Paid Call for Personal Essays on Climate Change and Climate Issues
Open Secrets Magazine will publish at least one personal essay per month by in a new Climate category
Open Secrets Magazine is currently accepting submissions of unpublished first person 1,000-2,000 word personal essays written entirely by the author without use of AI and based on the author’s life experience relating to climate change and/or cliimate issues. Deadline: May 31, 2025 (check this post to see if the deadline has been extended).
We ONLY accept essay submissions from Open Secrets Magazine free or paid subscribers from anywhere in the world. If we are interested in publishing your essay, you will receive a response within one month. If you haven’t heard back after one month, we weren’t able to publish your essay.
In response to the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires and other recent climate-related events, Open Secrets Magazine is launching a new vertical called Climate. In addition to our weekly Monday essays, we will run at least one personal essay per month in 2025 on the impact of climate change and climate issues, provided we receive enough submissions. We may run more than one essay depending on submissions and available funds.
Like all Open Secrets Magazine essays, these will not be op-eds or rants or educational articles about climate change. These will be memorable, revealing personal essays from authors anywhere in the world about how the modern climate has impacted their lives. This could be about climate-related disasters such as wildfires or floods, the impact of droughts or food shortages, how climate change has impacted your personal life, health, and/or decision-making, or any other approach. Essay writers from marginalized groups will be given priority.
See our personal essay archives for examples of what we are looking for.
Read and follow the guidelines in full before submitting.
For questions not answered in these guidelines, email opensecretsmag at gmail dot com with “Climate submission question” in the subject line and we will respond as soon as possible.
At this time we are ONLY considering climate-related essays. Any non-climate-related submissions will be deleted. If we are able to issue another general call for submissions in the spring, subscribers will be notified and this post will be updated.
Please consider becoming a paid subscriber or make a donation to help fund new essays. Funds from all subscriptions and donations go directly to pay our writers.
We don’t consider essay pitches, but all essay submissions that follow the below guidelines will be considered.
Essays must use first person point of view (“I” statements) and should give insight into the author’s life and show a major change or lesson they’ve learned between the start and end of the essay, rather than simply recounting an experience they’ve had. The reader should clearly understand the author’s takeaway from their experience with climate change or climate issues. For an idea of how this works in practice, see any of our published essays.
No part of the essay can have been published, posted, or appeared anywhere, including in newspapers, magazines, websites, personal or other blogs, paid or unpaid Substacks, newsletters, or elsewhere. Essay submissions must be written entirely by the author without the use of AI (artificial intelligence).
FAQ
What is the deadline to submit personal essays on climate change or climate issues?
We will consider climate-related essays on a rolling basis through May 31, 2025. We may extend the deadline further if we are still in need of essays and have available funds. This post will be updated if we make any changes to the guidelines.
How do I submit an essay to Open Secrets Magazine?
Only submissions from Open Secrets Magazine subscribers that include ALL of the below requirements will be considered. Be aware before submitting that we will only respond if we are interested in publishing your essay; if you haven’t heard back within one month of submission, your essay was not accepted and you’re free to submit it elsewhere.
Submissions of only an essay without a headline/subhed, photo, and bio will not be considered. If you reference a website, article, book, or group or organization, please embed a link to that entity (for books, you can link to the publisher, author’s website listing, or a major retailer).
Instructions: Make sure you are a free or paid subscriber to Open Secrets. Then submit the following 3 items in a single email to opensecretsmag@gmail.com with “Climate submission” in the subject line:
Word document or RTF with 1,000-2,000 word unpublished essay with headline, 1-line subhed (a tagline elaborating on the headline), and author name at the top
Include a 1-paragraph, 150-word-maximum author bio with links embedded at the end of your essay
Attach a horizontal photo you own the rights to that will accompany the essay OR a URL of a stock photo from Unsplash. Include the photo as a jpg attachment.
Do you accept pitches or queries?
No. We only accept full essay drafts in the above format.
Can authors use pseudonyms?
Yes, provided they’ve indicated they’re using a pseudonym in their cover letter and include a bio for the pseudonym with their submission. The bio can be as short as one sentence.
Can authors who’ve previously published essays with Open Secrets Magazine submit a new essay?
