Here’s our latest research — a list of publications that pay for first-person stories and that work with 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.
- The Atavist Magazine is a digital-only publication that releases one blockbuster nonfiction story every month. Atavist stories can be historical or current; they can be about crime or science, adventure or romance; they can be rooted in investigative reporting or in first-person experiences. What unites them is their narrative approach. The stories should be 8,000 to 30,000 words long. According to their submissions page, they pay at least $6,000 per story plus expenses. They pay kill fees upfront. For more information, visit this page.
- The Advocate is a newspaper for the students, faculty, and staff of the Graduate Center (GC), City University of New York (CUNY). They accept articles, reviews, photos, and illustrations from the students, faculty, and staff of CUNY as well as those who are not affiliated with CUNY. They accept articles on a wide range of topics including GC/CUNY issues; first-person essays; politics, culture, and art; nontechnical articles on science and technology; provocative or polemical essays on international, national, and local issues; interviews and transcribed discussions or debates; and book, film, theater, music, and art reviews. According to their guidelines, payment usually starts at $100 and caps at $300. To learn more, refer to this page.
- The Appeal is a nonprofit newsroom dedicated to exposing how the U.S. criminal legal system fails to keep people safe and perpetuates harm. They prioritize pitches about politics (elections, legislation, policies, and reform efforts), alternatives (critical analysis of solutions to elements of the current criminal legal system), stories reporting on, and from, the South, Midwest, or rural areas, and op-eds and personal essays written by people impacted by the criminal-legal system. According to their pitch guide, they pay $1/ commissioned word for reported and first-person pieces up to 2,000 words. Payment for longer pieces is negotiable. To learn more, refer to this page.
- Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news organization that reports on education in poor communities across America. They elevate the “voices of educators, students, parents, advocates, and others on the front lines of trying to improve public education.” They are looking for personal essays (around 800 words) centered around a personal experience or observation. They publish these essays in a series called First Person. According to their guidelines, First Person pays $125 per published piece. For more information, read their first person guidelines. To pitch a national story, you can contact them here.
- Public Discourse is the online journal of the Witherspoon Institute (a research center in Princeton, New Jersey). According to their guidelines, they pay an honorarium of $300 for original essays (1,500 to 2,000 words), first-person stories (1200 to 2,000 words), and review/response essays (1,500 to 2,000 words). For details, visit this page.
- The Tyee is an online news magazine from Vancouver, British Columbia. They accept pitches for reported coverage, analysis, and first-person pieces. They are interested in all kinds of subjects. According to their contributor guidelines, they pay a day rate of $300. When they accept a pitch for a story, they work with the freelancer to determine whether it is a one-day, two-day, or three-day story. They don’t usually assign pieces above the three-day rate. To learn more, refer to this page.
- Public Source is Pittsburgh’s home for impactful journalism and community-driven storytelling. They are mostly looking for first-person essays and local stories. According to their rate sheet, they pay $300 to $1,000. To learn more, refer to this page.
- PublicSource is a news organization serving Pittsburgh and the region. They welcome story pitches from journalists and community members. According to their pitch guide, they pay $300 for first-person essays (800 to 1,200 words); $300 for event coverage (600 to 1,000 words); $400 for resource guides/explainers; $600 for enterprise stories; and $1,000 for investigative stories. They usually pay a 25% kill fee.
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