Christian writing opportunities
How to submit to Faith Storytellers
At Faith Storyteller, we share inspirational Christian short stories about your personal experience with God. We are seeking true, first-person stories that detail specific moments that shifted your understanding or deepened your relationship with God.
Our mission is to lift up and share the story God is writing in the world. We believe God is active and engaged in the details of our lives as he draws us closer to him.
Christian writing opportunities: Share your story!
We’re looking for first-person short stories (900–1,200 words) that have a beginning, a middle where something changed, and an ending that brings resolution. We publish stories that follow the Faith Storytellers Framework, which teaches a specific structure of storytelling.
Please download our free story structure cheat sheet, which quickly summarizes our framework. We’ve tried to make it as clear and simple as possible, so you know what to include in your story and have the best chances of being published!
If you want to go into more depth, you can read our how-to book, “Faith Storytellers: Unleash the Power of Your Story.” You’ll also read 40 short stories we’ve featured!
Writers who read a few of our stories first are more likely to be selected and published. You’ll get a sense of the type of story we’re looking for as well as the specific writing and storytelling structure we are seeking for publication.
I’m just starting my writing journey, where do I begin?
No previous writing experience is needed! That’s actually why our editor, Mackenzie Ryan Walters, wrote the book “Faith Storytellers: Unleash the Power of Your Story.”
Mackenzie put everything she knows about Christian storytelling and writing in her book, including how to address fear or apprehension about preparing and sharing your story for the first time. In addition to sharing her Christian storytelling framework, she draws on her experience as a national award-winning journalist.
What type of story should I write and submit?
Need a little inspiration? Sign up for our monthly newsletter!
We regularly share free Christian writing prompts to spark your next faith-filled tale. You’ll also get to read personal stories from other writers and authors and get the chance to share your writing in other ways.
Generally speaking, there are four faith story genres that we publish. Pick one and let your Christian writing journey begin:
Miracle Seed stories: Reflect on a seemingly small moment or coincidence that reflects God’s care and attention to the details of your life when you pray through it. These are stories about ordinary moments that reveal big truths about God. Looking back, what do you know to be true about God that you didn’t before?
Journey stories: Remember a time that grew your faith and relationship with Jesus. Journey stories can be physical journeys (such as a mission trip) or spiritual journeys (such as confronting a misconception you had about God). As you pray through your story, ask God what he wanted you to know about his nature.
Valley stories: Pray through a particularly challenging time in your life. How did your relationship with God change as you experienced grief, pain, or devastating circumstances? As you write your story, ask God to reveal where he was and how he cared for you personally during that time.
Miracle stories: How did God interrupt scientific laws with divine intervention? As you pray through God’s miracle, how did he use this sign and wonder to deepen your faith? How did God’s miracle shift your perspective or deepen your relationship with him?
>> If you are uncertain about which story to share, please email 3-4 sentences about your story with the subject line “Faith Story Inquiry” to mackenzie@faithstorytellers.com. Do NOT submit more than a 3-4 sentence summary.
Submission guidelines
Please follow the following steps when submitting your faith story.
Start with prayer: Many storytellers have said God prompted them to tell a different story than they originally intended. Starting with prayer is the first step in our Faith Storytellers Framework.
Make it yours: Write in first person (“I thought…”) and let your voice shine. This is your story — own it! Read through our framework or book for a more detailed explanation of how to write (and revise) your story.
Stay true to who you are: Share the real stuff — what you felt, doubted, or discovered. Allow yourself to be vulnerable in your story because it allows God’s strength to shine through.
Follow our structure: This is important, as we only publish stories that follow our framework, which we teach in our book, “Faith Storytellers: Unleash the Power of Your Story.” You can also download a story structure cheat sheet here.
Length: Keep it between 900 and 1,200 words — long enough to tell a whole story but short enough for a reader to enjoy it during the morning quiet time while waiting in line, or just before bed.
Keep it clean: Stories should be PG or PG-13. You can review our Faith Story Guardrails or learn more about how to apply these concepts in our book. Your story can include darkness — just don’t dwell on it.
Fresh Stories: Send us original work that hasn’t been published by a third party such as a magazine or website. Stories from your own blog or SubStack may be reworked to match our Faith Storytellers structure (use our book or cheat sheet for how to revise it).
