Tuesday, January 6th 2026
The Atavist Magazine is a digital-only publication that releases one blockbuster nonfiction story every month. They accept pitches on a rolling basis. What they’re looking for: “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—our stories are plot- and character-driven, cinematic, the kind of yarns you don’t want to stop reading because you can’t wait to see what happens next.” Stories should be longer than a typical magazine feature, ranging from 8,000 to 30,000 words. The baseline story fee is $6,000, and authors also receive quarterly royalties. For details, refer to their submissions page.
They’re also accepting stories (5,000 words or more) for their Revived series: “Revived is an Atavist project breathing new life into old stories. Periodically, the magazine releases previously published features that can no longer be found online. We collaborate with authors on edits and updates we deem appropriate, but our goal is to celebrate existing work otherwise lost to dead outlets and dead links, not to remake it into something new.” Fee is $2,500. To learn more, refer to this page.
Thursday, June 19th 2025
The Atavist Magazine is a digital-only publication that releases one blockbuster nonfiction story every month. Their editor-in-chief is accepting pitches. Their stories are 8,000 to 30,000 words long and their baseline story rate is $6,000. They also pay quarterly royalties to their authors. To learn more, refer to this post and their submissions page.
Sunday, January 28th 2024
The Atavist Magazine is a digital-only publication that releases one blockbuster nonfiction story every month. Their editor-in-chief is accepting long-form narrative feature pitches from people who have been laid off. Their stories are 8,000 to 30,000 words long and their baseline story rate is $6,000. They also pay quarterly royalties to their authors. If interested, email your pitches to seyward@atavist.com. For details, read their editor-in-chief’s post and their submission guidelines.
Tuesday, April 25th 2023
The Atavist Magazine is a digital-only
publication that releases one blockbuster nonfiction story every month. Their
editor-in-chief has tweeted, “If you're a writer who lost their job today,
first, I am so sorry. Second, if you have narrative story ideas that now need a
home, pitch me: seyward@atavist.com.”
As per their submissions
page, their stories are 8,000 to 30,000 words long and their baseline story
rate is $6,000. They also pay quarterly royalties to their authors. To learn
more, read their editor-in-chief’s tweet.
Tuesday, September 20th 2022
The Atavist Magazine is a digital-only publication that releases one blockbuster nonfiction story every month. They are (almost) always open for pitches. They are seeking deeply researched longform (8,000-30,000 words) nonfiction with attention to narrative. Their editor-in-chief is looking for: “stories people want to read to the very last word, propulsive can't-put-them-down stories, stories people want to recount to their friends. We want surprises, adventure, intrigue, nuance, and above all humanity.” They accept pitches from both early-career journalists and seasoned pros. Their baseline story rate is $6,000. To learn more, refer to their Twitter thread and submissions page.
Sunday, March 14th 2021
The Atavist Magazine is a digital-only
publication that releases one blockbuster nonfiction story every month. Their
editor-in-chief is accepting pitches for narrative longform stories. Their
baseline rate is $6,000. If interested, email your pitches to seyward@atavist.com. Read their
editor-in-chief’s Tweet here and
learn more about them here.
Tuesday, October 13th 2020
The Atavist Magazine is a digital-only publication that releases one blockbuster nonfiction story every month. Their editor-in-chief has tweeted, “Anyway, as ever, if you're a features writer—or an aspiring one!—and you have a great idea for a cinematic yarn, just a damn good STORY, please pitch me: seyward@atavist.com.” They pay at least $6,000 per story plus expenses. They pay kill fees upfront. To learn more, refer to their editor-in-chief’s Tweet and this page.
Friday, July 3rd 2020
The Atavist Magazine is a digital-only publication that releases one blockbuster nonfiction story every month. They are looking for “pitches for longform, character-driven, narrative nonfiction stories.” The stories should be 8,000 to 30,000 words long. Their editor-in-chief has tweeted: “We've done a lot to boost gender diversity in the last 2 years, but we need to do better wrt other metrics. Female, Black, LQBTQIA+, however you identify—send me your best narrative longform ideas.” They pay at least $6,000 per story plus expenses. They pay kill fees upfront. Send pitches to seyward@atavist.com. For details, refer to this Twitter thread and this page.