after she died , her husband, the writer Dan White, wrote that she had dictated her last essay to him from a reading room at UC Santa Cruz with a view of a redwood forest. He said she had gotten hundreds of personal responses: A handful “unwelcome, including missives from ultrareligious people wanting my proudly Jewish wife to get saved to spare herself from hellfire,” but the vast majority saying Ettinger had inspired them to make the most of their lives no matter the cards they’d been dealt.

“Amy had no way of predicting that the lines she composed on the spot would be calls to action for readers from all over the United States, as well as Canada, Poland, France and Greece,” White wrote.

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The Ultimate Guide to Writing For The Washington Post

The Washington Post is in some ways a very traditional newspaper-style publication, and in other ways it is refreshingly modern.

Often known as WaPo, the Washington Post started life as a newspaper in 1877. Throughout the decades, it has evolved to keep up with the times. These days, as of about 2013, the publication is owned by a company that itself is owned by Jeff Bezos, making it part of the tertiary empire of data controlled by the Amazon mastermind.

Unlike many of the other publications I cover on this site – like The Guardian or Inc.com – The Washington Post makes their submission process fairly transparent. You can write several different kinds of content and pitch it to different sections, and have several good avenues for getting your credit on their pages.

Table of Contents

First up: read the site.

Before you even begin trying to write a pitch or an article for WaPo, the first thing you should be doing is reading the site. The Washington Post is a pretty huge publication, covering hundreds of articles a day on a wide variety of topics, so you have your homework cut out for you.

I’m not telling you to read everything in the newspaper, of course. If you’re in Washington DC and you can read the paper version each day, that’s fine. I wouldn’t call it necessary, but it can give you a good idea of what the top-level content is and what they most want to cover.

No, what you should do is look through the huge list of categories the site covers, and find those that most fit with your content. For many of you, I assume that’s going to be in the tech, business, lifestyle, or opinions sections. Other sections, like photography, politics, sports, or arts can be useful targets as well. Some, like obituaries, crosswords, podcasts, and national news are unlikely to be good targets.

Remember that the Washington Post is a newspaper with a large staff of their own journalists. Whenever I write a post about how to pitch content to a newspaper, the first thing I mention is that you aren’t going to fit in with or replace an existing journalist. The turnaround time it takes to receive your pitch, vet you as an author, and get a post written is such that trying to cover breaking news is just not going to happen. Staff writers will be able to cover it better than you can, faster than you can. By the time the editors even look at your pitch, chances are good the current event you’re covering is not current anymore.

Let’s step a way from politics and news, then, and look at a section you might consider pitching: business. The Washington Post’s organizational structure works like a category feed. You have the Business section, and within it you have four sub-sections: Health Care, Leadership, Personal Finance, and Small Business. If you click the main Business headline , you’ll see content from all of those sections, as well as a flag at the top indicating that the business section is in partnership with Bloomberg.

You might also notice that a good portion of the business-related content is still political in nature. This is going to be the case pretty much everywhere, because the Post is based in DC, and DC is the capitol of political importance. So you see business articles covering, say, Trump’s trade war, while also seeing posts about Netflix pricing and robotic “employees” at grocery stores .

Spend some time – a few weeks at minimum – reading content in the section you want to pitch. Pay attention to a few things.

• When a post is political, what angle does it take? Does it lean more liberal or conservative? Is it explicit, or simply biased?
• How much fact and how many sources are cited in the content? Are you expected to trust the author’s expertise, or read up further if you’re concerned?
• What is the scope of the topics covered? Is it largely about global issues, national issues, or do local issues crop up as well?
• What is the tone, perspective, and voice of the content? Should you write in a more personal style, or keep your content impersonal and factual?

One thing you may want to check is whether or not the content is syndicated. For example, virtually everything in the Small Business section is 1) not actually about small businesses, and 2) syndicated from Bloomberg. The chances of you being able to submit content to that section are fairly slim.

Eventually you’ll gain a feel for the kind of content published on the Washington Post and you’ll be ready to start laying the groundwork for publication.

Developing a Frame of Mind

While reading content, you should be formulating ideas that you may be able to pitch. This is good; write those ideas down and develop them into simple pitches.  Even if they aren’t accepted at WaPo, you may be able to re-use them elsewhere later.

