Here are 10 publications that pay up to $500 or more for the articles they publish. All of them work with freelance writers. We’re included pay rates and contact information for all of these publications.
Please carefully study each publication before submitting a pitch. If you’re new to pitching, please read How to Write a Pitch that Gets You Paid (Based on Real-World Examples).
Layered Butter is a magazine about “art, design and the movies.” They build each issue of the magazine around a particular abstract theme/genre/director/actor, and open up the submission process 2 to 3 months before the submission deadline. They also accept off-theme pitches and submissions. According to their submissions page, they don’t want reviews of movies, clickbait listicles, contrarian hot takes, and previously published works. They’re open to “other aspects of formal analysis and cultural criticism, interviews, essays, etc.” Their essays and criticism works are usually between 1,000 and 2,000 words. Rates are $100-$500. To learn more, refer to their submissions page.
GRAMMYs / Recording Academy is a society of music professionals. They’re seeking pitches about “diverse artists, genres, and musical communities with national relevance.” They’re mainly seeking “larger culture features and lists highlighting the intersection of music with broader issues such as politics, history, health and technology.” They’re also looking for artist interviews, artist “discoveries”, and evergreen features/lists. Rates are $250 to $500 per piece. To read their pitch guide, click here. To visit their website, click here.
Futurism is a digital media platform that covers science, technology, and medicine news that are changing the world. They pay about $200 to $500 per piece. To contact them, refer to this page.
Asimov Press features writing about biology and its impact on our world. They welcome pitches from “writers who can make sense of biology’s impacts on climate, energy, security, agriculture, materials, and medicine.” They publish essays (1,200 to 2,000 words); deep dives (2,500+ words); speculative fiction; notes & history (1,000 to 1,500 words); interviews; books and book chapters; and photo essays. As per this post on X, their rates range from $500 for short pieces (around 1,000 words) to $2,000 for deep dives (2,500+ words). For more information, read their pitch guide.
The Reynolds Center for Business Journalism is a nonprofit center that offers business journalism training to journalists. They’re seeking journalists to cover business topics. They pay $500 per completed article (around 500 words with at least one illustration/photo). For more information, visit this page.
Monarch is an online directory that connects therapy seekers to clinicians. They look to create and publish clear, honest, and actionable mental health articles. They have high journalistic standards. They prize science-backed information with a minimum of 1 to 2 quotes from licensed experts as well as references to a minimum of 2 peer-reviewed studies. They pay a flat rate of $500 per article (1,000 to 3,000 words). As their parent company is US-based, to get paid you should either live in the US or have a US bank account and tax ID. For details, refer to this page, and their writers’ guidelines.
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.” They pay:
– $2,000 for essays
– $500 – $1,000 for short stories
– $150 for poems
– $25 for Mentions
To learn more, refer to this page.
Life & Thyme is a print magazine and website that specializes in culinary storytelling and food journalism. They welcome contributors from all over the globe. They typically pay $200 to $500 per story. To become a contributor, refer to this page.
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.” Their interests are very broad. According to this Tweet, they pay $500 for longform pieces and $250 for interviews. Details here.
The Revelator is “an online news and ideas initiative of the Center for Biological Diversity.” They cover climate change, endangered species, wildlife, conservation, pollution, and more. They pay $300 to $500 per article. Details here.
