Can I Help You Tell Your Story?

Let's collab to raise awareness of the protective parent plight

Hello everyone. We are already halfway through month #1. The new year is rolling along, unabated.

It’s cold where I am. In these later years, mid-way-ish through my life (which, may be quite presumptuous, when one could get hit by a bus, catch cancer or, a major cause of death for women— get killed by current or former abuser) I’ve finally discovered the excellent joy of wool leg warmers. And wool socks. Since starting to wear wool socks, I’ve not worn anything else.

A friendly reminder to take care of yourself, warriors. Find those little pockets of comfort.

Also, a request, if I may. Would you like to follow me on X, so that we can be connected on various platforms? I’d love to see you there. Thanks.

An idea I’ve had for some time is to help you write your story.

And recently I received this call for pitches from an editor, and it’s a prime opportunity to try this out.

I’ve been writing for the web in various capacities since about 2010. I’m an unashamed, itinerant generalist, writing about anything and everything. Words that I’ve strung together in a striking sequence have been published by the traditional houses— The New York Times, The Economist, The Guardian, and on— as well as the niche, the obscure, and the now shuttered.

In short, I’m pretty sure I’ve accumulated sufficient experience to where I should be able to offer you some sorts of useful guidance.

My proposal is this— I’d like to work with you— yes, YOU, reading this line right now— and help you to come up with a pitch.

A pitch can be thought of as the trailer for an article. A pitch is a bite-sized sample of what the longer, full article would entail. To access a wide assortment of sample pitches, check out the Pitch Database Open Notebook.

If we work together, I can also share various samples of my own pitches (the successful ones, that is, the pitches that ‘won’ and were selected by editors, and became an article).

This would be entirely free, zero cost, no money involved. And actually, if your pitch were selected, you would be paid $225 for your writing.

We could chat over Zoom, or exchange emails for the initial brainstorming (it’s totally fine if you do not know what you would write, we can discuss). Then I’d help you to work through some drafts of the pitch.

Here is the opportunity:

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Business Insider's Health & Parenting editor, Rosemary Donahue, shared that she's always looking for pitches of personal essays on the following topics:

stories about co-parenting, nontraditional engagements, parenting in 40s or older, not following milestones in relationships in the traditional order, supporting a family financially/being the breadwinner, interesting stories about parent + child relationships, unconventional housing, stories about retiring early or deciding not to retire, teaching kids about money/budgeting, non-traditional parenting or grandparenting, deciding to have kids so your parent could be a grandparent, coming to terms with the idea of not being a grandparent, living apart while in a long-term relationship, and any other interesting personal or relationship story related to health and/or parenting.

The rate starts at $225 for about 600 words.

Send pitches to rdonahue@businessinsider.com with [Pitch: Your proposed headline] as the subject line.

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I’ve bolded the subjects that might be most fruitful for Protect the Parent readers. Business Insider has published several pieces about co-parenting.

And I understand that “co-parenting” with an abusive ex is also likely a misnomer, which perhaps painfully mischaracterizes the dynamic. In the same way that an “abusive partner” is a fallacy. If abuse is present, there is no partnership. “Partnership” implies equality or equity; “abuse,” the inverse.

— After 3 years, coparenting still isn't easy. Here's what I learned about creating healthy boundaries after my divorce.

— As a divorced mom of 2, sharing custody during the holidays is brutal. Not competing with my ex helped me enjoy it more.

If you would like to try to share your experience, it might have the following positive outcomes:

— raising awareness amongst the general public of coercive control and the inherent challenges of being forced to “co-parent” with an abusive ex.

— this can help other protective parents to be believed; help survivors to be believed

— writing is often cathartic and healing

Thank you for your consideration. I hope to hear from you. I’d love to help you come up with a pitch for this opportunity. You can message me here on Substack, or reach out to me at: protecttheparents@proton.me.

That is an encrypted email, and free, too, FYI.

Take care, stay safe.