The call for submissions has ended.

Thank you to everyone who submitted their work to support The Kempe Foundation!

Keep an eye out on our blog and on Twitter for updates!

Dear sisters, brothers, mothers, fathers, and awkward second cousins,

Tolstoy said every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way, but happy families are all alike. Psychology Today disagrees. We say, help us decide!

Send in your short story or poem about families of any shape and size and help support The Kempe Foundation (more information below).

A Thanksgiving story inspired by the endless drama at your family table? Go for it!

A band of brothers fighting in a war? Cleared for landing!

A Zorg unit on Gliese 667Cc? Beam it up!

Dr. Frankenstein and family on picnic, monster and bride in tow? They’re alive!

A joint family of 68 in India? Haan-ji!

A heartfelt tribute to how true family is the friends you made along the way? We love it!

Submission Guidelines

– Submissions open: October 13, 2018

– Submissions close: November 11, 2018

– One submission per author

– Word Limit: 3,000 words

– Main theme must include familial relationships – the characters do not have to be blood-related, but the piece must reflect family in some form

Submit your story or poem through our Google Form (link below), which will require the following information:

– A .docx or .doc attachment of your submission

– Your name (pen names are acceptable)

– Title of your piece

– Genre

– Social media handles (optional)

– Word count

– Whether or not your piece has been previously published, and if so what rights you maintain

– Whether or not you would like editorial feedback before a final scoring of your piece

Your story should be formatted in Chicago Style if possible. This includes double spacing, indenting except for the opening line, and size 12 font in Calibri or Arial*. Find more information about Chicago Style here.

Please note that we are not accepting pieces with graphic depictions of assault, sexual violence, or incest.

*If you use comic sans in your submission, your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries.

(Or follow this link!)

Our Charity of Choice: The Kempe Foundation

The Kempe Foundation has worked for 45 years to prevent and treat abused and neglected children. The Kempe Foundation works to keep all children safe and healthy by supporting experts in the field who are developing and delivering cutting-edge programs proven to reduce the incidences of child maltreatment. They advocate for policies and increased funding for programs that protect children from abuse and neglect. They also partner with human service agencies and other nonprofit organizations to raise awareness of the factors that contribute to child abuse and neglect.

In 2017 alone, The Kempe Foundation served 1,460 children, delivered 3,438 hours of coaching, and trained 8,088 professionals.

The Kempe Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization based out of Denver Colorado.

Find out more about The Kempe Foundation, visit their website, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

If you have any issues with the Google Form while submitting, email our team at tldrpress@gmail.com or DM us on Twitter @TLDRpress.

Good luck! We can’t wait to read your blood, found, convenient, inconvenient, and totally bonkers families!

TL;DR Press and The Kempe Foundation.