Thank you for your interest in writing for AFineParent.Com. Our editorial queue is currently full and we are not accepting new articles. We anticipate that we will open the submission window again in May 2022.
A Fine Parent is an online community for parents who believe that Great Parents are Made, Not Born.
Each week on the blog I publish one in-depth article.
Initially, I wrote all the articles myself. After sharing a few readers stories and guest posts however, I realized just how much we can all benefit from shared wisdom and diverse voices.
Hence this call for you to write for us.
What We Look for In the Articles We Publish
There are THREE essential things we look for in every article we publish:
- A powerfully written personal anecdote that connects you with the reader, moves them and engages them in your article
- A unique list of lessons learnt from your experience that helps them walk away with new ideas, perpectives and excitement to try something new in their own lives
- A solid backing for your ideas in the form of references to your favorite parenting/psychology book and/or relevant research
- If your reference book(s) is on our recommended book list here, it’s a big plus! Please do mention this in your submission email.
Additionally, the article MUST
- be written in web-format (well-organized; skimmable; short paragraphs; lists and bullets)
- be original and not published anywhere else before
- include the mandatory “2-minute action plan” (contemplation/reflection questions) and the “long-term action plan” (specific action to take over the next week) sections at the bottom of the article. Please keep these short and to the point (please see any article here for example)
- be in the 1,500 – 3,000 words range. I prefer to stick to that range, but will make exceptions on a case-by-case basis.
Articles selected for publication will be paid $75 via Paypal.
If you’re not familiar with the blog, please spend some time reading a few of the articles on this page to get a feel for it first before submitting an article.
We had 5.9 million pageviews in 2020. Our reach continues to grow. Being published on AFineParent.Com means your article will touch the lives of a lot of parents… so, please send us your best work and follow the writer guidelines.
Terms and Agreement
By submitting the article you agree that it is an original article written by you and that it has not been published or submitted for consideration to publish elsewhere.
By submitting the article you agree not to resubmit the article to any other site until you hear back the publication decision from us.
By submitting the article you agree that if it is chosen for publication, you will not republish it on any other site (including your own) until 4 weeks after the publication date on AFineParent.Com.
By submitting the article you agree that if your article is published, I will retain the rights to republish or reuse the material in the future, of course with due credit to you.
How to Submit
Please send the FULL completed article as a Google Drive document to articles@afineparent.com. We do not review pitches.
The Topics We Are Looking For
At this time I am looking specifically for articles that fall in one of these categories:
- Basics of Positive Parenting
- “What to do when” type of posts for everyday parenting challenges
- “How to” type posts for things we parents want to teach our kids
If you are new to our site, here are some of the topics we would like articles on.
- How to make a child feel secure
- Deep dive into any specific technique from positive parenting, gentle parenting, hand-in-hand parenting, conscious discipline etc. with personal anecdotes to help internalize the concept
- How to help a child with impulse control
- How to teach your child stranger safety without making them afraid of all strangers
- Monitoring vs Mentoring – A critical look at raising kids in the digital age
- Psychology/neuroscience findings EVERY parent should know
(We have a couple of articles about this already, but this is a very popular topic with our community and there is always something new to learn! Please search our site and look at previously published articles to avoid overlaps though.) - How to create a family culture rooted in co-operation and teamwork
- How to create a family culture rooted in the Growth Mindset
- Or just “The Ultimate Guide for Creating a Great Family Culture” which looks at ways to incorporate the different aspects (like co-operation, growth mindset, resilience etc.)
- Playful Parenting — what it is, why it is important and how to be a playful parent even if you are not a naturally playful person
- Roughhousing — what it is, why it is important and how to try it in your family
- The Ultimate Guide to Family Meetings
- The Ultimate List of Family Ritual Ideas (a list of 5-10 rituals for common holidays and events – eg, Christmas, New Year’s, Valentine’s Day, Easter, Halloween, Birthdays, Start of School Year etc.)
