N – Rolling Deadlines – Roxanne Gay Books Seeking Emerging Writers to Feature in THE AUDACITY Newsletter

THE AUDACITY, my newsletter, features an emerging writer twice a month. I define emerging writer as someone with fewer than three article/essay/short story publications and no published books or book contracts.

Please submit your best nonfiction and nonfiction only. I am interested in literary essays and memoir. Please submit only one essay at a time. Essays should be between 1500 and 3000 words. We may take up to eight weeks to respond but we will respond to all submissions.

All essays are paid a flat fee of $2,000.

Submissions will only be accepted at https://gay.submittable.com/.

I am interested in thoughtful essays, beautiful, intelligent writing, deep explorations, timelessness, and challenging conventional thinking without being cheap and lazy. I am interested in provocative work but we are not interested in senseless provocation. You don’t have to cannibalize yourself to tell a compelling story. The essays in Unruly Bodies or that I have preciously published in The Audacity might give you a sense of what I like but I am always open to being surprised. I am not looking to publish anew what I’ve already published.

Again, I am only interested in nonfiction, which is to say no poetry, fiction, or anything else that is not nonfiction. I cannot stress this enough. I am only interested in nonfiction for the Emerging Writer Series.

There are few guidelines for the kind of essays I am looking for.  I want nuanced, thoughtful work where the essayist looks both inward and outward. I am particularly interested in well-researched, voice-driven writing. Personal essays and cultural criticism are warmly welcomed.

Submissions should be between 1500 and 3000 words. Writers are paid a flat rate of $2,000.

Submissions are only open to emerging writers. You can only have three publications or fewer and no books or book contracts.

PLEASE SUBMIT ONLY ONE ESSAY AT A TIME.