25 Publications that Pay for Columns Written by Freelance Writers

Here’s our latest research — a list of publications that pay for columns written by freelance writers.

We’ve researched payment rates, pitch guidelines, and more, to help you connect with the right editor.

If you want to browse even more opportunities, be sure to check out our database of over 1,500 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.

1. The Dance Current is a Canadian dance magazine. They publish 4 times a year. They invite writers and dance artists either from Canada or living in Canada to pitch them. They accept pitches for reviews, Q & A’S, personal essays, body columns, tips columns, poetry, feature profiles, feature stories, and photo essays, both for print and online. According to their contributor guidelines, they pay $125 to $400 per piece.

2. C Magazine is a quarterly published contemporary art and criticism periodical based in Toronto, Canada. Each issue of the magazine has a theme. They welcome “writing on contemporary art and culture that is lively and rigorously engaged with current ideas and debates.” They accept pitches for reviews (800 to 1,000 words), columns (800 to 1,000 words), and feature essays, cultural analysis, and interviews (1,200 to 3,500 words). According to their contributors guidelines, they pay between 35 to 45 cents per word. For reviews they pay a flat rate of $410 for print, and $210 for online.

3. DJ Mag is a British monthly magazine and website about electronic dance music and DJs. They welcome pitches for news stories, exclusive mixes, live streams, competitions, long and short form features, and track premieres. According to an old call for pitches, rates were £180 for music columns, £240–£360 for live event reviews, £30 for short “Bubblers” pieces, £120 for “Get To Know” articles, £480 for “At Home With” features, £360–£440 for “Game Changer” articles, and 20p a word for longform features. To pitch, refer to their current pitch guide.

4. Discover Magazine is a print and online science magazine for the general public. They cover topics ranging from “global warming and black holes to Neanderthals and robots.” Word length for columns/department is 1,200-1,500 words, short feature stories 600-1,000 words. According to their pitch guide, they pay $1/word for print. For the web, typically $300/story. 

5. Fly Tyer Magazine wants articles describing new flies for catching trout, bass, panfish, and saltwater species across the U.S. and around the world. They are also interested in articles describing new tying materials and techniques, or new applications for older tying materials and techniques. They take articles on a query-first basis, and response time is unspecified. Word count for features is 2,000-2,500 for features and 1,200-2,000 for columns. According to their submission guidelines, they pay $450 for features and $200-$400 for short features and columns.

6. Traditional Bowhunter is “dedicated to preserving and advancing the rich tradition of hunting with the longbow, recurve, and selfbow”. Their short features run up-to 1500 words, long feature articles run between 1500 to 3000 words and 800-1500 words for columns. According to their submission guidelines, they pay $150 to $250 for unsolicited short features, $300 for assigned columns, and $300 to $400 for assigned features.

7. Up Here tells stories about the people, places and events in Canada’s three territories: the Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. It is published bimonthly. They welcome pitches for Dispatches: scene-based stories about life in the North; Travel: a 1,000-word column about a trip the writer has taken; and Features: detailed, reported stories ranging in length from 1,500 to 2,500 words. According to their pitch guide, they pay $500 for Travel columns and 50 cents to one dollar per word for features. To learn more, refer to this page.

8. Deceleration is a San Antonio-based environmental justice journal serving the South Texas bioregion. They welcome “proposals for short- and long-form news articles, community op-eds, personal or creative nonfiction essays, theoretical/political analysis, calls to action, multimedia content, and hybrid concepts (documentary poetry, photo essay), and more.” According to their guidelines, pay ranges from $150 for opinion columns and reviews, $250 for shorter explanatory stories, videos, or photo essays, and $0.50 per word (or more) for longer-form investigative and time-intensive features. For more information, refer to this page.