Narratively is a blog that aims to publish “Human Stories, Boldly Told.” They’re not focused on clickbait or attention grabbing writing. They aim to publish ordinary people with extraordinary stories.  To date, they’ve published over 2,000 writers, and are continually adding more stories to their website.

According to Lilly Dancyger, one of their editors, they pay $200 or more for personal essays.

She has penned a very helpful article about pitching personal essays to Narratively. According to the article:

“There’s a slew of publications out there that publish 800-word personal essays about every small interaction and realization in your day-to-day life; parenting anecdotes, romantic mishaps, chance encounters that all wrap up neatly with a hard-earned lesson at the end. Some of these are well-written and heartwarming. Please do not send me these.

I want the bigger, deeper stories. And by “bigger” I don’t necessarily just mean longer (though sometimes that too), I mean more ambitious. Intellectually ambitious, emotionally ambitious stories that come pouring out of your depths — not the pithy anecdotes you scrape off the top like a pudding skin. I want the stories you’ve been trying to figure out how to tell for your whole life. The complicated, messy, human stories that bring the reader deep into your life.”

There are quite a few good details about what they hope to publish, so the full article is well worth reading before submitting.

A few more details:

Most of the stories they publish are 2,000 to 3,000 words.

They want narratives that tell a complete story.

Be sure to read their guide to pitching here.

They accept submissions here.