27 Publications that Pay for Writing About History

For those who want to get paid to write about history, here’s a list of 27 publications that work with freelance writers.

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1. History News Network (HNN) is a publishing project that “puts current events into historical perspective.” They’re accepting pitches for their newsletter. The newsletter features short-form essays and conversations that “help readers make sense of the ways in which currents from the past continue to swirl through the present.” The published pieces are generally 1,000 to 1,500. According to their pitch guide, they pay $375.

1. Distillations is a magazine by the Science History Institute. Their articles reveal the impact of science on our world, both past and present. They’re actively looking for writers who can unearth little-told history and find historical angles to contemporary topics. According to their pitch guide, they pay $1.25 per word for features; a flat fee of $750 for argued essays, columns, and profiles; and $400 for interviews.

1. Contingent Magazine is a nonprofit online magazine for “everyone who asks questions about the past.” They prioritize pitches from people who have completed postgraduate work in history or a history-adjacent field. According to their pitch guide, they pay a base rate of $500 for features (2,000 to 3,000 words), $300 for shorts (800 to 1,500 words), and $300 for reviews (1,000 to 1,500 words).

1. NEXUS Magazine is a bi-monthly, international alternative news magazine. They cover health, future science, free energy, environment, suppressed news, conspiracy, ancient mysteries, history, consciousness, paranormal, and more. They prefer articles of 4,000 to 5,000 words. They don’t retain ownership of your article, which leaves you free to sell it to other publishers. According to their pitch guide, they normally pay about $200 per 4,000 words. To learn more, refer to this page.

1. Ancient History is a bi-monthly magazine focused on the politics, society, culture, art, literature, language, religion, and economics of the ancient world. They want writers to send proposals (of about 250 words) for articles. The exact word count of the articles will be decided by their editor in chief, but they should roughly be about 2,000 to 4,000 words long. According to their pitch guide, they pay 10 euro cents per word.

1. Phenomenal World is a publication that features research, analysis, and commentary on social sciences. The publication is managed by staff of the Jain Family Institute (JFI). They publish content by JFI staff and fellows, as well as by external researchers and writers. They “welcome submissions on any topic in the social sciences, particularly economics, history, philosophy, sociology, economic history, and kindred fields.” According to an old tweet, they pay $500 for longform pieces and $250 for interviews. Details here.

1. Damn Interesting is a “project dedicated to the dissemination of fascinating-yet-obscure true stories from science, history, and psychology.” They want verifiable, evergreen, interesting non-fiction, obscure stories rather than well-known, and stories that deserve to be long-form, without padding. According to their guidelines, their base rate for long-form articles is $400. To learn more, refer to this page.

1. Atlas Obscura publishes “secret histories, dispatches from odd gatherings, on-the-ground coverage of overlooked locales, profiles of fascinating characters, and anything with an element of surprise and a sense of place.” They are looking for pitches for their two main sections: Places (a.k.a. “the Atlas”) and Stories, home for reported articles and features. According to their submission guidelines, payment is around 50 cents per word. To learn more, refer to this page.