Diem is looking for essays.

We’re starting a new project, which will include publishing essays from a diverse set of writers twice a month, starting in February 2023. We’re interested in personal essays, opinion pieces, and conversation starters on topics related to relationships, health, and money. Most of the work we publish is through a feminist lens, and you can check out an archive on the type of thing we’re looking for here.

More details….

What is Diem? Think of Diem as a reimagined Reddit or Quora, inspired by the way women already communicate. Over generations, social, political, intellectual, cultural, and economic information resources have defaulted to serve the “default male” population. As a result, women talk, having learned that the fastest way to obtain reliable, valuable information is through each other instead. Diem is building a social search engine to scale those candid conversations by embracing them instead. Our aim is to turn these conversations that happen “behind closed doors”—whether they’re about friendships, birth control, toxic masculinity, harassment, chronic pain, big career moves, enthralling books, easy recipes, and everything in between— into public and credible resources. We believe these secret conversations—whether in group chats, on Reddit, in a doctor’s office, or over drinks—are where the secrets to the universe lie. You can read more about our mission here.

What types of essays are we looking for? We’re currently looking for stories to publish in our newsletter, The Things We Don’t Talk About. You’ll reach an audience of over 50,000+, who are generally interested in topics having to do with gender, power, and technology. More specifically, we’re particularly interested in stories that cover health, finance, relationships, and culture within the context of those broader themes. Some examples of our most read essays:

1. Should I have kids…or not?
2. Are we dating the same guy?
3. WTF happens when you freeze your eggs?

The logistics:

• For consideration, all pitches should be submitted directly to our Editor Taylor Majewski at ([email protected]) with a subject along the lines of “PITCH FOR DIEM” in the following format:
  • An introduction: If you’re reaching out for the first time, please provide a short bio and links to some of your published clips. Pull up and tell us what you bring to the table!
  • A working headline: Give us a sense of the angle and tone that you have in mind for your story. Is it an interview with an expert? An explainer? A long-form essay? Tell us what you’re thinking.
  • A brief description and sources: Be specific about how the story will be framed, what questions you’re aiming to answer, and with who.
• Our rates for Diem stories start at $200 and the majority of commissioned stories hit the 700-word mark unless otherwise specified.
• To get an idea of what we’re looking for, please read through some of our past pieces here.