American Prison Writing Archive

You’ve entered a polity of literature: We’re here to support your writing. The eight Reader/Advisor/Editors (RAEs) at The GOAT PoL work on eighty to a hundred stories at any given time, and each one is unique. Writing is a slow unpredictable process—the process that we support is ambitious. It’s hard work and it will take time.

Writing pays terribly. It takes so long! Writers at The GOAT PoL might get just pennies-per-hour by the time they’re done. You’ll earn more working for the Amazon MechanicalTurk (AMT). Don’t expect fast money.

The story you send is the starting place for a guided writing process that can take days, weeks, or even months. Please DON’T send writing that bores you. You should be deeply interested in the story you send. Be sure the story interests you enough to stick around, work hard on it, and complete it.

A note on artificial intelligence (AI): AI can be useful, but it cannot write an interesting story alone. You are a much more interesting writer than AI. If you use AI, tell your RAE about it. Please don’t send us boring stories written only by AI. Send us your writing, and tell your RAE how you made it.

By clicking “close” I confirm that I am ready to stick around and work by writing and reading at The GOAT PoL.