Last week we learned the 8 Tips to Get Published. This week we’re talking places to publish your writing online! There are lots of sites out there that will list a hundred places to submit, however not all sites are created equal. It’s important you submit your work selectively and that the cost/benefit of doing so is something you’re comfortable with.
Important considerations:
1. Paid sites are not always your best bet: Paid sites always require original publications. This means that your writing cannot be published anywhere else, including your own blog. Some sites like Scary Mommy allow you to publish on your own blog after 4 months as long as you give them attribution, however many others never give you that option. By paying you they own the copyright. If it’s a piece that means something to you that you care enough to keep the rights to, do not give it away for a quick buck.
2. Unpaid sites are more flexible: Though some unpaid sites still require original publications they don’t own the copyright so typically they have a much shorter waiting period before you can submit to another publication or publish on your own blog. Usually this is around two weeks after it is published on their site. The benefit here is you still gain the exposure from being published on a larger site, but you can continue to publish and submit the same piece as long as it’s in accordance with the guidelines. Which brings us to…
3. Read the submission guidelines carefully: If the publication requires an original work and you submit something that you’ve already posted on your blog you could be in hot water and damage your relationship with that publisher. If you sell your rights and then publish it elsewhere you could be opening yourself up for a lawsuit. Read the guidelines carefully and make sure you understand exactly what you’re signing up for!
4. Don’t submit your post to multiples sites at once!: The quickest way to shoot yourself in the foot and ruin your blogging rep is to shop your post around to multiple sites at the same time. Then when several of them accept your submission, you will have to choose one and burn your bridges with the rest. Not cool. I know several publishers that will not even consider working with you in the future once that bridge goes up in flames.
And now for where to submit! These are divided into general categories. This is not meant to be an exhaustive list, however these are the publications that I’ve either personally had the most success with or that I would consider submitting to myself. Do your research and make sure you’re not just giving away content without a clear benefit to you.
12 Places to Submit Your Blog Content for Publication
Publish your writing: Parenting
1. The Good Mother Project: This one might be unfamiliar to you, however it is one of my favorite submission sites out there. Run by two Canadian girls from Vancouver, this is a great place to start if you’re just getting into the submission game. They have monthly themes or you can submit your own piece as well. The ladies are really great about offering feedback as well!
Best for: heartfelt stories, postpartum depression, raw honesty
2. Mom Babble:This is a fun site that I’ve had good success with in the past. They only accept original posts but it’s a great place to gain some exposure and get your name in the bigger blog game if you’re new.
Best for: personal stories or clean parenting humor
Submit to: http://mombabble.com/about/submissions/
3. Blunt Moms: These ladies are hilarious and their site is pretty awesome. If you’ve got a sarcastic edge or a raw, honest post, this might be the one for you. They take original submissions through their website and only a few syndicated posts through the BLUNTmoms syndication group on facebook. They will also provide rather BLUNT feedback. Don’t be offended. Listen.
Best for: sarcastic humor, blunt observations, raw and honest confessions or stories
4. Scary Mommy:Definitely my go-to. Not only do they pay $100US for original submissions but they also accept republications. The exposure you can get with Scary Mommy is HUGE. I’ve had two viral articles to date and both have driven traffic back to my site, increased my social media following and increased my newsletter sign ups.
Best for: sarcastic humor, funny parenting moments, lists
5. Mamalode: This is another paying site. They will pay you according to the pageviews of your article after 30 days. They have a new theme every month as well
Best for: personal stories, parenting observations, clean humor
Submit to: https://mamalode.submittable.com/submit
Publish your writing: Lifestyle
1. Club Mid: An offshoot of Scary Mommy with more of a lifestyle flair. I’ve read some pretty kick butt articles on here and usually Club Mid and Scary Mommy cross promote if they really like your article. It’s like two for the price of one!
Best for: stories about growing up or raising kids, general humor, lists
Submit to: https://themid.submittable.com/submit
2. You Share Project:This is one of the most versatile platforms. They accept articles, short stories, and video or photo essays. Just create an account and log in to submit! You can also vote up other articles.
Best for: multimedia submissions, photos, almost anything goes!
3. Babble: Babble features articles about several topics: parenting, lifestyle, entertainment, etc. It’s also owned by Disney so you can’t go wrong there! They’ve got a little bit of everything on this site. If you don’t fall into a specific niche this one might be right up your alley!
Best for: parenting, general humor, lists
Submit to: http://www.babble.com/write-for-babble/
Publish your writing: Crafts/Activities
1. Family Corner:A family-friendly site that features articles on crafting with kids, working parents, kids recipes, and more. If you’re a crafty blogger this is a great place to begin! They’ve got some really interesting content that always keeps me coming back for more!
Best for: crafts, kid recipes, parenting
Submit to: http://www.familycorner.com/submissions
2. PBS Parents: I just recently came across this page and am I ever glad I did! Every parent loves PBS and this website has the potential for great exposure to a large audience! This one would look great on any crafty blogger’s resume!