- What to do when you feel like the crappiest parent on the block
- How to help a child who struggles with transitions (must include tips for kids in different age groups)
- How to Identify Your Triggers (And What to Do About Them!)
- What to Do When You Realize the Child You Have is the Opposite of The Child of Your Dreams
- 10 Preventive Parenting Practices Every Parent Can Benefit From
- Empathy – why it is the best tool in your parenting toolkit and how you can make the most of it (include situations where empathy doesn’t seem to work, or only makes a situation become worse; include references to Dr. Laura Markham’s book and the How to Talk books if possible)
- What to do if your child whines ALL THE TIME
- How to help kids who have negative attitudes (or how to adjust our thinking about it as parents)
- Why are family meals important
- A list of conversation starters as a stand alone article or part of the family meals article
- How can we show up for our kids on a daily basis- in the way they need us to
- Best tricks to stop sibling fights and encourage them to support each other
- How to avoid continuing the cycle- breaking free of the way we were parented
- The keys to raising a self-motivated child
- School stress & anxiety- how to help children handle it (especially in the post-pandemic world)
- Raising financially intelligent and responsible children
- Teaching advocacy- helping our children learn how to stand up for what they need
- Raising girls to stand up for each other
- Best parenting tips and tricks for raising a spirited, strong-will child without squashing their personality (we have several articles on this topic, but it is a popular one. If you go with this, please search our site and look at previously published articles to avoid overlaps. Thanks!)
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. What can I expect once I submit the article?
We do our best to reply to every submission that follows the guidelines within 1 week of receiving your email.
That said, we get a LOT of emails. If you’ve followed all the guidelines above, but still haven’t heard back from us after 1 week, please do send us a gentle nudge. We will try to get back to you asap.
2. What kind of articles are most likely to get accepted?
We’ve been doing this for a few months years now, and a pattern is beginning to emerge. The articles that resonate with our community (and hence the ones we end up accepting) are the ones where you personally relate to the topic you’ve chosen to write about and hence will be able to connect more authentically and genuinely with the readers.
For instance, if you are writing about how to teach kids to be compassionate, then either you’ve had to deal with your child acting unexpectedly mean, or your child has been a victim of some other child’s mean behavior. Consequently, the “lessons learned” / “what I’m trying to do” / “what is working for me now” parts of your article tend to be much more real and relatable.
Think of it… you are a parent too. Which one of these would you rather read?
- A preachy list of cliched tips
- OR, a real-life account of what another parent actually did in a very similar situation, their thought process, what they found while researching the topic, the obstacles they came up against and how they triumphed…
Keep it real, conversational, motivating and practical.
If we feel like we can connect to your words and can learn from you, chances are, we will not only publish you, but do everything we can to promote you!
3. Can I submit more than one article?
Not at this time. Please see #2 above. We’d rather that the focus be on quality than on quantity, and you send us that one article about the topic that most resonates with you.
4. My article was accepted. When will it be published?
Congratulations on your article being accepted! It will be published in the next ~3 months. You will receive an email with a link to your article once it goes live.
NOTE: Please do not submit the article elsewhere or publish it on your own site once it has been accepted for publication on AFineParent.Com and you have been paid for it. Some articles take longer than others to go live, but I assure you, once accepted we will publish your article and get it out to thousands of parents who can benefit from it! You are welcome to publish the articles on your site or elsewhere 4 weeks after the date of publication on AFineParent.Com.
5. I have an awesome article, but it looks like your editorial queue is full. Should I hold it until a spot opens up again?
If you have a good article, rather than hold it, here are a couple of great lists to find a new home for your article so you can reach the parents who can benefit from your article!
- 50+ Websites That Pay for Parenting Articles
- Submission Opportunities for Family/Parenting Articles (via beyondyourblog.com)
Good luck.
PS: If you’ve made it this far, I think we’ll get along just fine! We look forward to reading your article 🙂