Blog Submission Guidelines

Interested in writing for The Stories Between? We would love to have you. While we can’t pay you (all our money goes into web development and improving the site) you can get published, build your resume and portfolio, and even better, have your stories and thoughts inspire and educate others.

The Stories Between believes that everyone has a story and that everyone deserves to be heard. Our goal is to give everyone a platform to share those stories and perspectives. Our blog is devoted to celebrating and reflecting on life, its challenges, regrets, successes, and failures. Because even though we are all different, the experiences of life can be universal. However, we don’t focus on the negative and unfairness of life. We are here to celebrate life and the rollercoaster challenges and successes it hands us. So we definitely want your raw, honest story, but if it’s angry and stays that way we won’t be able to publish it.

We strive to connect people through shared stories and shared experiences. It’s tough and emotional, often downright painful, to share real, candid thoughts. But for those brave enough to do so your voice becomes invaluable to so many others. What you have to say will resonate and will make a difference.

Submitting to our blog is simple… just choose from our general themes below. Getting started is the hardest part. The best thing to do is just start writing as if you are having a conversation. Don’t get caught up on that first line, just write. You can always go back and change the beginning but most people find they don’t even want to. Once you pick a topic (or two) that you want to write about then check out our style and writing guidelines below.

  1. Ordinary Influencers –  How Ordinary People Have Helped Shape Extraordinary Lives – Readers reveal and honor that person or moment who had a profound impact on the path of their lives. Just answer the question – Who or what had the greatest impact on the path of your life. Don’t overthink it, most likely someone or event has already popped into your head. Now write about that and how it has altered your life and put you where you are now.
  2. Hindsight – That single greatest challenge, regret, success or failure. We gather thoughts and reflections in an effort to learn from the past experience and wisdom of each other. This can be about you or go ahead and talk to someone much older and wiser and gather their insight to share with us. This feature may at times be written in third person as the result of an interview done with someone else especially an elderly person. We love what they have to say!
  3. Silver Linings – You hear it all the time, people talking about an illness, challenge or loss but instead of complaining or feeling sorry for themselves, they are talking about the positive light it brought into their life. They have been able to see the silver lining shining through an otherwise overwhelming and defeating time. Our Silver Linings articles celebrate and highlight that positive outlook. Tell us about your life altering experience and the good that came through it.
  4. Letters to our Loved Ones – Working through grief is a long and arduous process but remembering and honoring is vital to healing. In Letters to our Loved Ones we hear from individuals as they talk to important people who are no longer in their lives.
  5. Celebrating Life – Resources and articles that highlight unique and creative ways to remember and celebrate the lives of loved ones.
  6. Memories – Our writers reflect on their favorite memories, how these memories continue to impact them and how they continue to honor loved ones through traditions and stories.
  7. Grief – Personal accounts of how our readers have worked through their grief or continue to do so. First hand stories of how loss has affected them and ways they have learned to cope. These articles offer insight into issues like time, what to say or do and what not to say or do.

Other General Topics We Like:

  • Issues dealing with aging parents
  • Cultural trends – ways different cultures treat loss and grief
  • The importance of writing for therapy
  • The importance of writing for historical purposes and archiving

And we are always open to new thoughts. If you have a theme or topic you would like to write about just let us know and we’ll certainly consider it!

Style and Voice – Our articles are written in first person, directly from you the writer to the reader. It’s just you, talking to them. You have the story and you can be a writer. Just start writing as if you are talking to them or writing a letter to your best friend. Don’t overthink it, just talk to the reader via the page. Choose a theme from the list below and then just let your heart and voice flow.  Sticking within your chosen theme tell them what you went through, your challenge, success, failure or regret. And how it changed you. And how you view your situation or life now as a result. You have the opportunity to make a difference through your words and help someone through their similar journey. We will edit for grammar and punctuation and sometimes for length. But we promise, we won’t change the message.

Length – The average length of a blog submission is around 800 words. But it can be longer or shorter if need be. Generally it’s hard to engage a reader in just one or two paragraphs and similarly you might lose them if it’s too long. But since none of us are back in school here, don’t stress about word count, it’s just nice to have a guideline of what works best.

Photos – We absolutely want to include a relevant photo! We are a very visual world and your reader will want to see who is speaking or whom you are speaking about. All photos must be your property and by submitting them you release the rights for us to use them. If you would like a photo credit or a photo credit is needed please submit that information.

Bio – Please include a brief, bio, this time written in third person. You can include links back to your blog or social media sites if you like. As long as they are appropriate links we are happy to link back to you.

Rights – If any of your work has already been published, please let us know and provide us with the permission to publish. We cannot use any copyrighted or plagiarized work. All articles submitted must be your story that we reserve the right to publish in any form.

Sharing your Blog Post – Congratulations, you are only steps away from being a published writer! So we hope that you will share your story on The Stories Between blog with your contacts via social media and email. It is a proud moment to have the courage to not only write but to write about subjects that can be so revealing and personal.

Click here to Submit An Article

Or skip the blog and begin your own page for a loved one. Our Stories Between pages are all about celebrating, honoring and archiving the lives of our loved ones by creating a positive space to gather stories, photos and memories. It’s so easy to set up a page and send out via social media or email to crowdsource first hand memories and real stories. No condolences or platitudes that don’t mean much years down the road. Other social media sites have become increasingly negative in tone and overrun with personal opinions and subjects that are not conducive to the positive and dedicated tribute your loved ones deserve. Our Stories Between pages are only about celebrating, honoring and archiving! Create an individual or family page now – just hit the Start a Page tab to the right or click here to create a free Tribute Page.