Prepare yourself for rejection. You won’t be able to submit a single pitch and get right in, especially if you don’t have industry contacts or a great reputation. Most likely, you’re going to end up facing several rejections before you hit upon something the editors like.

Try to develop topics that are in some way slightly controversial. I’m not saying you should write a post about how murder is actually a good thing, though. Think of a topic that subverts the usual discussion around that topic, or that brings light to an issue that plagues your industry in a unique way. A bog-standard report on a common industry topic just won’t cut it.

Read the Guidelines

At some point, you always need to track down whatever guidelines a site has for submission ahead of time.

Here’s the page for the Washington Post . Basically:

• Don’t submit anything that’s inappropriate. No violence, no libel, no pornography, no violations of laws or privacy, no copyright violations, and so on. Importantly, no solicitation, no advertising, and no misrepresentation of your affiliations.
• You give WaPo the rights to use content you submit.

It’s all fairly standard, and you can read through the whole thing in a few minutes. If you’ve submitted content to any site before, it’s pretty much the same stuff you’ve seen everywhere.

You should also read their rules about ethics and conflicts of interest. Most of this is aimed at journalists rather than freelance contributors, but it’s still worth giving a look, just in case.

Picking a Submission Method

There are several ways you can submit content and have it show up on the Washington Post itself. Let’s go over each of them.

First up, you have the paid experience. The Washington Post has something called BrandStudio , which is their paid advertising platform. You can become an advertiser and create immersive content that is put in front of the WaPo audience. Of course, it’s expensive, and it’s probably out of reach for most of you. If you have a heck of an advertising budget – and don’t mind paying for sponsored content rather than hoping for a free guest post – you can look into this option.

Next, you can submit a correction. Now, this is a bit of a backdoor strategy and it’s very much not guaranteed to work. Corrections in a newspaper are generally used to correct facts, like a mis-quote, the wrong date for an event, or an incorrect attribution.

Instead, you can find a controversial article in your industry and submit a correction on the factual basis of the article premise. If you’re in luck, the editor will invite you to write your own perspective on the issue. Most of the time, though, you just won’t be given the time of day.

A third option is to submit a press release . Obviously, a press release is very different from a guest post, but a press release is also something that should go through its own channels. Indeed, each department has its own process for handling press releases, so you need to call and talk to the people in that department specifically.

A probably better option is to submit a letter to the editor . A letter to the editor is a public piece ostensibly aimed at the editor, but really aimed at the audience of the publication. It’s not quite a blog post; it’s more aimed at personal opinions and experiences from people who have a position worth telling. Often, letters to the editor are used as a way to show perspectives the mainline journalists won’t, though that’s not always a good thing.

The process for submitting a letter is to actually submit a letter. They have an email address specifically for them. They prefer letters that are very short, under 200 words, that are unique and that are based on an existing published piece on the site. Think of it like an expansive blog comment.

Your next option is to submit an op-ed . An op-ed is a story usually positioned across – or on the opposite page – from the editorials section in the paper itself. Online, it’s more of an essay from an outside contributor that is supported by facts and evidence. You know, standard blog post stuff for flagship content. You’re not thinking of writing non-flagship content for a major publication, are you?

Op-eds on WaPo are limited to about 800 words. They only look at completed articles, not pitches, and they don’t give feedback. They ignore anything that’s not under your real name, so make sure you’re disclosing who you are. Disclose any financial or business ties you have with the subject as well.

Another option may be to submit a local opinion essay . I’m hesitant to suggest this one because I’m not sure whether this form is still in use or if it just goes to a dead inbox. Still, it might be worth giving a shot. Unlike other contact methods, this one has a form to fill out instead of an email address to contact.

The Washington Post also maintains a talent network. You can create a profile here . Not all profiles are accepted, though, so make sure to put your best foot forward.

How does the talent network work? Basically, when tips or pitches come in that no one is willing or has the time to write, editors will assign it to someone with the relevant expertise within the talent network. You do the research and write the post, and they publish it. They even pay you for your contribution! Often times, if you pitch a guest post through another means and are accepted, you will also be invited to apply to the talent network with a near-guaranteed acceptance. This can open you up to a lot of future posting opportunities, as well as the money.

