Why subscribe to Open Secrets Magazine?
Open Secrets Magazine is a lit mag and community for sharing personal stories about all the subjects we're taught to keep “secret.” Open Secrets Magazine launched in April 2023 and publishes 4-5 original personal essays per week (occasionally more) and hosts online and in-person literary events.
Open Secrets Magazine is edited by essayist, journalist, writing instructor, and editor Rachel Kramer Bussel. We also publish columns The ADHD Diaries by Rachel Kramer Bussel, Radical Pleasure by Athena Dixon, and Truth Hurts by John DeVore.
We are currently open to full-length essay submissions and flash personal essays in categories Hobbies and Object-ives (on personal possessions). We welcome submissions from new writers as well as established authors.
We host a memoir and essay book club every other month featuring books by our contributors and speakers. See our book club archives for excerpts and author interviews.
Our March 2026 Open Secrets Book Club pick is the memoir sorry i keep crying during sex by Jesse James Rose; watch our author interview March 24 at 7 p.m. ET in the Substack app. Read an excerpt here.
Upcoming Open Secrets Magazine virtual and in-person events:
March 20, 8 p.m. ET, Q&A with upcoming contributor Courtney Kocak on her memoir Girl Gone Wild; link to watch or visit Open Secrets in Substack app
March 24, 7 p.m. ET, Open Secrets Book Club video Q&A interview on sorry i keep crying during sex by Jesse James Rose; link to watch or visit Open Secrets in Substack app; read a book excerpt here
May 2, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. ET (followed by ticketed after party 6-8 p.m.), Open Secrets Live personal storytelling summit, in person, Symphony Space’s Leonard Nimoy Thalia, NYC, ticketed event with keynote speakers comedian Somebody Somewhere costars Jeff Hiller, Emmy Award winner and author of memoir Actress of a Certain Age, and drag king Murray Hill, author of forthcoming memoir Showbiz!, and Youngmi Mayer, author of memoir I’m Laughing Because I’m Crying.
Plus 30+ memoir authors speaking on panels about relationships, family, identity, LGBTQIA life, mental health, and physical health, editors panel with editors from Abrams Books, Atria/One Signal (Simon & Schuster imprint), Catapult, Tiny Reparations Books (Dutton imprint), The New York Times’ Modern Love and Tiny Love Stories columns, and Slate, plus keynote speakers. Tickets are on sale now.
May 2026, date TBA, Open Secrets Book Club video Q&A interview on Better: A Memoir About Wanting to Die by Arianna Rebolini, link TK
May 6, 7 p.m. ET, Q&A with upcoming contributor Jenny Bartoy on the complexities of family estrangement and her anthology No Contact; link to watch or visit Open Secrets in Substack app
July 2026, date TBA, Open Secrets Book Club video Q&A interview on Adulting for Amateurs: Misadventures of a Geriatric Millennial by Jess H. Gutierrez, link TK
September 2026, date TBA, Open Secrets Book Club video Q&A interview on Portrait of a Mestiza: A Memoir in Essays by Marianna Marlowe, link TK
November 2026, date TBA, Open Secrets Book Club video Q&A interview on War Boys: A Father and Son Memoir by Jason Prokowiew, link TK
We nominate for the Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, The Best American Essays, The Best American Food and Travel Writing, The Best American Science and Nature Writing, and the ASJA (American Society of Journalists and Authors) First-Person Essay Award.
Subscribe for free to get full access to every essay as it’s published and the website archives. Proceeds from paid subscriptions and donations go directly to paying our authors. You can also support us and our contributors by buying their books via our Bookshop affiliate storefront; shopping there also supports independent bookstores.
Want to reach Open Secrets Magazine’s editors? Email opensecretsmag at gmail.com
Why Open Secrets Magazine?
Open Secrets Magazine was founded by writer, editor, and writing instructor Rachel Kramer Bussel. After the closure of several prominent publications for essays in 2023, Rachel wanted to provide a home for the kinds of powerful essays she enjoys reading, in which writers share powerful truths about their lives and foster connections with readers.
We’ve since published over 100 personal essays and columns, expanded with new categories, including flash personal essays in Hobbies and Object-ives.
From Editor Rachel Kramer Bussel: I have been a fan of the personal essay format for decades, as both a reader and a writer. I read as many essays as I can find and am always eager for more that make me feel like I’ve gotten a peek into the author’s inner life in ways that show me new ways to live my own life and will stay with me forever.
After the demise of several prominent publications for personal essays in 2023, I wanted to provide another online outlet for essay authors, both established and newcomers to the genre, to share their work with an appreciative audience.
How can I access Open Secrets Magazine essays?
All Open Secrets Magazine essays are free to read and are emailed to free and paid subscribers. Paid subscribers also have access to our craft writing essays. Paid subscriptions and donations go directly toward paying our writers.
How can I submit a personal essay to Open Secrets Magazine?
You first must be a subscriber to Open Secrets Magazine (free or paid), unless you’re submitting to our food insecurity call for submissions. Then follow our writing guidelines in full. Our guidelines change periodically to meet our editorial needs. You’ll have the best chance of breaking in to Open Secrets Magazine with a flash personal essay of 500-999 words for our Object-ives section or upcoming Hobbies section, since those run more frequently than our other categories, which rotate.
Open Secrets Magazine Staff
Editor-in-Chief: Rachel Kramer Bussel
Managing Editor: Farah Faye
Social Media Manager: Sara Knight Bidlack
What is Open Secrets Magazine’s comment policy?
Comments related to the text of Open Secrets Magazine essays are welcome. Comments may be removed at the discretion of Open Secrets Magazine. Personal attacks and tirades, hate speech, spam, and other non-constructive comments will be deleted.
Does Open Secrets Magazine host in-person or online events?
We host occasional in-person events and at least one video Q&A per month. We’ll have a table March 5-7, 2026 at writing conference AWP in Baltimore, with an offsite cocktail party held Friday, March 6 (email us at opensecretsmag@gmail.com for details) and the next Open Secrets Live personal storytelling summit to be held May 2, 2026 at Symphony Space’s Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theatre on the Upper West Side in New York City.
We have a book club that meets every other month online and conduct occasional Substack Live Q&As with our contributors.
How can I contact Open Secrets Magazine?
To contact Open Secrets Magazine and Editor-in-Chief Rachel Kramer Bussel, email opensecretsmag@gmail.com
Selected Press
Interview on Freelance Writing Direct podcast hosted by Estelle Erasmus on how to craft cathartic personal essays
The Queer Love Podcast interview
Wisdom & Words The Writer’s Corner interview
The Game of Nerds writeup of Open Secrets Live 2025 editors panel
Sari Botton on Open Secrets Live 2025
Broadwayworld on Open Secrets Live 2026
Collected Open Secrets Live testimonials
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