State of Graceless

We’re almost three months into our Graceless adventure and the honeymoon’s over. What, you thought I was going to sugarcoat something? You’ve clearly not been reading the site. When we ask women to write for us, we demand from them raw, undiluted truth. So it’d be pretty crappy not to reciprocate.

As I’ve mentioned a couple of times before, Allyson and I were in no way prepared for the reaction we got to Graceless. We thought we’d have some fun writing with our friends and call it a day. But it turns out that when you give women a comfortable space to say anything, they say a hell of a lot. And it resonates far further than we thought possible.

Brandie’s Pinktober piece shot our traffic and fans through the roof. A searing indictment of the greedy marketing of a brutal disease, her post is our most popular to date - over 200,000 views - and was passed from friend to friend to friend. It was downright inspiring to see her bare very personal pain and have it openly received. That happens a lot with Graceless, I’ve found. When you watch someone unfold their fears, anger, and worries, it strengthens the writer and the reader.

Brandie is far from the only one who’s taken the facade off for us. There’s Maya, who shared how opening her marriage to others forced her to examine her definition of security. Rebekah talked about her disappointment in herself for forgetting her feminist idols. Sera reminded us of what true misfortune really looks like. And I dug deeper than I ever have before, sharing the story of what could have been an embarrassing slight, only to find that getting it out gave me more power and, yes, comfort than I thought possible.

What an awesome thing to be a part of. And what potential it holds to grow and evolve.

We had a profoundly unique honeymoon period; we grew used to a level of content that we probably shouldn’t have. I’m now wishing we’d held back more and only published 3 times a week. But regret is for the weak! So onward we push.

We need your writing. We have a great raft of writers, who we hope this serves as a rallying cry for. Get that shit out of your head and onto paper. It heals. But we also really want to expand our circle to new voices. All the writing to date has been from friends; I have no doubt that our audience holds some fascinating and fantastic minds. Share this post, pass it on, email it to your mom. We want your voice on Graceless.

As always, tone matters more than subject with us. You can write about whatever the hell you want to write about. But we’re also planning a loose editorial calendar every quarter. So over the next three months, we’re especially interested in pieces about:

• Holidays
• Elections/Presidential race
• Travel
• Depression and mental health
• New beginnings/resolutions
• Food
• Gratitude
• Family conflict
• Religion

There are specifically Graceless ways to write about these, so if you’re interested in any of them, shoot us an email - pitches@graceless.me - and we’ll provide direction.

Thanks for reading our taking-care-of-bizness post and thanks even more for reading Graceless.