On top of all of this – you see why I’m liking WaPo compared to some of the harder to contact publications? – you can actually just apply for a freelance writer job with the Washington Post. They post jobs on this page regularly, and they occasionally pick from this pool. This isn’t a great option if you just want a guest post, though, so I don’t really recommend it.

As a final option, you can do the usual process I recommend for most sites. Track down the managing or deputy editors for the section you want to write for, and do the whole influencer networking thing. Follow them on Twitter, engage with them off of WaPo, and familiarize yourself with their desires. Pitch your content directly to them, and you’ll have a better chance of getting accepted.

With all of these different options available to you, how can you possibly lose?

Written by James Parsons

James is the founder and CEO of Topicfinder , a purpose-built topic research tool for bloggers and content marketers. He also runs a content marketing agency, Content Powered, and writes for Forbes, Inc, Entrepreneur, Business Insider, and other large publications. He's been a content marketer for over 15 years and helps companies from startups to Fortune 500's get more organic traffic and create valuable people-first content.

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DePauw Stories

Autman personal essay appears in the washington post.

Samuel Autman, associate professor of English, has written a personal essay describing how he learned that his student loans had been forgiven. “I thought I might die with these debts,” he wrote. See his essay in The Washington Post . 

Posted on: January 27, 2022

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Sign Up For Paid Writing Opportunities

29 publishers that pay for parenting articles, essays, & stories.

The following is a huge list of magazines, websites, and blogs that pay for writing about parenting in one form or another.

As you can see, there are many opportunities for writing in this niche. This list, as big as it is, only starts to scratch the surface. You’ll notice that there are many regional magazines that publish parenting articles; If you’re interested in this niche, I would recommend looking for a local “family magazine” to contribute to, in addition to perusing the opportunities below.

Additionally, many general interest newspapers and magazines cover parenting, so that is another angle to look at.

If you’re new to freelance writing, and interested in some training to help you get started, I recommend that you watch this free  lecture.

