The first section in The Sun Magazine I devour each month is "Readers Write." If I open the magazine at the mailbox, I don't always make it back inside the house right away. I stand on the porch and read (although this never happens when the Polar Vortex is in town).
What I like about "Readers Write" is that every single piece is by an ordinary human being writing straight from the heart about something that's important to him. Prisoners. Housewives. House husbands. Grannies. Teen-agers. The poor. The rich. What thrills is the humanness, the common thread, the way the pieces show we are more alike than we are different.
How does it work?
The magazine provides a broad topic, and readers can submit whatever the topic inspires. For example, "Late at Night" might motivate one person to write a memory about her dad coming home after the graveyard shift and how she felt safe only after she'd heard his shoes drop beside his bed. Or "Late at Night" might inspire somebody else to talk about reading under the covers with a flashlight. "Late at Night" might open the door for somebody else to write about hiding in the closet until her abusive husband falls asleep.
Anything goes as long as it's on topic. Also, The Sun says, "Writing style isn't as important as thoughtfulness and sincerity."
You don't even have to type your piece if you can't, but you do have to send it snail-mail to:
Readers Write
The Sun
107 N. Roberson St.
Chapel Hill, NC 27516
The Deadline for submissions on each topic is six months before publication.
Upcoming Topics are below, separated from the deadline and publication date by a slash:
Clothes /August 1/February 2015 (So, submit your "clothes" piece via snail-mail by August 1.)
First Love /September 1/ March 2015
Appetites /October 1/April 2015
Holding On/November 1/ May 2015
Doors /December 1 /June 2015
Leaving Home/January 1/July 2015
What have you got to lose?
More info at: http://thesunmagazine.org/about/submission_guidelines/readers_write
What I like about "Readers Write" is that every single piece is by an ordinary human being writing straight from the heart about something that's important to him. Prisoners. Housewives. House husbands. Grannies. Teen-agers. The poor. The rich. What thrills is the humanness, the common thread, the way the pieces show we are more alike than we are different.
How does it work?
The magazine provides a broad topic, and readers can submit whatever the topic inspires. For example, "Late at Night" might motivate one person to write a memory about her dad coming home after the graveyard shift and how she felt safe only after she'd heard his shoes drop beside his bed. Or "Late at Night" might inspire somebody else to talk about reading under the covers with a flashlight. "Late at Night" might open the door for somebody else to write about hiding in the closet until her abusive husband falls asleep.
Anything goes as long as it's on topic. Also, The Sun says, "Writing style isn't as important as thoughtfulness and sincerity."
You don't even have to type your piece if you can't, but you do have to send it snail-mail to:
Readers Write
The Sun
107 N. Roberson St.
Chapel Hill, NC 27516
The Deadline for submissions on each topic is six months before publication.
Upcoming Topics are below, separated from the deadline and publication date by a slash:
Clothes /August 1/February 2015 (So, submit your "clothes" piece via snail-mail by August 1.)
First Love /September 1/ March 2015
Appetites /October 1/April 2015
Holding On/November 1/ May 2015
Doors /December 1 /June 2015
Leaving Home/January 1/July 2015
What have you got to lose?
More info at: http://thesunmagazine.org/about/submission_guidelines/readers_write
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