Open Secrets is a magazine and community for essays on subjects we're taught to keep "secret.” Edited by @raquelita. opensecretsmag@gmail.com

Joined March 2023
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PLEASE SHARE: Personal essays on current food insecurity, including loss of SNAP benefits, wanted. Pays $200/essay. Authors retain all rights. Rolling deadline until all 5 essays are commissioned. See our writing guidelines for details: opensecretsmagazine.com/p/fo… #snapbenefits
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For Gun Appreciation Day, we put our own spin on things with this essay, “The Gun That Exploded My Marriage,” by Rebecca Agiewixh, which we encourage all spouses of gun owners to check out. Read it at opensecretsmagazine.com/p/ma…
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Open Secrets Magazine is open to flash personal essays of 500-999 words for our Hobbies & Object-ives (personal possessions) categories. Rolling deadline. Pays $25. See our writing guidelines section at opensecretsmagazine.com/p/li…
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Open Secrets Magazine retweeted
Ever wear a rock band pin back in middle school (a.k.a. junior high)? You might enjoy my new essay at Open Secrets Magazine—especially if you’re a #Genesis fan! #PeterGabriel #PhilCollins opensecretsmagazine.com/p/ge…
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What happens when you make all the right career moves, become a homeowner, then lose your job and can’t find another one? Tajah McQueen looks at “The High Cost of Being Poor” in the second personal essay in our food insecurity series at Open Secrets: opensecretsmagazine.com/p/fo…
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Vote for Open Secrets Magazine and all your favorite lit mags!
17 Nov 2025
It’s back 😏 Nominate Your Favorite Lit Mags of 2025 through this form ⬇️ chillsubs.com/best-lit-mag-a… Let’s love on some editors, folks. They freakin’ deserve it!
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For National Family Caregivers Month, Oliviah Rix-Taylor wrote an essay titled “I Really Wanted My Grandmother to Die.” She shares the emotional toll Alzheimer’s took on her family. We think this essay will be relatable to dementia caregivers. opensecretsmagazine.com/p/al…
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Thank you to Sunayna Pal for such a heartfelt look at how her father’s devotion to yoga got in the way of their relationship for a long time, and how she eventually embraced the practice. Read it at opensecretsmagazine.com/p/ho…
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Shoutout to all the lit mags on here sharing their latest writing and news and making us feel like maybe it makes sense to start posting here again!
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Open Secrets Magazine retweeted
"Give yourself the freedom to cut and paste and glue and doodle, and see where your stories take you." -- Nicole Breit in Getting to the Truth, our craft anthology. Details: booksbyhippocampus.com/store…
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What happens when you make all the right career moves, become a homeowner, and then lose your job and can’t find another one despite using all your skills and effort? Tajah McQueen looks at “The High Cost of Being Poor” in our food insecurity essay series: opensecretsmagazine.com/p/fo…
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Memoir fans! Queer folks! People who love honest storytelling! Join us at 8:30 pm ET TONIGHT, November 17, for a Substack Live Q&A with Edgar Gomez, author of @CrownPublishing memoir in essays Alligator Tears, interviewed by our EIC @raquelita. opensecretsmagazine.com/p/me…
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Open Secrets Magazine retweeted
How do you eat when you have MCAS, diabetes, are on a low histamine diet, your safest foods are fresh fruits and vegetables, and you use SMAP benefits and food pantries? Find out from Lara McKusky in our food insecurity essay series: opensecretsmagazine.com/p/th…
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Open Secrets Magazine retweeted
PLEASE SHARE: Personal essays on current food insecurity, including loss of SNAP benefits, wanted. Pays $200/essay. Authors retain all rights. Rolling deadline until all 5 essays are commissioned. See our writing guidelines for details: opensecretsmagazine.com/p/fo… #snapbenefits
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What would you do if President Trump waved to you and you were an ardent opponent of his administration’s policies? Find out how writing can be a form of resistance Ann Mallen’s essay at opensecretsmagazine.com/p/su… in our new Milestones section.
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How do you eat when you have MCAS, diabetes, are on a low histamine diet, your safest foods are fresh fruits and vegetables, and you use SMAP benefits and food pantries? Find out from Lara McKusky in our food insecurity essay series: opensecretsmagazine.com/p/th…
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If you’re a writer currently experiencing food insecurity, see our writing guidelines for this series, which will be open until all slots are filled. Our other categories for full-length & flash essays are open through November 30 & are listed here too: opensecretsmagazine.com/p/li…
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Open Secrets Magazine retweeted
5 Nov 2025
“It was August 13, 2022. Early that Saturday morning, after an evening of drinking wine and watching movies, I awoke to use the bathroom.” Read Christina Berry’s essay, “The Stroke of a Pen,” in @opensecretsmag! #NativeAmericanHeritageMonth opensecretsmagazine.com/p/th…
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