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Literary Mama
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Submission Guidelines: Creative Nonfiction

Creative Nonfiction Editors: Kate Haas & Shellie Kalinsky

Please submit your work using this form.

We seek essays of all kinds (lyrical, personal, memoir, braided, flash) that focus on motherhood. For examples of what we are looking for, please read our previously published Creative Nonfiction pieces.

What We Are Looking For:

  • A compelling, thoughtful narrative that includes scenes, dialogue, and/or developed characters.
  • A distinctive personal voice.
  • Attentiveness to language, rich details, and lyrical phrasing.
  • The use of literary elements such as vivid imagery, metaphor, simile, personification, symbols, and setting.
  • A fresh or startling perspective.
  • A reflective or emotional connection in which the writer expresses how the experience affected them. We seek essays that use the experience of motherhood as a jumping-off point to explore deeper issues of identity, relationships, family, politics, transformation, loss, and more. The piece should not only describe an experience but reflect on it.

What We Aren’t Looking For:

  • Work that fits the too-often-used formula of: “Motherhood is hard, but it’s all worth it in the end,” or “I am flawed as a mother, but my children have led me to realize that I am good enough.”
  • Pieces that read like columns.
  • Reported or journalistic essays.
  • Essays that read like check-out line magazine “How to” or advice pieces.


Submissions and Formatting:

  • We only consider previously unpublished work. Pieces that have appeared on personal blogs or websites are considered published material.
  • Upload your submission under “Content” on the submission form. Select “Creative Nonfiction” from the “Department” dropdown menu.
  • Submissions should be double-spaced; minimum of 500 words, maximum of 2,500 words; 12-point type; left justified; one space between paragraphs.
  • No queries. We consider only complete pieces.
  • If this is a simultaneous submission, please let us know.
  • If your piece is accepted elsewhere, please inform us as soon as possible.
  • Include a brief cover letter under “Author Comments” on the submission form. 
  • Please send only one submission at a time.
  • If you do not receive a response from us within three months, please feel free to reach out to the editors at lmnonfiction (at) literarymama (dot) com . 

Review our General Submission Guidelines and check out this blog post for more tips.

For other inquiries, contact us at: lmnonfiction (at) literarymama (dot) com. Note that submissions are only accepted via the form at the top of this page.