24 Publications that Pay for Cultural Criticism

Today, for our latest roundup of publishers, we have a list of 24 publications that accept submissions for criticism.

We’ve researched payment rates and found contact information for all of these publishers, to make it easy for you to connect with the right opportunity.

If you want to browse even more opportunities, be sure to check out our database of over 1,600 publishers that pay writers. It’s easily searchable, and includes thousands of listings just like the ones below.

If you’re new to freelancing, I also very much encourage you to take our course on pitching. You can get the details here.

So, without further ado, here’s today’s list…

1. NPR Music is an editorial team devoted to connecting the dots between the people who make music, the people who listen to it and the context surrounding both. They prioritize publishing a wide array of perspectives, not a single definitive “take,” and are open to all genres, especially those you think we could be covering better. They are looking for interviews, profiles, essays, criticism, reporting, and analysis. According to their pitch guide, rates for common story types are $200-$600 for reviews depending on length, $800 for short features (including interviews and obituaries) and $1,200 for longer features and essays. To learn more, refer to this page.

1. Intervenxions is a publication of the Latinx Project at New York University committed to “exploring contemporary Latinx art, politics, and culture.” They publish “reviews, criticism, reporting, interviews, and essays on U.S. Latinx art, politics, and culture between 1,500 and 2,500 words.” According to their guidelines, they pay $300 for reviews, interviews, and short essays, and $400 for articles, profiles, and long-form content. To learn more, refer to their editorial guidelines.

1. The Drift is “a magazine of culture and politics.” They want “socially engaged cultural criticism; class-sensitive analysis; pieces that point out what’s being avoided or talked around in politics, media, arts, or even academia; upbeat cynicism; un-self-serious screeds; generous takedowns; entries from the margins; fiction; poetry; 1-3 sentence book/ movie/ TV/ art reviews.” According to their guidelines, they pay $2,000 for essays, $500 – $1,000 for short stories, $150 for poems, and $25 for Mentions. To learn more, refer to this page.

1. The Yale Review is a renowned journal of literature where readers can discover new literature by the best writers of our era alongside engaged, passionate criticism that is beautifully written and powerfully thought. They accept submissions of poetry, fiction, essays, review essays, and translations during their annual submission period from September 1 through September 30. They consider nonfiction pieces (both criticism and essays) of up to 3,000 words for online publication, and pieces of up to 6,000 words for their quarterly print issues. In addition to accepting submissions, they have a separate process for pitching, which is not via Submittable. According to their pitch guide, they pay between $500 and $1,500 for print prose (around 3,000–5,000 words), between $200 and $500 for online pieces (around 1,000–3,000 words), and $150 for poems online or in print. To learn more, refer to this page.

1. Landscape Architecture Magazine (LAM) is a print and digital magazine of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA). They publish on a monthly basis. They are always seeking “good stories and great journalists to write about them.” According to a deleted post from their editor, they pay $1 per word for most of their stories. They are currently reading pitches for features (2,000 words); departments (1,500 words, a deep drill down on a topic); NOW (short, newsy); book reviews; and criticism or essays on relevant topics (1,800 words). To learn more, refer to their pitch guide.

1. Westerly Magazine publishes creative writing and scholarship from throughout the world, but maintains a special emphasis on Australia, particularly Western Australia, and the Asian region. They publish short stories, poetry, memoir and creative nonfiction, essays and literary criticism. Word count for fiction and creative non-fiction is 3500 words maximum, 5000 words for scholarly articles, and for reviews, it’s 800 words. According to their submissions guidelines, they pay AU$250 for one poem or AU$300 for a poetic sequence, AU$500 for prose (including scholarly work), AU$620 for visual art/photo essays/comics, and AU$250 for online publication (including reviews).

1. Splinter is a new literary journal that is interested in the gaps between perception and reality and what happens when we get stuck in those gaps. It is published twice a year from Tarntanya (Adelaide, Australia). They are always looking for writing that considers how reality is made and how it can be broken. They are particularly keen on writing that acknowledges that existence is silly and absurd and also, somehow, really serious. According to their pitch guide, they pay $900 for profiles, essays, and fiction, $600 for memoir, $700 for criticism, $250/poem and $450 for a poetry collection, and $500 for ”writing about writing.” To learn more, refer to this page.

1. The Cut publishes stories that address their readers’ lives head-on, with generous wit, honesty, and power. They are in a dynamic conversation with women about the issues that matter to them most — politics, feminism, work, money, relationships, mental health, fashion, and issues relating to equality — and they’re always looking for ideas that add to that conversation. They are looking smart, generous, funny writing for their four verticals: POWER, SELF, STYLE, and CULTURE. They welcome cultural criticism. According to their guidelines, they pay $500 minimum for essays and columns (1,000–1,500 words) and $600 minimum for features (1,500–2,000) words. To learn more, refer to this page.