Submit an Essay

We want the finest personal essays!

Of all the genres, the personal essay speaks to us the most. It has the ability to move us, inspire us, promote action, make us cringe, and make us cry - with the right words and the goal of being as honest as possible, the audience will relate to your words and understand you as a person.

We want essays that connect us to our readers.

If you would like to be considered for the journal, submit a personal essay over 1000 words to personal.essayist.2023@gmail.com with the subject line “Please consider my essay for publication!” Please follow these instructions to the letter because we anticipate there being a glut in the beginning, and I want to keep everything straight.

What We Are Looking For

We want personal essays between 1000 and 3000 words, original work not published anywhere else. We cannot stress the word “personal” enough! We want your stories and those that shape your life. Family, relationships, loss, the story of your illness, the death of a parent, raising children, traveling the world, or a day in the life. The topic is unimportant as long as you are honest and personal to the point of being cringeworthy. While we accept all creative nonfiction, we prefer essays that inspire and seek to connect people. Submit the work in a Word or a Google Document and our editors will take a look. You should know within a week if your submission has been accepted. After editing, we will inform you of the publication date.

New essays will be published every Friday to subscribers.

One day, we hope to start paying writers a fair wage, but until then, all writers who publish with The Personal Essayist get a free LIFETIME paid subscription as thanks.