We publish personal essays, short stories, poems, and black-and-white photography in print and online in our monthly magazine.
We’re looking for narrative writing and evocative photography from all over the world. Send us work that maps the human landscape, where the light catches on the faintest joy, where darkness sometimes threatens to overwhelm, and where ✗ never marks the spot because the truth is never so simple.
First-time authors and award-winners alike find their place in The Sun. We are particularly interested in submissions from marginalized voices.
Our uncommonly supportive community of readers includes 60,000 print subscribers and thousands more website visitors. And The Sun is ad-free, so when we share your work, we don’t crowd it with distracting sales pitches.
Detailed submission guidelines, including our compensation rates, are available on our website.
Please note: We place a monthly cap on submissions in Essays, Fiction, and Poetry. If this category appears unavailable (or if you encounter a pop-up message), then our cap has been reached. Be sure to come back on the first of the month to send us your work.
Essays, Fiction, & Poetry
Writing that can turn heads, open hearts, and change minds.
We publish personal essays, short stories, and poems by established and emerging writers from all over the world. Click here for submission guidelines and payment rates.
Readers Write is a feature in The Sun where readers share their personal writing on a given topic — a unique fixture of the magazine since the section’s inception in 1978. Send us your true story on an upcoming topic, and if we publish it you’ll receive a complimentary one-year subscription.
Not sure what to write? See below for some prompts to spark an idea. Writing style isn’t as important as thoughtfulness and sincerity, and topics are intentionally broad to give room for expression and interpretation.
You can read a sample Readers Write section here. Upcoming Topics
Too Much
Due May 1
Are you a frequent sufferer of hangovers or stomachaches after overindulging? Do you overextend yourself in relationships or at work? Have you ever been told your personality is just too much? Maybe your house is stuffed with vintage typewriters you can’t stop collecting or piles of toys your in-laws give to your kids. Or maybe you couldn’t afford the typewriters, or a house, because they cost too much. We live in a society where many things can feel excessive—consumer culture, technology, the barrage of opinions and information—but one thing we can’t get enough of is your Readers Write submissions. Please send us your true stories by May 1.
Returning Due June 1
It’s not always easy to go back to something—or someone—you’ve left. At the same time, it’s not always hard, either. Have you come back to a place you never thought you’d see again? Sheepishly taken a gift you received to the customer service desk? Remarried a spouse you already divorced? Send us your true story on “Returning” by June 1, and we’ll get back to you.
We’re interested in black-and-white photographs. We’re not looking for photojournalism, just unique perspectives on the world around us — especially human interactions.
Please review our full submission guidelines and sample photographs before sending us your work.