Not a Rom-Com

Last month we announced that APW would be adopting monthly themes in 2013, starting with a whole month organized around the idea of beginnings (happening right now!). It’s always a little scary to announce that you’re trying something new, but I had a sneaking suspicion that the APW community would rise to the occasion and blow me away. And blow me away you did. Our submissions folder has been teeming with amazing stories this month, all different and compelling and awesome. Not only that, but we’re already beginning to receive submissions for next month! Which brings me to:

Not A Rom-Com

We are now accepting submissions for next month! February’s theme is Not A Rom-Com. We’ll be discussing all the ways that weddings, marriage, and—well—life are rarely like what you see in romantic comedies (and how sometimes that’s a damn good thing).

The staff is particularly excited about this theme, I think because it gives us an opportunity to talk about expectations and how it’s pretty seldom that they cross paths with reality (because the more we acknowledge that, the better I feel). As always, our themes are totally open to your interpretation. So with that in mind, we wanted to include a few handy tips for you guys on submitting for the new monthly themes:

  • First, our themes are meant to serve as a guideline for submissions, but they aren’t rigid. Do with them what you will! For example, if next month’s theme is Not A Rom-Com and you want to write something about how sometimes life actually is like a Rom-Com, that’s fine. Or if you want to write about your year cleaning up dog poop, that would probably fit, too. We’re always after diversity of experience here, so the most important thing is that you write something that is authentic to you, however that might fit into the theme. (And a loose fit is still a fit most of the time.)
  • Also, when you’re submitting for the monthly theme, we don’t want you to feel as though you have to frame your story around the theme itself (i.e. my marriage is not a romantic comedy, because…). Just write what you would normally write, and we’ll figure out if it’s a good fit for the month, or if maybe it would be a better fit for later in the year.
  • Lastly, if you have something you just have to get out there into the world, but it doesn’t fit with the theme for the next month, please send it in anyway. Our top priority is always strong content, regardless of the topic.

And that’s it! So if you have a story to share for Not A Rom-Com month, send it on in! And for those of you who asked about timing of submissions in the comments of last month’s post, we do accept submissions for the monthly theme throughout the preceding month, and even into the themed month itself. So it’s never too late to send something in that might be a good fit. That said, earlier submissions get scheduled into our calendar first, so if you’re really itching to write about a topic, sending it in before the end of the month is always your best bet.

Cheers and happy writing!

–Maddie

 Photo by: Kelly Benvenuto Photography

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