For summer 2026, here’s a sharpened approach to Speak Up writing groups publishing.
- You join in for an in-person writing group.
- Write with others to shared prompts.
- Later: you publish your writings online. Put your pieces on Substack or on your blog or on social media.
- Send us the link and we’ll share it with the wider Speak Up community. (And maybe even re-publish your published work via Speak Up platforms.)
Why the change?
To be less of a gatekeeper!
Speak Up’s publishing mission is to give voice and amplify voices. It has been a privilege to publish hundreds of pieces from people facing homelessness and from all walks of life.
Previously we invited writers to send their unpublished work and we’d share it publicly—if time and the editorial calendar allowed.
For some folks, who may only ever publish a half dozen pieces in their lifetime, distributing it through Speak Up first makes a lot of sense. But for many others who want to have a more consistent voice, more control over their work, and a direct relationship with readers, publishing through Speak Up first (or only) becomes a limiting factor. So let’s try this: you publish your writing groups-authored stuff first wherever you want and then we’ll re-share it.
This also speeds up the process. You publish it quickly and on your terms. No more waiting eons.
It also reduces confusion: we aren’t releasing something you. never wanted released: since you’re the first one clicking publish, it’s already out there for the entire world wide web to see.