• Mommyish focuses on the realities of parenting. They publish listicles, humor, and clickbait. They are accepting applications for regular bloggers. To apply, contact their editor here.
• MotherWell is a blog that features personal essays and “perspective pieces” about all sides of parenting. According to an interview with their editor, they pay $50 per post, though payment is not listed on their website. To learn more, read their submission guidelines.
• Lies About Parenting publishes thought-provoking articles on all aspects of parenting. They accept pitches for articles that share surprising advice, a personal story, or a revelation. They pay $50 per post. To learn more, read their submission guidelines.
• ADDitude Magazine – The leading destination for families and adults living with ADD and learning disabilities, ADDitude is mostly written by journalists and mental health professionals, but they also accept articles by parents who have personal experience with ADHD and learning disabilities. Check out ADDitude’s writing guidelines here . Bonus: ADDitude is looking for parent bloggers, so if you want to share your journey raising a little one who has ADHD, get your butt over to that link and scroll to the bottom for more info.
• Adoptive Family Magazine – An award-winning resource for adoptive parents and people navigating the adoption process, Adoptive Families provides information and support through expert articles, personal stories, and advice. If you’re an adoptive parent (or in the process of adopting), click on the writers’ guidelines here for info on submitting articles or personal essays.
• Working Mother – Working Mother is an insightful, dynamic website with fun, affirming posts, as well as pieces tackling serious issues working mothers deal with. Check out the writer’s guidelines here.
• Baby Corner is a website that provides all-encompassing information, advice, and support for anyone who has, is expecting, or hoping to have a baby. You can pitch your work or ideas to them, or you can apply to be added to their writing pool where you may receive assignments based on their main topics. The writer’s guidelines are here .
• Just Parents is an informative community website for new and expecting parents. The site features everything from cleaning tips to articles about coping with labor. The UK site pays £40 ($60 US). Learn more from their Write for Us here .
• Parents & Kids is “a resource for busy families, providing real-life solutions, sound advice, creative ideas, and practical information to make their lives easier.” Based in the Jackson area of Mississippi, it features informative articles, helpful tips, and topics that parents care about. Pay starts at $25 per article. Check out their writer’s guidelines here . Contact them here .
• Simply Family Magazine is a monthly magazine designed as a free resource for families in a localized region of Montana. Simply Family Magazine covers every parenting stage from newborns all the way through college freshmen. Although they like a local tie-in, there is still room for plenty of humorous stories and “how-to” articles from non-locals. You can contact the editors here.
• The Green Parent is a UK publication that assists parents in their pursuit of green living and other parenting goals. Check out their vastly detailed writing guidelines here . Pay is £75 (UK) per 1,000 words.
• On Parenting is a parenting blog of Washington Post. They are looking for pieces with an interesting angle to parenting. They welcome reported pieces and personal essays. They want the pieces to be no more than 1,200 words long. Payment reports suggest that they pay up to $2.50 per word. According to one of our readers, expect no more than $300 total. To learn more, refer to this page .
• A Fine Parent is an “online community for parents who believe that great parents are made, not born.” They provide resources that help the readers become better parents. They want articles that are 1,500 to 3,000 words long. They pay $75 for articles that are selected for publication. For further details, refer to this page .
• Parents and Parents.com help parents “raise happy, healthy kids” and have “a lot of fun along the way.” They are a national publication, so they are mainly interested in stories that appeal to a wide range of parents. They are always seeking captivating human-interest stories. They generally work only with authors who have some experience. Payment reports suggest that they pay up to $1.87 per word. For further information, refer to their writer’s guidelines .
• Fatherly is a “digital media brand for dads.” They offer expert parenting advice, product recommendations and life tips for fathers. They want fun and insightful stories regarding the trials and tribulations of parenthood. According to one payment report, they paid $0.15 per word. To learn more, refer to this page .
• Zift provides “essential screen time parenting tools, insights and resources to families in a technology-driven world.” Their Parent Portal and Parenting Insights blog help parents become better at parenting in today’s technology-filled environment. They want evergreen articles that offer practical and actionable tips. Their most successful articles are 1,500 to 2,000 words long. They pay $100 per article. To learn more, refer to this page .
• Pregnant Chicken is an online resource and blog that offers tips, advice, and information that help in keeping pregnancy fun and funny for expectant and new parents. They want funny or emotionally relatable posts on pregnancy and being a new parent. They don’t have a minimum or maximum word count. They pay $50 per post. For details, visit this page .
• Kidspot is an Australian parenting website that covers pregnancy, birth, parenting, lifestyle, health, food, and more. According to payment reports, they pay up to $0.18 per word. To contact them, refer to this page .
• Juno is an online community and a digital magazine focused on pregnancy, childbirth, and motherhood. They are seeking stories about women’s experiences with urinary incontinence. They pay $100 per accepted piece. To learn more, visit this page . They also have a general writer’s guidelines page here.
• Your Teen Media is a resource for parenting teenagers. They want writers to send pitches of ideas for articles, essays, blogs, or expert advices to their editors. According to one payment report, they paid $0.10 per word. To learn more, visit this page .
• Pregnancy & Newborn is a monthly print magazine and an online community for new and expectant mothers. They feature birth stories, health tips, gear reviews, baby advice, and more. Payment reports indicate that they pay up to $0.33 per word. To contact them, refer to this page .
• Baby Chick is a digital media and lifestyle company that offers “pregnancy tips, birth information, postpartum support, parenting advice, product knowledge & more.” According to one payment report, they paid $0.04 per word. To contact them, refer to this page .
• Traveling Dad is a family travel website. They pay for assigned posts that offer useful travel information through the point of view of a dad. They want writers who can help traveling dads and moms with every kind of travel including “family travel, business travel, solo travel, multi-generational travel, guy getaways and, a fan favorite, traveling without kids.” For details, visit this page .
• Romper is a website for millennial moms. They are “looking to a) explore facets of parenthood that may yet be unaddressed by the media, and b) ruminate deeply on The Great British Baking Show.” They accept pitches for essays and reported pieces of 800 to 2,000 words. According to one payment report, they paid $150 for a profile or interview of about 1,000 words. To learn more, refer to this page .
• Family Story is “a think tank founded in 2015 to recognize, validate, and protect the many ways individuals form and re-form families.” They are looking for personal essays and opinion pieces for their blog. They especially encourage submissions from people of color and/or LGBTQIA+ folks. The submissions should be of 600 to 1,200 words. Payment is $100 per post. To learn more, visit this page .
• Mommyhood101 is a website that offers baby product reviews, treatments for common ailments, news coverage of scientific advancements in pediatrics, and more. They participate in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. They are accepting blog submissions from writers. They want submissions of at least 2,000 words with at least 1 image. The submissions must be about pregnancy, childbirth, and/or parenting. Submissions about parenting must be relevant for children under the ages of about 5 to 7 years. They will pay 5 cents per word. For example, for an article of 3,000 words, they will pay $150. To contribute, refer to this page .
• Lisa Tanner Writing offers “tips and tricks for working from home with kids, growing a freelance business, running a blog as a busy mom, and balancing diapers and deadlines.” They are looking for guest posts from busy moms with a business. They want SEO optimized posts of 1,000 to 2,000 words. They will pay $50 per post. Details here .
• Baby and You offers affordable pregnancy and ovulation tests in New Zealand. They are seeking “general fertility and local New Zealand fertility articles.” They pay $20 for a 400-word article/blog post, $50 for a 750-word article/blog post, and $80-$100 for a 1,000+ word article/blog post. To find out more, refer to this page .
• What To Expect is a pregnancy and parenting brand. They offer preconception, pregnancy, and parenting advice. According to their  managing editor , they pay $250 to $400 per piece. To contact them, refer to this page .

