Submitting Your Work
• All submissions should be in double spaced, 12-point type (please, no PDFs).
• Your name, address, telephone number, and email address must appear at the top of the first page, along with the piece’s title and total word count.
• WRITERSREAD uses Submittable as our submissions manager. Use the link to enter your contact information and to send us your submission.
• The $5 Submission Fee is meant to discourage random, off-topic submissions our team used to receive. We use it to support our mission. PayPal and all major credit cards accepted.
• We will reply within four weeks of the submission deadline (and usually sooner).
If Your Essay Is Selected (YAY!)
• We'll need your social media handles for Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
• We'll need a 130 word (max) biography. Please tell us more than just your publishing credits.
• We’ll need a head shot for promotional purposes.
Your Biography (130 word max)
We want to know about YOU. Here are some sample bios for inspiration:
Sample Bio - 106 words
Karen Dukess has a work history as eclectic as her taste in books. She has been a tour guide in the former Soviet Union, a newspaper reporter in Florida, a magazine publisher in Russia and, for nearly a decade, a speechwriter on gender equality for the United Nations Development Programme. She has blogged on raising boys for The Huffington Post and written book reviews for USA Today. She has a degree in Russian Studies from Brown University and a Master’s in Journalism from Columbia University. She lives with her family near New York City and spends as much time as possible in Truro on Cape Cod. (106)
Sample Bio - 130 words
Ruth Pennebaker morphed from being a lawyer into a writer so she wouldn’t have to narrowly define herself—and because she’s always been attracted to low-paying work. Over the years – well, decades, if you want to get fussy – she’s written columns, features, and op-eds for magazines and newspapers. She’s also written five novels (two adult, three young-adult), a book about aging, a collection of newspaper columns, and two humor books. She’s blogged and aired public radio commentaries. Ruth has written about everything from autumn in Texas (which, she says, may only last one day) to marriage and children, from politics to death, from cancer to wrinkles. She’s a feminist, a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a believer in science and good journalism, and a Texan – sometimes in spite of herself.
Head Shots
Your photo needn’t be shot by a professional, and most people do fine with a smart-phone snap (please avoid the selfie). The photo should show you from mid-chest up, with even lighting and no harsh shadows on your face. Use a background that doesn’t distract.
A 4″ x 6″ image at 300 dpi (dots per inch) is acceptable for printing (or approximately 1,200 x 1,800 pixels—dimensions shown in the photo’s file info on both Mac and PC).
Need some guidelines on what makes an acceptable headshot?
Looking for guidelines on what to wear on camera?