My nonfiction article “The Fifth Taste” was published in Muse Magazine!

I love food. And research. And research about food. And making food taste good. And writing. And I got to combine all of those loves into one fun article for Muse magazine!

Muse magazine is science and discovery magazine for ages 9-14 and is part of Cricket Media. I had the awesome experience of publishing with them last year when my article “The Real Life Bat-Man” appeared in their January 2021 issue, and I’m thrilled to work with them again.

Muse put out themes for their issues on their website. One of this year’s themes was “Delicious,” and I just knew I wanted to be a part of it.

“The Fifth Taste: Unlocking the Mystery of Umami” explores our sense of taste, what umami is and how it was discovered. I also got to share a bit about my love of food, fermentation, and how to make food tastier!

What was it like working with Muse?

Overall, it was a good experience. It’s always tough to receive edits on your piece, but without fail, the suggested edits almost always make the piece better, and there is an open dialogue so if I had a problem with any of their edits, I could have said something.

All of Cricket Media’s magazines payments take a long time to come through. However, they are upfront about that from the beginning, so if you aren’t agreeable to that it is something to note.

Would I recommend submitting to Muse?

If you enjoy writing nonfiction, research and science, then yes! I will admit, I only write and submit for the themes I find enjoyable, because why write something you aren’t interested in? If you hate science or don’t read about the areas they publish, Muse probably isn’t a good fit for you.

You can check out Muse magazine here! Or read their submission guidelines here.