Before submitting a meditation, please read these writers guidelines to learn what we look for in the meditations we publish.
The Upper Room is meant for an international, interdenominational audience. We want to encourage Christians in their personal life of prayer and discipleship. We seek to build on what unites us and to connect Christians together in prayer around the world.
The meditations in each issue are written by people just like you, people who are listening to God and trying to live by what they hear. The Upper Room is built on a worldwide community of Christians who share their faith with one another.
Millions of people use the magazine each day. The Upper Room is translated into more than 30 languages and can be found in over 100 countries.
You begin in your own relationship with God. Christians believe God speaks to us and guides us as we study the Bible and pray. Good meditations are closely tied to scripture and show how it has shed light on a specific situation. Good meditations make the message of the Bible come alive.
First, good devotional writing is authentic. It connects real events of daily life with the ongoing activity of God.
Second, good devotional writing uses sensory details. Although they may seem mundane, such details help readers connect with your writing.
Finally, good devotional writing is exploratory instead of preachy. It searches and considers and asks questions. It examines the faith without knowing in advance what all the answers will be.
Good ideas come from reading scripture and looking for connections between it and daily life. When you see a helpful connection, here’s a simple formula for getting your thoughts on paper:
We continually need content, and you can submit a devotional at any time. However, to allow time for simultaneous publication around the world, we work far in advance. We are usually short on meditations that focus on church holidays (Easter, Lent, Christmas, etc.).
We buy the right to translate meditations for one-time use in our editions around the world, including electronic and software-driven formats, and to include them in future anthologies of Upper Room material should we choose. We pay $30.00 for each meditation, on publication. We also send you four copies of the issue in which your work appears (but only if you have completed and returned the copyright and W-9/W-8BEN forms we send you).
We are unable to give updates on the status of submitted material or to offer critiques. All published meditations are edited.
Please be sure to include your contact information (email and postal address) with each meditation, since we must send a form to be signed if your work is chosen for publication.
Meditations cannot be returned, so keep copies of what you submit. Please send no more than three meditations at a time.
We look forward to receiving meditations from you to be considered for possible use in future issues of The Upper Room.
Editorial Office
THE UPPER ROOM Magazine
1908 Grand Avenue
Nashville, TN 37212
Las meditaciones que se incluyen en cada número de El Aposento Alto son escritas por personas como usted, comprometidas con el Señor Jesucristo y que desean crecer en su vida cristiana. Es una guía interdenominacional, usada por los más diversos grupos cristianos. La Guía Devocional El Aposento Alto se publica en 35 idiomas, en 77 ediciones alrededor del mundo.
La edición en español se distribuye o publica en la mayor parte de los países de habla española. Si una meditación es escogida, hay personas en México, Chile, España, Puerto Rico, la República Dominicana y muchos otros lugares, que estarán leyendo sus reflexiones. Algunas meditaciones en español son seleccionadas para la edición en inglés, y traducidas a los numerosos idiomas en que ésta se publica en el mundo.
Al escribir, recuerde que la mejor literatura devocional proviene de la relación personal con Dios y de la experiencia íntima de compañerismo con Jesucristo y de unas personas con otras. La experiencia auténtica con Dios y la reflexión sobre lo que esa relación de compañerismo le ha brindado a su vida, puede alcanzar a otras personas mucho más que los pensamientos abstractos.
La buena literatura devocional usa detalles descriptivos de la vida diaria. Puede incluir momentos de una conversación o detalles acerca de un objeto. Puede parecernos que las experiencias son comunes, pero la presencia de Dios se revela precisamente en el vivir de cada día. Por ser parte de la vida, una buena meditación permite que muchas personas en diferentes países y culturas puedan identificar su propia experiencia en ella.
Además, la literatura devocional explora y crea inquietudes. Nos ayuda a pensar. Nos anima a seguir buscando la voluntad de Dios en fe. Nos invita a permitir que la revelación de Dios siga haciéndose real en nuestras vidas. Nunca terminamos de crecer en la vida cristiana.
Favor utilizar el formulario de El Aposento Alto online para someter meditaciones.