>> For more information, please review our FAQs below.
How to send your story for consideration
Email your story submission with the subject “Faith Story Submission” to mackenzie@faithstorytellers.com.
Please attach to the email:
A Word or Google document with your story (follow the guidelines above)
Your bio (please keep to 3-4 sentences. Include all relevant links to books, social media, websites, etc. in your bio)
Three (3) photographs of you that you have permission to share
What happens after I send my story to you?
If your story fits, we’ll tweak it together (typically to align it with our story structure, which we detail in our book and this story structure cheat sheet).
We’ll notify you when it’s ready to be posted to Faith Storytellers so you can share it with your friends, family, and online followers.
We don’t offer payment, but we’ll give you a spotlight on our site and a link to share with your people. Include relevant links to your book, social media pages, and website in your bio!
>> Read more about our submission process in the FAQs below.
Updated: March 14, 2025
FAQs: Story Submissions
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We try our best to respond to submissions, but we cannot guarantee a reply or response.
It’s not unusual for us to go a few weeks before responding. If selected for our next Faith Storytellers book or for publication on our website, we will notify you and will provide more information at that time.
We typically ask writers to edit or revise their stories prior to publication (on average, 2-3 times) depending on their story and how closely they have ahead to our Faith Storytellers Framework and Faith Story Guardrails.
Please note, publication is not guaranteed and we may pass on stories at our discretion for a variety of reasons. In addition, by summiting your story online, you’ve agreed to our submission policies and standards.
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No. Because we publish true stories (testimonials), we want you to share your real name with our readers. This builds trust and helps our readers know that what you are sharing is true and really happened.
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Stories that deal with trauma, abuse or other hurts and hangups should never disparage another person.
If something happened to you it is real, and it is part of your story. For the purpose of Faith Storytellers, shift the focus from the other person to your relationship with God and how it deepened through the trials.
One way to do this is to describe the impact through a metaphor (a tornado went through my life and left it in shambles) and God’s love (I didn’t think God was there, but when I least expected it, God’s light broke through the storm and I realized I was going to be okay).
Please review our Faith Story Guardrails for more.
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Yes! We love publishing faith stories from middle school and high school students especially. Please note that there is a different submission process for children or teens under the age of 18.
You should NOT use the submission form below.
Instead, have your parent or legal guardian reach out to us via our contact page for next steps as they will need to work with you on submitting your story.
This includes being CCed on all revision and publication emails. If needed, we will schedule a video call with both you and your parent or legal guardian.
In addition, your parent or legal guardian will need to sign our Release of Materials form on your behalf.
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No, Faith Storytellers does not pay writers. This is a passion project and ministry of ours.
However, if you are selected for publication, we do link back to your website or include a mention of your book. On the website this appears at the bottom of each story; in our book it appears in the “bios” section.
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Our Materials Release Agreement asks you to grant us the right to use your story.
We do NOT ask to own your story. You own your story.
In order to publish and market your story as part of a Faith Storytellers collection, however, we need your permission, which is why we require writers to sign the agreement.
Please feel free to read our full Release of Materials Agreement, which is found in the story submission form, and run it by your attorney if you have additional questions
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We prefer to publish unique stories that have not yet been published elsewhere. This is for a few reasons:
1. We want to bring our audience a unique story and reading experience that they haven’t read elsewhere.
2. Other publishers may have the rights to your story (we don’t know what agreements you have signed).
In the Materials Release Agreement, we specifically ask that you acknowledge that you have the right to enter into the agreement and do not need permission from a third party to do so.
3. We believe we each have many stories to share about our relationship with God.
If you’re previously published one of your stories, please submit a story that you haven’t shared elsewhere.
If you aren’t sure where to start in selecting a different story, please review our Faith Storytellers Framework, which will guide you through identifying and crafting a true, first-peson story about your faith.
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We use AP Style except for the Oxford Comma, which is traditionally used in marketing and books publishing but not newspapers. Our goal is consistency and clarity.
We also adapted a church’s writing style guide so that words are used consistently throughout, as that brings a sense of cohesiveness to the stories we publish when read together. Please view the Faith Storytellers Style Guide here to learn more.