Open Secrets Magazine
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Website: https://opensecretsmagazine.com/
Guidelines: https://opensecretsmagazine.com/s/writing-guidelines
Editor: Rachel Kramer Bussel, Editor-in-Chief
Email address: mailto:opensecretsmag@gmail.com
About The Publication:
“Open Secrets Magazine is a home and community for memorable, revealing personal essays about all the subjects we’re taught to keep ‘secret.’” Welcomes new writers. Weekly. Pays upon acceptance of Substack draft. Publishes ms within 1-3 months of acceptance. No reprints. Responds within 2 months. Subscriptions are free. Guidelines online.
Current Needs:
“We need essays in all our categories, especially finances, climate, identity, and milestones (an upcoming category) and our weekly Object-ives flash nonfiction section about personal possessions. Especially looking for essays about unusual topics and life experiences that aren’t widely covered, but all essays that fit our guidelines will be considered.” Pays flat fee of $50/essays 1,000-2,500 words, and $25/essays 500-999 words. “Submit electronically to opensecretsmag@gmail.com with essay headline and subhed, author bio, and photo and subject line including intended category plus ‘Submission,’ such as ‘Mental Health Submission,’ ‘Work Submission,’ ‘Identity Submission,’ etc.”
Pays flat fee of $50/essays 1,000-2,500 words, and $25/essays 500-999 words.
Photos/Art:
“Must include an original horizontal photo or link to an Unsplash.com horizontal photo.”
Hints:
“The most common mistakes are making grand conclusions that zoom outward rather than inward or offer advice in the style of service articles. We are only interested in personal essays that are focused on the author’s experience. We don’t need the author to come to a grand conclusion about their life or summarize their essay into a pithy point at the end. We want real, raw, deeply honest essays that will resonate with our readers by offering a peek inside the author’s life and mind. We also receive many submissions that don’t include a headline and subhed or don’t contain a photo. We also don’t allow any use of generative AI and will automatically reject any submissions that we suspect have used generative AI.”
Welcomes New Writers: Yes