I write a lot of reported personal essays, and it’s been a great way to share my story and draw attention to issues I care about with hopes of helping others.
It has also been a nice way to spread the word about my forthcoming memoir, “SLIP,” which is available for pre-order now and will be out in August.
Here’s my latest personal essay, published a few weeks ago in the Tampa Bay Times. It’s about how, as a mother in recovery from anorexia, I’m helping my children navigate body image.
It did not pay (back then), but it was fun to have something published in a Finnish publication.
If anyone else is interested in pitching them, Inktank is "Finland’s most internationally visited blog. On average, we’re read by five hundred thousand wonderful people every month. To keep them entertained, engaged and excited, we write about Finland, books, history, music, the Web, film, TV and pop culture. Highbrow, lowbrow and everything in between if it’s exciting we’ll feature it."
"Getting Naked with a Dragon" also won an International Solas Award in the Adventure Travel category in 2023.
Wow, I love this piece! So evocative and funny and interesting. I went to a sauna that did the birch branches thing and it was quite an experience. I love your line "A surreal sadist nightmare?"
Wow, thanks for sharing. I've ghostwritten books for a few people who have escaped cults, and it's a really challenging world to escape. Impressive that you had the courage to leave!
I'm sharing a link to an essay published online two years ago. It's written from my personal tragic experience with miscarriage. I wrote this about six years later, which proves that some life experiences are never to leave us.
Thanks for sharing, Amanda, and sorry for your loss. What a gorgeously written essay -- I'm sure other women who have gone through similar situations have found a lot of healing reading your story.
Very cool -- thanks for sharing! I have a few friends who did the NYC apartment hunting gauntlet and you absolutely captured it. It's insane how tough it is out there!
THANK YOU for this! I am trying to build a career as a freelance writer, but I don’t know where to start as my passions do not match my career expertise. I write a lot about grief and motherhood, both of which have a big following on my personal pages, but I couldn’t figure out how to build a career with that. This is just what I needed and I am so grateful.
I’m posting two of my favorite personal essays I’ve written, partly because one is very long and the other is very short - so I’d like to give you an out of reading the longer one if needed 😂. I’ve been reading your book and following every newsletter - thanks for the work you do.
Fun fact! My mom has RA and I have Sjogrens, so I immediately connected with you as a young person living with a difficult autoimmune diagnosis and navigating that life.
https://www.nikkispecht.com/blog/stay - a juxtaposition between my toddler son and my dying grandmother as she lay in hospice and he lays in bed for sleep.
Sorry to hear about your Sjogrens diagnosis (and your mother's RA) -- these autoimmune conditions are quite a maze to navigate!
I love how honestly you write about grief and loss. Those are tough topics to tackle, and it takes a lot of vulnerability to approach them on the page.
There are a lot of different ways to turn essays into a career, like writing on Substack, putting together an essay collection in the form of a book, or pitching personal essays to publications.
So excited to see where you take your writing journey next!
Thank you for sharing this, Amy!
I write a lot of reported personal essays, and it’s been a great way to share my story and draw attention to issues I care about with hopes of helping others.
It has also been a nice way to spread the word about my forthcoming memoir, “SLIP,” which is available for pre-order now and will be out in August.
Here’s my latest personal essay, published a few weeks ago in the Tampa Bay Times. It’s about how, as a mother in recovery from anorexia, I’m helping my children navigate body image.
https://www.tampabay.com/opinion/2025/02/13/im-recovery-anorexia-heres-how-im-helping-my-daughter-navigate-body-image/
Wow -- what a moving essay. Thanks for sharing, Mallary, and congrats on your upcoming memoir!
Thanks so much, Amy!
This goes back a few years, but I had a personal essay, "Getting Naked with a Dragon in Finland" published in Finland's Inktank @ https://inktank.fi/finnish-public-sauna-experience-kotiharjun-kallio-helsinki/
It did not pay (back then), but it was fun to have something published in a Finnish publication.
If anyone else is interested in pitching them, Inktank is "Finland’s most internationally visited blog. On average, we’re read by five hundred thousand wonderful people every month. To keep them entertained, engaged and excited, we write about Finland, books, history, music, the Web, film, TV and pop culture. Highbrow, lowbrow and everything in between if it’s exciting we’ll feature it."
"Getting Naked with a Dragon" also won an International Solas Award in the Adventure Travel category in 2023.
Wow, I love this piece! So evocative and funny and interesting. I went to a sauna that did the birch branches thing and it was quite an experience. I love your line "A surreal sadist nightmare?"
You're a great writer, Kristin!
Thanks Amy! I had fun writing this story ~ more fun perhaps than taking the actual sauna 🤔
Hi, I write many personal stories. Here is one that resonated with the people I sent it to. https://medium.com/@adobeblue18/i-was-in-a-cult-f41eb8bc4060
Wow, thanks for sharing. I've ghostwritten books for a few people who have escaped cults, and it's a really challenging world to escape. Impressive that you had the courage to leave!
Thank you. It was a long process. I stopped myself much more than the cult did. It is amazing how insidious their tech is.
Thank you for the inspiration, Amy!
I'm sharing a link to an essay published online two years ago. It's written from my personal tragic experience with miscarriage. I wrote this about six years later, which proves that some life experiences are never to leave us.
https://herviewfromhome.com/incompetent-cervix-without-a-baby-in-my-arms
The article is sprinkled with ads throughout (not a fan). So, please make sure you reach the end.
Everything is in my exact words, except the publisher added the "IC" term to the title for searchability, I guess. Also, not a fan.
Thanks for sharing, Amanda, and sorry for your loss. What a gorgeously written essay -- I'm sure other women who have gone through similar situations have found a lot of healing reading your story.
Thank you, Amy. And thanks for reading my story!
I just posted one this weekend! Added my first ever voiceover, too. https://jenessaconnorotherthings.substack.com/p/im-apartment-hunting-in-nyc-for-the
Very cool -- thanks for sharing! I have a few friends who did the NYC apartment hunting gauntlet and you absolutely captured it. It's insane how tough it is out there!
THANK YOU for this! I am trying to build a career as a freelance writer, but I don’t know where to start as my passions do not match my career expertise. I write a lot about grief and motherhood, both of which have a big following on my personal pages, but I couldn’t figure out how to build a career with that. This is just what I needed and I am so grateful.
I’m posting two of my favorite personal essays I’ve written, partly because one is very long and the other is very short - so I’d like to give you an out of reading the longer one if needed 😂. I’ve been reading your book and following every newsletter - thanks for the work you do.
Fun fact! My mom has RA and I have Sjogrens, so I immediately connected with you as a young person living with a difficult autoimmune diagnosis and navigating that life.
https://www.nikkispecht.com/blog/stay - a juxtaposition between my toddler son and my dying grandmother as she lay in hospice and he lays in bed for sleep.
https://www.nikkispecht.com/blog/it-feels-like-this-since-she-died - a deep dive into living with the grief of my sister’s death, written a few years ago but still one of my personal favs.
Thank you, Amy! Your work is priceless. 💛
Hey Nikki,
Sorry to hear about your Sjogrens diagnosis (and your mother's RA) -- these autoimmune conditions are quite a maze to navigate!
I love how honestly you write about grief and loss. Those are tough topics to tackle, and it takes a lot of vulnerability to approach them on the page.
There are a lot of different ways to turn essays into a career, like writing on Substack, putting together an essay collection in the form of a book, or pitching personal essays to publications.
So excited to see where you take your writing journey next!