Being amongst a team of published writers may seem intimidating if you are new to the field. I can assure you that being a writer on Coffee House Writers will teach you a lot about writing and publishing, and you will be treated with dignity and respect, despite your writing background. Whether a lifetime author or a recent high school graduate, Coffee House Writers provides the opportunity for every writer to be in a respectful environment, while developing their writing careers.

Coffee House Writers

Here are the most popular questions we receive about being a writer with Coffee House Writers:

Will I have an editor? Yes. Every writer is assigned an editor to help them with every article and provide feedback to help them improve their craft.

How can I communicate with my editor? CHW uses Slack, a communication app also available on desktop, where writers can communicate with their editor as well as other writers on our team. This is where editors provide feedback to their writers on every article.

What if I want to be a writer and an editor? Fill out a short application at https://coffeehousewriters.com/apply/ and let us know you’re interested in a writer and editor position. Once we receive your information, one of our team’s recruiters will contact you by email and/or phone to discuss if this would be a good fit for you. Our editors work within our team and will never be assigned more than 10 writers to edit, unless they are comfortable with this. Our editors are expected to submit 2 articles every month.

What schedule can I submit on? We like giving our writers options, such as their submission schedule, which platform they would like to publish on and if they want to join the poetry division. Our writers can choose to write on a weekly or biweekly schedule.

What other publications can I write on with your team? Coffee House Writers Publication is our home platform which we own, but our team also writes under Medium and Odyssey.

What are the differences in the platforms? Coffee House Writers is our main publication – we are registered and licensed as an online publishing business under the state of New Jersey as of December 1, 2017. Coffee House Writers has a word requirement of at least 300 words and absolutely no censorship. Our team also has publishing access on Medium, which has a 300+ word requirement, and Odyssey, which has a 500-2,000 word requirement.

Can I write on the team if I am under 18? As of March 2018, all new writers need to be at least 18 years old.

Can I write on the team if I am not already a published writer? Yes, being a published writer is not required to be a writer on our team. Submit an application to us!

What do your Recruiting Officers look for when interviewing applicants? During phone interviews, our Recruiting Officers look for dedication and the drive to learn and improve their writing skills. We are looking for people who are comfortable with having an editor and will respect our deadlines. We look for people who have respect towards our admin and will communicate with their editor. Since we are all remote, communication is key to being a part of our team. We also want people who will engage in conversation with other writers on our team.

What topics can I write about? Whatever you want! On Coffee House Writers publication, we have categories that you can write under, including Creativity, Culture, Environment, Family, Fiction, Health, Media, Music, Poetry, Politics, Relationships, Sports, Style and Travel. You do not have to stick within these categories – we do have an uncategorized category for articles that do not fit under these. If you are writing within more than 1 of these categories, that’s fine and you can select more than 1 category when submitting. The only thing we ask is that if your article has sensitive content, you include a trigger warning in the beginning (this has been known to peak interest) and contact information for hotlines at the end of the article for those struggling.

Can I publish a story to you and then another publication? No, you cannot publish an article with us and then submit it to another professional publishing company, unless you get permission in writing from both parties. If you want to take a poem or fiction piece that you had published with us and publish it in a book, or take a journalistic piece and put it in your personal blog, or use your work in a resume or portfolio, that’s no problem. The publishing industry does have rules that must be maintained. We have high expectations of our writers, and we expect them to follow all Coffee House Writers and industry rules and guidelines.

Can I write a short story in multiple parts? Yes, you can write a short story in subsequent submissions, as long as you write which part your story is in the title (ex- My Story: Part 2) and include a link in the beginning to your previous parts in case your readers are just finding you. We recommend publishing all parts of your story to the same platform.

What is the poetry division? The poetry division is for poets who want to write poetry and continue learning and improving their work. Every writer in the Poetry Department will have a Poetry Mentor (much like an editor), who will edit their work but also work with them to improve their writing, help them with contests and workshops and engage them with questions and challenges. You will still submit articles through the same team and publication. Many people pay big money to be a part of such a special poetry learning experience!

How can I be more involved in the team? Our writers are on our team Slack channel, which is where most of our communication is conducted, as well as our team’s private Facebook group. We have team video meetings every other month and team parties on off months, and monthly newsletters and calendars are made. These are all posted on the Slack and Facebook pages!