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How to Write the University of Washington Essays 2023-2024

The University of Washington has two supplemental essays that are required for all applicants, and one optional, “additional information” prompt. While we typically encourage students to respond to any optional prompt, this one is actually optional, as you should only respond if there truly are unusual circumstances that have impacted your high school career. If you are applying to UW’s Honors Program, you will also have to write an additional essay.

UW is one of the top public universities in the country, with elite STEM programs and a location that offers unparalleled access to Amazon and Microsoft, among other influential companies, so you’ll want to make sure your essays truly shine. In this post, we’ll break down how to brainstorm for and write each one, so you can be sure you’re putting your best foot forward.

Read these University of Washington essay examples to inspire your writing.

University of Washington Prompts

All applicants.

Prompt 1: Tell a story from your life, describing an experience that either demonstrates your character or helped to shape it. (650 words)

Prompt 2: Our families and communities often define us and our individual worlds. Community might refer to your cultural group, extended family, religious group, neighborhood or school, sports team or club, co-workers, etc. Describe the world you come from and how you, as a product of it, might add to the diversity of the UW. (300 words)

Prompt 3 (optional): You are not required to write anything in this section, but you may include additional information if something has particular significance to you. For example, you may use this space if:

You have experienced personal hardships in attaining your education

Your activities have been limited because of work or family obligations, you have experienced unusual limitations or opportunities unique to the schools you attended. (200 words), uw interdisciplinary honors program applicants.

We want to understand your desire to learn new things and to push your education outside of the areas of learning that you are most familiar with. Tell us why this type of learning interests you and which subjects you’re excited to explore in college. (450 words)

All Applicants, Prompt 1

Tell a story from your life, describing an experience that either demonstrates your character or helped to shape it. (650 words).

This prompt is the first of the five options on the Coalition Application and is purposefully phrased nebulously to allow for a wide range of responses. You can relay any experience that reflects or shaped who you are. 

To start, examine your many identities, and choose one that you want to highlight. All experiences are valid, whether they are traditional or unconventional. Focus on the things that make you different from others, and reflect on how they shaped you as a person. Remember that this is your main college essay, so be sure to pick an experience that was integral to your growth throughout high school. 

This is a good chance to tell the story behind any major extracurriculars on your activity list. For example, you might write “debate team captain” as an extracurricular, but this essay is where you can recount the grit and dedication it took for you to reach that position, as you once were extremely shy. You can also use this space to explore identities that don’t appear elsewhere on your application, such as your role within your family. For example, you can write about how you tutor your younger brother in math, and how watching his face light up after understanding a new concept sparked your love of teaching. 

