Here are 10 publications that pay up to $1.00 per word, or more, for the writing they publish.
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For example, the search for fashion returns 68 publishers. Travel includes 218 publishers. New York shows 35 publishers. As you can tell, there are many possibilities.
Here’s the search term I used to find the publishers in this list. It inclueds 100 publishers.
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Mother Jones
Mother Jones is an investigative news organization. They report on politics, criminal and racial justice, democracy, human rights, education, climate change, food/agriculture, and more. They commission revelatory and dynamic stories that teach people something they didn’t already know. Their print rates begin at $1.75/word, while their online rates begin at $0.75/word. For more details, read their freelance writer guidelines.
Seattle Met
Seattle Met is a magazine about Seattle’s culture, lifestyle, arts, and more. They only accept pitches from freelance writers; they do not accept pre-written articles. According to their editor-in-chief, they pay $0.50 to $1.00 a word for narrative features. To learn more, refer to this page.
Nieman Journalism Lab
Nieman Journalism Lab is focused on helping journalism “figure out its future in the internet age.” They are published by The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. They don’t list pay rates, but their sibling publications pay as low as $150 per article, or up to $1.00 per word. To learn more and contact them, visit this page.
Nieman Reports
Nieman Reports publishes features and opinion pieces about the challenges and opportunities facing journalism today. They’re published by The Nieman Foundation at Harvard University. They pay $250 for opinion pieces, and $1 per word for features. To learn more, read this page.
Audobon
Audubon publishes journalism, photography, and illustrations to “to celebrate the joy and wonder of birds and to inform its readers about the natural world, inspire them to care passionately about that world, and motivate them to take action on its behalf.” They prefer freelancers to write articles up to 1,200 words. They pay $0.50 to $1.50 per word. They particularly like if there’s a “solutions” element. To learn more, read their pitching guide here.
Hammer & Hope
Hammer & Hope is “a magazine of Black politics and culture.” Their aim is to “build a project whose politics and aesthetics reflects the electric spirit of the protesters who flooded the streets in 2020, a project that breathes life into the transformative ideas pointing us towards the world we deserve.” They accept pitches from writers at submissions@hammerandhope.org. They pay $1.00/word for commentary, $1.33/word for reported features, and $300/25 lines or less and $6 each additional line for poems. To learn more, refer to this page.
Ori Magazine
Ori Magazine is a twice-a-year travel magazine that publishes stories by talented local journalists. They would love to receive pitches from writers. As per their editor, features pay $0.50-$1.00/word and single page department pieces pay $200. If you want to contribute a story, then refer to their contributor inquiries page.
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