editorial standards
A note from the editor
This publication exists because I needed it and couldn't find it. A room for the ones who live between worlds. Who are building for something larger than themselves. Who have been told their whole lives that the political and the spiritual don't belong together — and have refused to believe it.
If your work lives in that space — this is where it belongs.
Wide awake. Now what? — Bethany
What this publication is
The Wide Awake Collective is a publication built by its community, not just for it. Every issue features the voices of its members alongside the editor's — because the most powerful things get made together, and that includes the publication itself.
We publish work from the ones who exist between worlds. Who believe in something larger than themselves. Who are building for the collective, not just for themselves. Who measure success by what they leave behind.
There is no single format, medium, or style that belongs here. Essays, poetry, photography, illustration, audio transcripts, visual art — if it holds something true, it belongs.
What we publish
We publish work that lives at the intersection of the political and the spiritual. Work that names what most people are too comfortable or too afraid to say. Work that validates the experience of living between worlds — too awake for one room, too spiritual for another, never quite at home anywhere.
We publish work about the specific loneliness of seeing clearly. About what it costs to carry a vision alone. About what becomes possible when the right people finally find each other.
We publish work about building something that outlasts you. About measuring success by what you leave behind. About the long game of making things that matter.
We publish work that is honest before it is polished. Specific before it is universal. True before it is beautiful — though it can be all of those things at once.
Any medium. Any format. Any discipline. The only requirement is that it holds something real.
What we don't publish
We do not publish work that punches down — at any person, community, identity, or belief system.
We do not publish hate speech of any kind.
We do not publish work that centers individual accumulation over collective good — content whose primary purpose is self-promotion without any awareness of or contribution to something larger than the self.
We do not publish work that dismisses the spiritual dimension of human experience, or work that ignores the political one. This publication lives at the intersection of both. Work that is only one or the other will find a better home somewhere else.
How we handle your work
Every submission is read personally by the editor. Not every submission will be featured — but every one is read.
Submissions may be lightly edited for length and clarity. Your voice stays intact. We will never change what you actually said.
Your name and handle will only be used with your explicit permission. The submission process asks how you'd like to be credited — your preference will always be honored.
By submitting, you give The Wide Awake Collective permission to feature your work in the newsletter and on the website. We will always notify you before your work is published.
How to submit
Submissions are open to Wide Awake Collective newsletter subscribers only.
If you're not yet a subscriber — join at thewideawake.co. You'll receive this week's theme and submission instructions in your welcome email.
Every week has a theme. A new theme drops every Thursday. Submissions close every Wednesday at 9am MST. One submission per person per week.
All formats welcome — writing, photography, illustration, audio, video, visual art. Full submission instructions are included in the newsletter.