You will submit seven meditations. Each meditation will include the following:
Disciplines offers the reader a deeper look at scripture through examining the scripture in its original context and considering its meaning for our lives today. As opposed to merely recounting scripture, Disciplines offers an interpretation of scripture passages to readers.
Disciplines contains a meditation for every day of the year. Each author writes seven meditations, beginning on Monday and ending on Sunday.
Address all of the designated scripture passages. Use each scripture at least once and no more than twice in your assigned week. You may divide passages into sections, so long as the division maintains the integrity of the passage.
Choose an overall theme or title for your week of meditations.
The word count for each meditation (325 words) includes the meditation itself and the prayer or other closing. The word count does not include the theme title line or the date-scripture line.
Please submit your meditations as one submission by clicking the "Submit to Upper Room" button on your Disciplines assignment page.
For any Bible quotations, indicate the version (translation), book, chapter, and verse. We do not use paraphrased versions, such as the Living Bible.
Avoid using copyrighted material. If you do use quotations, cite the reference in the notes section of your assignment and include the source author, title, place of publication, publisher, copyright date, and the page(s) from which you are quoting. Keep a copy of this information for yourself. If quotations are not identified, they will be deleted.
We will determine if permission for any quoted material is needed. Avoid using poetry (two or more lines), hymns, or songs, unless they are clearly public domain material.
Complete and return all forms given to you (including your byline and other information) and the W-9, which is necessary for our financial files.
A final decision as to publication of each manuscript is not reached until after the meetings of our editors regarding all fifty-two weeks of meditations for the upcoming year.
Looking for more general submission guidelines for Upper Room Books?
Sight Psalms is a daily, online photo inspiration intended to help people reflect on God’s presence in the world and in their lives through the use of images. Each day, a new photograph is posted to evoke reflection and inspiration, usually accompanied by a few words.
Our intent is to express the divine through images. Each photo is titled and has a caption [see Captions below].
Photographs should be 72 dpi (ppi); the length should not exceed 700 pixels on the longest side and should be sent as a .jpg file. They may be either vertical or horizontal. Resizing can be done in most photo editing software. Look for the term "resize" or "image size."
Any copyright notice should appear parallel to the bottom of the image, in either the lower right or lower left corner — no larger than 16 points. Suggested font is Verdana or Helvetica. The copyright symbol can be made by pressing Alt-0-1-6-9 (PC) or Option-G (Mac).
Photos of adults taken in public places are permissible without the subjects’ permission. However, photos of children cannot be published without permission of the child’s or children’s parent(s) or guardian(s). Permission must either be written or in an email, and obtaining the permission is the responsibility of the photographer. Permission should be submitted along with the image and caption.
Logos of products, companies, etc. may be included incidentally, but should not be the main focus or feature in the image.
The TITLE word(s) precede the verbal message (Caption) and should appear in all upper case. The sentences below the image should be no more than 50 words in length. Bold print should be used sparingly, if ever. Currently no formatting may be used, e.g., lines in a poetic form.
Captions are the sentences below the picture. Their purpose is to enhance the message of the image and invite reflection and connection to the Holy. The language of the captions needs to be understandable to people who are not a part of a church.
Here are some ideas for generating captions, should you need help:
Use of Scripture is permissible, but must be no more than two sentences and follow the other guidelines above. The book, chapter, verse and version should be listed in parentheses at the end; e.g., (Job 1:16 NRSV). You must verify (vf) that the scripture and citation are 100% accurate. You must not take any liberties when quoting scripture or other copyrighted work.
Sources of published quotes must be identified, and that identification must be included in the word length restriction. Quotes must fall under the guidelines of fair use. If the source is an article or a book, and you are quoting only a sentence from that source, this is fair use. If, however, the quote consists of the entirety of the source, you need permission. Do not quote from a poem or hymn under copyright protection unless you have written permission. Getting permission to use a quote is the responsibility of the photographer, and the permission must be submitted in written form along with the image and caption.
Your image, caption and signed use agreement [and any necessary permissions for the image or caption] should be submitted to https://submissions.upperroom.org. You may submit up to five (5) images and captions.
You will be notified if any of your submissions are chosen, and you will be given the date(s) the photo(s) will appear.