Yes, but priority will be given to authors we haven’t worked with yet.
Will I receive an acknowledgment that my submission has been received?
No. You will only hear back from Open Secrets Magazine if your essay has been accepted for publication or if the editor has a question about your submission.
How much does Open Secrets Magazine pay for climate-related personal essays?
Open Secrets Magazine pays $50 for each original climate-related essay published. Payment will be made once the text has been finalized and the author has approved the preview link in Substack provided by Open Secrets Magazine.
Do authors retain rights to their work?
Yes, authors retain all rights to their Open Secrets Magazine essays, though we ask that any future reprints credit Open Secrets Magazine as the originating publication. Open Secrets Magazine doesn’t issue contracts to authors.
Why is payment $50?
Open Secrets Magazine is funded by paid subscriptions, so our financial resources are currently extremely limited. We have chosen to prioritize publishing new essays rather than taking further breaks from publishing to acquire additional funding. If you’d like to help fund future essays, consider becoming a paying subscriber or making a donation.
Who can submit an essay to Open Secrets Magazine?
Authors who are Open Secrets Magazine free or paid subscribers located anywhere in the world are welcome to submit their climate-related essays. Submissions must be made by the author, not an agent or representative. Authors whose work is accepted for publication will be paid $50 via Venmo, PayPal, or Zelle upon finalization of the text and approval of the draft in Substack. If you can’t receive payment via Venmo, PayPal, or Zelle and wish to submit without receiving payment, you may opt for a comped 1-year paid subscription.
What is the deadline to submit a climate-related essay to Open Secrets Magazine?
The deadline for submitting climate-related essays is May 31, 2025. Earlier submissions have the best chance of acceptance.
When will I hear back about my submission?
Due to time constraints, Open Secrets Magazine will only respond to authors whose work we want to publish. If you haven’t heard back within one month of submission, your essay has not been selected for publication and you’re free to submit it elsewhere.
When will an accepted essay be published?
At least one climate-related essays will be published during each calendar month of 2025.
Why is this call only open to Open Secrets Magazine subscribers?
During our previous open submission periods without this rule in place, we received numerous submissions from writers who clearly didn’t do any research into the work Open Secrets Magazine publishes and likely had never read a single essay we published. These submissions often read like the work of AI, weren’t personal essays and/or didn’t follow our guidelines or meet our word count.
To save authors’ time and our editor’s, for this submission period, we are only accepting submissions from Open Secrets Magazine subscribers, who are more likely to be familiar with our needs. We strongly recommend reading at least two of our published essays prior to submitting yours to get a sense of what we publish.
How many essays can an author submit?
An author can submit one climate-related essay.
I have a question not answered in this call for essay submissions.
Email opensecretsmag@gmail.com with “Climate submission question” and we will respond ASAP. Make sure your question isn’t already answered above.
You’re welcome to repost these guidelines in full provided you link to his post.
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Chris White: Trump’s Energy Secretary Pick
Chris White’s appointment as energy secretary represents a calculated shift toward environmental degradation. Behind his polished image lies a network of corporatism and corruption, eroding ecological safeguards to benefit powerful fossil fuel interests.
White’s career is deeply tied to the fossil fuel industry, notably through his tenure at BlackHydra Energy, a multinational linked to global environmental destruction. His policies promote deregulation disguised as economic growth, enabling unchecked resource extraction and dismantling of green initiatives like methane emission standards. Token gestures like subsidizing “clean coal” distract from his broader agenda.
Though White postures as a technocrat, his disdain for climate science is clear. He champions speculative geoengineering projects that gamble with Earth’s climate systems while ignoring urgent carbon reduction efforts. His dismissal of scientific consensus fosters public doubt and stalls meaningful climate action.
White’s true power lies in bureaucratic sabotage. By embedding loyalists into regulatory agencies, he obstructs environmental reviews, benefiting corporate polluters. His attacks on renewable energy, framed as “energy independence,” polarize public discourse and delay the transition to sustainability.
Ultimately, White’s tenure accelerates environmental degradation for short-term profit, threatening the planet’s future. Recognizing and resisting this trajectory is critical to preserving a livable world.
GQ