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

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 Director of Content 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 four articles a week: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Due to the amount of submissions we receive, articles are scheduled up to six months in advance.

Current Digital Submission Theme:
Mental Health – Due Friday, March 22 
*theme description below

We have four quarterly print magazines that come out in March, June, September, and December. While we would love to include every submission in one of our magazines, we unfortunately are unable to do so.

Current Magazine Submission Theme:
September 2024 Issue: The Ghosts of Cancer – Due Friday, June 21
*theme description below

Digital and Magazine Theme Descriptions:

Digital Call for Submissions:

Mental Health
*Submissions Due: Friday, March 29

In what ways has cancer impacted your mental health? Does your mental health look different after cancer than it did before? Are there things that make you anxious or are triggering now? What about things that make you feel sad or alone in your experience? Have you sought help or support for your mental health? What was that like? Have you experienced stigma surrounding mental health and reaching out for help?

2024 Magazine Themes:

March Issue – Friendships
*Submissions Closed

June Issue – Dear Cancer
*Submissions Closed

September Issue – The Ghosts of Cancer
*Submissions Due: Friday, June 21

What is something you have lost or experienced through cancer that haunts you? What are some unwanted things that cancer added to your life? What are some things that are missing from your life now? Describe what that loss or addition feels like.

December Issue – Expectations
*Submissions Due: Friday, September 13

What are some expectations you’ve experienced surrounding cancer? Have expectations from others changed since cancer? What about those toward yourself? Do you have different expectations of others after what you have been through

Submission Requirements:

"There is no right or wrong way to share your story. Your writing might take you in a direction you didn't expect and that's OK. Write from the heart and share what you are comfortable with. I'm excited to read your submission!"
-Rachel Mihalko
Director of Content
  • Please write between 500 – 1000 words for website submissions
  • Please write between 1200 – 1500 words for magazine submissions
  • Please write between 1000 – 1200 words for Perkatory submissions
  • Poetry submissions of any word count are encouraged

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?*

How do you racially identify yourself?*

Theme of article*

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