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The Elephant in the Room is Cancer. Tea is the Relief Conversation Provides.

January, 18th 2025: Join us for food, drinks, dancing, and author sharing — all to support our mission. Learn more here!

Submitting Your Story

We appreciate your interest in sharing your story with the Elephants and Tea AYA (adolescent and young adult) cancer community!

Please read the guidelines below before submitting using the form at the bottom of this page.

Our Brand Director will reach out to you once your submission has been reviewed. Because of the influx of submissions we receive, this will take a minimum of two weeks.

Most articles submitted will be shared only on our website, as we post three articles a week: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Due to the amount of submissions we receive, articles are scheduled up to three months in advance.

Current Website Submission Theme:

Anonymous Stories
*Submissions due Friday, May 23, 2025

We have four quarterly print magazines that come out in March, June, September, and December. Each magazine issue adheres to a specific theme, and only submissions on those themes will be considered for the magazine. While we would love to include every submission in one of our magazines, we unfortunately are unable to do so. See below for the full list of magazine themes for the year.

Current Magazine Submission Theme:

September 2025 Issue – Struggles of Survivorship
* Submissions due Friday, June 6th, 2025

Website and Magazine Theme Descriptions:

Website Call for Submissions:

 

Anonymous Stories

Submissions due Friday, May 23, 2025

  • Would writing anonymously allow you to write more truthfully about something from your cancer experience?
  • When submitting your story, make a note at the top of your article that you would like it to be published anonymously.

2025 Magazine Themes:

March Issue – My Identity After Cancer

Submissions closed

June Issue – Does Everything Happen for a Reason?

Submissions closed

September Issue – Struggles of Survivorship

Submissions due Friday, June 6th, 2025

  • What does survivorship mean to you?
  • What are some common misconceptions about cancer survivorship?
  • Do you identify with the language of “survivor” or “survivorship?” Why or why not?
  • Reflect on the struggles you didn’t anticipate after treatment ended, whether physical, emotional, or mental. How do these struggles differ from your experience during treatment?
  • How do you cope with the fear of recurrence, and how does it impact your day-to-day life?

December Issue – The Emotions of Cancer

Submissions due Friday, September 12, 2025

  • Are there any emotions you’ve experienced since diagnosis that have surprised you?
  • Rarely do we experience just one emotion at a time. What combinations of emotions have you felt at the same time? Have they ever seemed to conflict with each other?
  • If you made a timeline of your cancer experience from diagnosis to now, what feelings would show up at what points in your timeline?
  • Are there any emotions that you’ve experienced that feel hard to talk about with other people? Explore those feelings and why they might be challenging.
  • Have you experienced any emotions since cancer that you feel like you “shouldn’t” experience? What makes you think you shouldn’t feel them?
  • If you have trouble identifying your emotions, look up a feelings wheel for a place to start

Submission Requirements:

  • Suggested website submission word count: 500 – 1000 words
  • Suggested magazine submission word count: 1200 – 1500 words
  • Suggested Perkatory submissions word count: 1000 – 1200 words 
  • Poetry submissions of any word count are encouraged
Any questions? Click here to email Lisa Orr at content@elephantsandtea.org

Elephants and Tea is committed to representing the stories and experiences of all members of our herd. The following information is optional and collected only to inform the organization about who our audience is. Your responses to the following questions will not have any impact on your submission.

"*" indicates required fields

Name*
Which of the following best fits you?*
If you don’t want to share, no problem! Just put ‘N/A’
What is your gender?*

What is your sexual orientation?*
This field is hidden when viewing the form
What is your sexual orientation? (old)*

How do you racially identify yourself?*

Have you written for Elephants and Tea before?*
Theme of article*

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

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Elephants and Tea is a trademark of the Steven G. Cancer Foundation, a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit under federal tax guidelines.

© 2025 Steven G. Cancer Foundation, all rights reserved.