Best for: kid crafts, DIY, tutorials
3. The Crafty Crow:They call themselves the “children’s craft collective” and will take any crafty submissions you can do with your children from kidlets to teenagers.
Best for: kid crafts, DIY, tutorials
4. Fun Family Crafts:This site primarily accepts tutorials. If you have a simple craft to teach others, this is a good bet!
Best for: tutorials of crafts you can do with your family
Submit to: http://funfamilycrafts.com/submit-a-craft/
Hope this helps! Let me know your thoughts! And if you found this helpful please share it with the world! (Or at least Facebook or Pinterest) J
The Good Enuf Mommy
I am a hair and beauty blogger and need to find some places to submit my posts.
Jay of http://www.relaxedthairapy.com
Thank you so much for all of this information!! We have been on family fun crafts a few times, but hadn't heard of the others. Off to check them out now!
What a helpful series of articles! Thank you. When I first started blogging, I searched like a mad woman for articles like this. I'm bookmarking this one as a reference. I appreciate your research.
Thanks for the list! This is very helpful!
Great resource to have! I'll be checking out the Parenting sites!
Such a wonderful list! And I made mistake #4…whoops!
Very good tips. Thanks for sharing.
Great post!! Thanks I added it to my favourites bar so I can check it out on the weekend when I have more time!!! 😀 Thanks again!!!1
Great advice, theres an excelente variety for different tipes of writers, i find it very useful
oh goodness this is such great information to know! I've been thinking about it, but it's nice to see it all nicely laid out! Thank you so much!
Awesome list here.. I need to start submitting articles!
This is a great list! Thanks for doing this research. Very helpful to new writers.
This is really helpful! Thanks!
Thanks so much for this!! I've bookmarked it for use later 🙂 I really would like to get my stuff published in other places just to have a bit more diversity so this is great. Thanks so much for sharing!
Thanks for sharing. This is a nice list. I have only ever submitted to Scary mommy before, so I'll have to try and branch out to other sites. I am also tempted to try just writing a piece that I haven't posted on my site.
Great tips and thanks for sharing the list. I was looking for something like this.
Whoa! I'm bookmarking this for later! Thank you SO much for sharing it!
What a well thought out, content rich list. LOVE this and thank you for writing it <3
Great list!!!! Only place on that list I've ever submitted is Scary Mommy & it was an original comedy list type piece and Ughhh… Based on the POSITIVE, wayyyy to positive to not be published feedback I got I'm convinced if I had published it on my blog first, then submitted and wasn't being greedy at the time for $$$$ I would of been published since it was my first time talking to them -_- I will have to try some of these others! My 2016 goal is to be published outside my blog regardless of $$$ this year lol….
great information! I am somewhat new to this blogging life and any useful info, like publishing, is helpful.
I love all your blogging tips… Thanks for your helpful and great sharing! 🙂 Bookmarking this!
Interesting information! I submitted to She Knows a while back, and they published it-but they totally altered it and ruined my one of a kind image I put in it and everything-without even consulting me first which really made me angry.
But what really got me was that I put in ALL of that effort to publish there… I mean hours of putting that post together, and it was totally unpaid and they didn't even link to my blog or social media at all. What is the point of that?
These are great tips, thanks for sharing.
Great tips if I ever try something like this.
Thank you for this fantastic list! I Pinned it for when I need it! You rock!
Very helpful tips! Pinned!
This post comes at the perfect time! I was just wondering about what sites I could submit to the other day!
Thanks for this round up, so handy to have them all in one place!
Do it again! You are a great writer! You can definitely make it happen!
Thank you so much!
Good luck! I hope it helps!
That's really unfortunate! I haven't heard of that site before! I always vet each site before I publish. If they don't link back, you're right…there is no point really! What a bummer!
What a sweet thing to say. Thanks so much!
Great list! I bookmarked this!
Thank you for including lifestyle places to submit too! I hadn't heard of all of them, and I needed some extra motivation!
This post is super super super freaking helpful! Its nice to have all site information condensed in one place. Is Mamalode a division of New York Times?
Hi there! I believe you're thinking of The Motherlode. It's a different publication but another great pick!
By the way I love your blog Jennifer!
Thank you so much for this! I had no idea so many sites were available to submit to.
Thanks for this post!
Some updates you might want to make:
Scary Mommy no longer pays for submissions (as of July 22nd, 2016).
Babble no longer accepts submissions unless you’re already a contributor or you currently work for Disney: https://help.disney.com/articles/en_US/FAQ/How-do-I-write-for-Babble?section=Disney-Sites
Another word of advice for new writers: check with publications for what they require in terms of publishing rights. Most publications purchase first publishing rights, meaning that you can re-sell/re-publish elsewhere after the original publication has published it.
If you’re not getting paid for what you’re putting out there,don’t give away the rights to your work (e.g. stay away from sites that do not pay you and require full publishing rights). Personally I also stay away from paid sites that require full publishing rights, too.
Keep up the great work!
Thanks for the updates! I haven’t updated this post in awhile so it is certainly out of date 🙂