A common theme across all college essays is “show, don’t tell.” This phrase is thrown around frequently, but is easier said than done. A few things to keep in mind when showing rather than telling are vividness and authenticity, which can be created by invoking imagery and specific details. For example, rather than saying “I like tennis and the game has always fascinated me,” try conjuring an image in the reader’s mind such as “At the start of my first official match, I gripped my trusted red racquet tightly, swaying ever so slightly from foot to foot in the ‘ready’ stance that I had practiced for years.” While the first response may be true, it is generic and can apply to any tennis aficionado. The latter response better authenticates your experiences than the former, and demonstrates your sincerity to readers. 

All Applicants, Prompt 2

Our families and communities often define us and our individual worlds. community might refer to your cultural group, extended family, religious group, neighborhood or school, sports team or club, co-workers, etc. describe the world you come from and how you, as a product of it, might add to the diversity of the uw. (300 words).

This question serves two purposes: it gives UW an opportunity to learn more about how you developed your values, and it allows them to consider how you might interact with others on campus. It is easy to get mired in focusing on describing your community, but remember, UW wants to learn about you through seeing how your community impacted you. Use a description of your community to frame your essay, but always remind yourself to connect the story back to how it changed you. Once you have framed the essay with a description of who you have become as a result of your community’s impact, be sure to extend this thread to your potential future influence on UW.

There are several ways to interpret community. You could interpret it in the literal sense by explaining how your hometown and family have guided your ambitions. For example, maybe growing up on your family’s farm inspired your appreciation for agriculture and working with your hands. You hope to share this appreciation with other students by working on the UW farm and organizing workshops where students can learn how to plant their own flowers or herbs.

Or, perhaps the community you want to highlight is less conventional, such as the coffeeshop you work at. You could discuss how your coworkers are from all walks of life, and how you’ve befriended a retired older couple that picks up weekend shifts. They offer you advice based on their many life experiences, showing you the importance of having an older mentor. This makes you want to join the Big Brothers Big Sisters chapter at UW.

Regardless of what your community is, be sure to highlight how you’ll contribute to UW’s diversity, whether that’s through your perspective, actions, ideas, cultural traditions, etc.

All Applicants, Prompt 3 (optional)

You are not required to write anything in this section, but you may include additional information if something has particular significance to you. for example, you may use this space if:.

This portion of the application is optional, and while we recommend that you fill out most “optional” essays, this space is truly optional. If you don’t have any unusual circumstances, you can leave it blank without penalty. If feel that the parameters apply to you, you should fill this section out. This is your chance to explain anything that hasn’t been addressed in other parts of your application. Since the maximum is 200 words and the prompt is straightforward, you can (and should) also be totally straightforward in your response, rather than painting a picture with vivid imagery. 

For the first prompt, an example of a response could be:

“In the sophomore year of high school, my dad was diagnosed with cancer, and it profoundly affected multiple areas of my life, including my academic performance. For that reason, there is a significant dip in my grades in the spring semester of that year.”

For the second:

“Because my parents own a small restaurant, it is often my responsibility to watch my younger siblings while they are working, and even help out by doing the dishes or bussing tables in my free time. For that reason, I was unable to join as many extracurriculars as my after school time went towards helping ensure the family restaurant was running smoothly.” 

For the last prompt, you can briefly state school-related limitations or opportunities, like if your school did not have an AP or IB program, or if it did have a special internship program that you participated in. Keep in mind that some universities designate admissions officers to research your region and know what programs your school has or doesn’t have – this might be something you want to look into before filling out this section. However, you might want to fill out this section if the school you’re applying to does not have regional admissions officers.

If there is a specific school program or opportunity that you wish to mention, we recommend doing so via your activity list or one of your essays, rather than in this short, 200-word window. If you find that you don’t have space in the rest of your application, then this section is fine.

Please reflect and respond to the following question, and in doing so explain your interest in the UW Interdisciplinary Honors Program. What is interdisciplinary learning and why is it important to you? (300 words)

While you might be tempted to approach this prompt in the way you would approach a traditional “Why This Major?” essay, hold on for a second and reread the prompt. Rather than being asked why you are pursuing a particular major or area of study, you’re being asked about why learning new things interests you and which “subjects you’re excited to explore in college”. 

Although you will likely be most excited to study the topics relevant to your major, this prompt specifically requests that you “push…outside of the areas of learning that you are most familiar with.” UW admissions officers are hoping to acquire a more comprehensive understanding of your intellectual potential, so your response should focus on a topic other than your intended major.

