Writers can’t help but write. Here’s why you should be writing for The Good Men Project.

Why spend money on classes, and mail off your soul for a crushing form-letter rejection, when there are other ways to develop yourself as a writer? The Good Men Project is always looking for excellent content: stories, essays, videos, and other ways of expressing oneself in a web magazine. That means we need you. Here’s what you get back.

1. It’s like a free creative nonfiction writing class. Those weekly themed calls for submissions? Consider them writing prompts.
2. Relationships with editors. Once you’ve written that response to the theme, or whatever it is you’ve been moved to write, you want to get feedback. That’s my job. And I love doing my job.
3. Polish. Some of the work I get is exactly perfect, the way it’s submitted. I don’t have to do anything to make it a better story. But that doesn’t always happen. On the off chance this applies to your work, I’m the liaison between “good” and “great.” You want one of those.
4. Publicity.  That “SEO” thing you might have heard of? I do that, so you’re easy to find on Google. And it’s not just me here, ready to help you connect with readers. Once your work is published, a whole team of us leap into action, promoting your work through Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites.
5. Community. Most magazines don’t have comments sections where readers can let you know immediately how your story has affected them, and their comments land right in your email Inbox. The Good Men Project has a dedicated readership that is likely larger than that of your blog or your local literary ‘zine. Not bashing the little sites; it takes every kind to make the literary world. But if you would like a large, mainstream, progressive-leaning audience for your work, and your writing falls under our brand, then you want to be published on the GMP.
6. Purpose. We’re not just some niche or hobby site. Again, not to bash the hobbyists, but we are here for something bigger. Writing for the GMP makes your words part of a community and a movement of men with many voices and beliefs, and one common mission. We are answering the question, “What does it mean to be a good man in the twenty-first century?”
7. Be heard. The GMP gets about 100,000 visitors every week. In addition to being read by our extremely large audience, be heard by the small, friendly editorial staff. Writers for the site are invited to participate in conference calls with the publisher, Lisa Hickey, editor-in-chief Noah Brand, senior editors, interns, publicists, regular writers, and others who can help you. You can ask questions, make suggestions, and become known to us and your peers for your contributions.
8. Get an education. Lisa Hickey knows a lot about social media. A LOT. Writing once for us, even if it makes you sweat a pint of blood, is worth the education you would get from participating in these invitation-only conference calls. Some people find writing worthwhile anyway, but if you need some more incentive, there’s one that’s worth money. Lisa can teach you how to promote your work so you reach more readers: a skill every writer in new media needs. And we’re all in new media, now.

Got a story? Email your submissions, pitches, and queries to Justin Cascio, Senior Editor, The Good Men Project, at justin@goodmenproject.com.

See the most recent calls for submissions.

—Photo credit:  Drew Coffman/Flickr