A Call for Submissions

Digital art collage by Stella Kalaw

A Considerable Age welcomes your stories!

We are dedicated to sharing our stories, be they memoir pieces or personal essays between 750-1,000 words that capture the unique wisdom, compassion and broader perspective that comes with life experience. We are CONSIDERABLE in so many ways.

Think of your story as a conversation with a friend where you share a meaningful moment, person or realization from your life. Unlike an opinion piece, chronological story ("this happened, then that happened") or a how-to story, the stories on A Considerable Age seek to weave together some of your experiences, thoughts, humour, insights and/or emotions.

Some elements that make memoir and personal essays compelling:

• Write from your unique "I" perspective

• Choose a specific moment or theme rather than your whole life story

• Create emotional or shared connections that resonate with readers

• Paint vivid scenes using sensory details and meaningful dialogue

Submission Guidelines:

-750-1000 words approximately (1200 beautiful words are worth their weight in gold as are 600 words)

- Submit completed essays (no pitches) as Word documents

- Previously published work is welcome—just let us know where it appeared and confirm you have the rights

- Each published essay will feature a custom digital art collage by Stella Kalaw (we generally can't use author photos)

- We'll respond within two weeks if we're interested in publishing your work

- If you don't hear back, please feel free to follow up—we're only human and sometimes need a gentle reminder!

We welcome both experienced writers and first-time authors who have meaningful stories to share. If we select your essay, we'll work with you on any needed edits and invite you to create an author bio.

While you'll retain the rights to your work, we appreciate a mention if you republish elsewhere. If the essay was originally published on your Substack or elsewhere, we’ll mention that.

We'd love for you to read through some of our previously published essays to get a feel for what resonates with our readers. We're open to almost any topic as long as it offers the reflection that comes with time.

To submit:

aconsiderableage@substack.com

put your title in the subject line.

Questions? We're here to help guide you through the process.

Here are two examples of personal essays (more on A Considerable Age here):