However, be sure to discuss an area of interest that has some alignment with the rest of your application, so that it doesn’t feel totally out-of-the-blue. If you’ve never been a part of any music-related classes or activities, writing about your passion for songwriting may feel a little disjointed. 

Of course, our identities are complicated, but remember that the people reading your applications don’t know you outside of what you tell them, which means it’s crucial that the various pieces of your application come together to form a cohesive unit. Otherwise, your readers may not understand who exactly you are.

To give an example of something you could write about, maybe your intended major is biology, but you’ve also studied Latin throughout high school. You could focus your essay on how you hope to read ancient and medieval scientific texts, to learn more about how human understanding of the world around us has evolved.

Another approach to this essay could be identifying a topic that has nothing to do with biology but ties into some aspect(s) of your identity. Perhaps growing up in a multilingual, bi-racial household, with parents from South America and East Asia, meant you were constantly participating in family gatherings and celebrating holidays with very different cultural contexts. In college, you hope to study anthropology and sociology, even though you have no direct experience with either of those subjects, so that you can not only understand your own identity better, but also be better prepared to engage with those who have their own complicated stories.

Note that the prompt asks you to not only describe one of your academic interests, but also explain “why this type of learning interests you,” with regards to interdisciplinary learning. To answer this part of the prompt, you’ll want to identify one or two of your goals for college, and how you see interdisciplinary learning in particular helping you reach them.

The second example given above already does this, as the student explains that they want to be able to better communicate with people from cultural backgrounds that differ from their own, and they clearly connect that goal to the subjects they are focusing on. 

The student in the first example is starting to get to this component of their essay, but needs a little more personal connection. They could get that by, for example, writing about how they’re not sure how they can best utilize their skills within the vast field of biology–as a doctor, researcher, educator, or something else–and throughout college, hopefully exploring the history of the subject will give them a clearer idea of the right path ahead.

Here are some finals tips for you to consider when responding to this essay: 

• 450 words is on the long side for a supplemental essay, so take the time to share an anecdote that integrates your interest in a specific topic with your background, personal values, and overall love of learning, rather than just stating your points in a direct, factual way
• Explain why the University of Washington specifically can help you reach your goals, by referencing a few course offerings, campus organizations, research opportunities, and so on that align with your interests
• Not to sound cheesy, but have fun! As we noted at the beginning of this breakdown, you have more freedom here than in a “Why Major?” essay, so highlight your curiosity, excitement, and any quirky connection you have to your topic, rather than worrying about whether or not you’ve taken enough APs or done enough extracurriculars related to your topic

Where to Get Your University of Washington Essays Edited 

Do you want feedback on your UW essays? After rereading your essays countless times, it can be difficult to evaluate your writing objectively. That’s why we created our free Peer Essay Review tool , where you can get a free review of your essay from another student. You can also improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays. 

If you want a college admissions expert to review your essay, advisors on CollegeVine have helped students refine their writing and submit successful applications to top schools.  Find the right advisor for you  to improve your chances of getting into your dream school!

Related CollegeVine Blog Posts

Rays 1B Yandy Diaz reinstated from restricted list after missing seven games for personal reasons

The Tampa Bay Rays have reinstated first baseman Yandy Diaz from the restricted list after the defending AL batting champion missed seven games because of personal family reasons

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Rays reinstated first baseman Yandy Díaz from the restricted list on Friday after the defending AL batting champion missed seven games because of personal family reasons.

Díaz, who had not played since the All-Star break, was back in his customary leadoff spot when the Rays opened a three-game weekend series against the Cincinnati Reds.

“I’d rather not talk about it. I’m here to focus on baseball,” Díaz said through a team translator.

The 32-year-old was batting .273 with eight homers and 46 RBIs. He was a first time All-Star in 2023, when he hit an AL-best .330 with 22 homers and 78 RBIs.

Díaz was placed on the restricted list on July 20 during a four-game road series against the New York Yankees. He also missed three games at Toronto.

Rays manager Kevin Cash has said the move was not disciplinary and was made because of family personal reasons that did not qualify under the major league bereavement/family medical emergency list.

“I am happy to have him back,” Cash said before Friday night’s game. “It feels like the situation is better.”

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb