Accidental Mentors Submission Guidelines
Accidental Mentors Submission Guidelines
Submit your Accidental Mentor stories for publication!
Mission of Accidental Mentors
Accidental Mentors is a publication that seeks to celebrate and recognize women who, through their everyday actions and lives, have inspired, encouraged, or taught valuable life lessons to others. These women are not necessarily famous or renowned, but their influence is profound.
Accidental Mentors aims to take readers on a journey of self-discovery, inspiring them to reflect on the women who have touched their lives and become their "Accidental Mentors." We encourage readers to express their gratitude by writing stories that highlight the valuable lessons they've learned from women in their lives.
We invite readers to share with the Accidental Mentors readership by submitting stories for publication to Accidental Mentors.
How to submit to Accidental Mentors
Submission Criteria
Subscriber status: Before submitting, authors must be a monthly, annual, or founding member paid subscriber to Accidental Mentors.
NOTE: A one month subscription is fine, i.e., one payment of $5 is fine.
If you’re not able to pay for a subscription at this time, please don’t let that stop you from submitting. Contact me at submissions@accidentalmentors.com to let me know you’d like to submit, and we’ll figure it out.
Word Limit: We recommend that submissions be between 300-800 words— not to exceed 1,000 words.
Relevance: All submissions should adhere to the mission and purpose of Accidental Mentors, focusing on women who have had a significant, positive impact on the author's life. The story should demonstrate how the woman served as an "accidental mentor" and what valuable lessons were learned by the author.
Originality: We only accept original, unpublished content. Please do not submit work that has been previously published elsewhere.
Tone and Style: Submissions should be heartfelt, personal, and emotionally engaging. We encourage storytelling that resonates with readers and inspires them to reflect on their own "accidental mentors." Use a respectful and appreciative tone when discussing a woman who has influenced your life.
Privacy Protection: We encourage you to protect privacy by not sharing confidential information without first receiving permission from the subject.
Editing and Proofreading: Ensure that your submission is clear, concise, well-edited, and free from grammatical errors and typos.
Submitting photographs: We encourage you to submit one or two photographs of the subject. Before publication is approved, you will be asked to complete a “Photography Consent Form” that ensures that you have received the consent of the individuals in the photograph and, if you did not take the photograph, that you have the necessary rights and permissions to use the photographs submitted.
Submission Process
Format: Submissions should be in a standard document format (e.g., Microsoft Word, Google Docs) and submitted as an attachment or cloud link. Please do not send PDF or Pages documents.
Contact Information: Include your full name, email address, and a brief author bio (50-100 words) in your submission document.
Anonymity: We ask that you only use the first name of a living subject. If you wish to keep the identity of the accidental mentor confidential, please let us know in your submission email.
Submission Email: Send your submission to submissions@accidentalmentors.com. Use the subject line: "Submission for Accidental Mentors."
Response Time: We aim to respond to submissions within 60 days. If you haven't heard from us within this time frame, feel free to follow up by emailing submissions@accidentalmentors.com.
Multiple submissions: You’re welcome to submit more than one story to “Accidental Mentors,” but each story must be submitted separately. If we choose to publish more than one story from the same author, we will intersperse them with pieces from other authors.
Rights and Compensation
Rights: Authors retain the rights to their work. By submitting to Accidental Mentors, you grant us the non-exclusive right to publish your submission on the Accidental Mentors Substack platform (annettemarquis.com). After it is published on Accidental Mentors, authors are free to submit the same work to other publications or platforms, or even publish it independently. We ask, however, that you wait 90 days before reprinting elsewhere, that you credit Accidental Mentors with original publication, and link to the original if you are reprinting online.
Compensation: Currently, Accidental Mentors does not offer monetary compensation for submissions.
Publication Schedule
Accidental Mentors plans to regularly publish new stories. Accepted submissions will be scheduled for publication based on availability and editorial considerations.
Submissions will be accepted through at least December 31, 2023. We’ll make an announcement in December, based on the number of submissions we’ve received, about whether the submission deadline will be extended.
Thank you!
Thank you for considering Accidental Mentors as a platform for expressing your gratitude and sharing the valuable lessons learned from the remarkable women who have influenced your life. We look forward to receiving your submissions to celebrate these Accidental Mentors with our readers.