Refinery29 looks to amplify underrepresented voices and how they are impacted by policy, represented in pop culture, and forge their own paths.They want stories that are surprising, illuminate the world around us, and are written through a local lens. According to their publishing guidelines, personal essays and shorter reported articles will start at AUD$200 and go up from there depending on the piece. A thorough explainer, or something that involves multiple interviews, will start at AUD$300. To learn more, refer to this page.

Rooted is a publication uplifting underrepresented voices in media, arts, and entertainment. They are interested in interviews and profiles, media commentary and critiques, narrative journalism, personal essays, news, and reviews. Their rates are negotiable depending on the needs of a story and are determined at the time of assignment. They pay a 50% cancellation fee. To learn more, refer to this page.

Refinery29’s mission is to help women see, feel, and claim their power. Their Canadian edition aims to shine a spotlight on the Canadian stories and issues that resonate with their Gen-Z and millennial audience. They publish everything from personal essays to reported trend pieces to features on race, reproductive rights, and pop culture. According to their pitch guide, they typically pay $150 for short market roundups and $350 for a thorough news explainer with interviews. Personal essays and shorter reported articles start at $350 and increase from there, depending on the piece. To learn more, refer to this page.

The Floor Magazine is an online and print publication celebrating black art and their artists. They welcome pitches for reviews of art (music albums, films, books, photography exhibitions etc), commentary, interviews (Q&A or profile), personal essays, and long form essays. They pay a flat rate for 800-1200 word pieces. To learn more, refer to this page.

Greater Good, the online magazine of the Greater Good Science Center, reports on scientific findings into the roots of individual and collective well-being, positive relationships, and compassionate behavior—what they call “the science of a meaningful life.” They are looking for experienced journalists or subject-matter experts, and don't accept articles on spec, only pitches. According to their pitch guide, their base rate is 25 cents per assigned word. For certain types of pieces, they pay a flat rate: $220 for a research brief; $300 for a Q&A with an interview subject; $200-300 for pieces originally published elsewhere that require revision, and $300 for personal essays. To learn more, refer to this page.

Into The Spine publishes stories about video games and what they leave behind. They want contributors to talk about the stuff they love and tell stories about games, from indies to AAAs. According to their pitch guide, they pay a flat rate of $30 for shorter pieces between 150 to 300 words and $60 for personal essays, stories, and opinion articles ranging between 500 to 700 words. They are not always open to submissions. To learn more, refer to their submission guidelines.

Extra Points is “a newsletter about business, policy, and off-the-field stories in college sports.” They’re looking for freelance pitches. They’re interested in “reported stories, personal essays, and interviews in the ‘off-the-field stories in college sports’ umbrella.” According to a tweet by their founder, they pay a base rate of $350. They also give bonuses for driving new subscriptions. Send your pitches to matt@extrapointsmb.com. To learn more, refer to their ‘about’ page. 

Open Secrets is an online magazine that publishes memorable and revealing personal essays on the topics we are taught to keep “secret.” They are open to essays on all personal experiences. According to their guidelines, they pay authors $50 per essay. To learn about their most recent call for writers, refer to this page.

Polyester is an intersectional feminist fashion and culture zine. The Dollhouse, their digital membership platform, releases weekly creative content including personal essays, creative writing, researched features, art, and photography. According to an old tweet by their editor, they pay £50 for 1,000 words. To contribute, refer to this page.

Bolts is “a digital magazine that covers the nuts and bolts of power and political change, from the local up.” They’re always seeking freelancers to report on stories related to voting rights and criminal justice across the US. Most of the stories they publish involve original reporting, and according to their pitch guide, they pay $800. They currently do not publish personal essays or op-eds. To learn more, refer to this page.

POCIT highlights the stories of POC within the sphere of tech and startups. They primarily look for career-focused content but also accept personal essays, opinion pieces, mega-exclusive interviews, and hard-hitting investigative pieces. They are not always open to submissions. According to their pitch guide, rates begin at $100 for personal essays.

Allrecipes is a community-driven food brand. They are always looking for new writers, recipe developers, and equipment reviewers to join their team of contributors. They are accepting recipes, technique-driven service articles, and features (particularly personal essays and food histories). A payment report indicates they paid $0.47 for a 750-word opinion. As per an old tweet by their editorial director, their rates start at $250. To learn how to pitch them, scroll to the bottom of this page.

SICK is a magazine by chronically ill and disabled people. They publish personal essays, creative and experimental nonfiction, reported features, op-eds, interviews, book & film reviews, poetry, and visual art. They prefer full draft submissions but consider pitches from writers who share relevant examples of their work. According to their guidelines, they pay 12 cents per word, and $90 for poetry and artwork. For details, refer to this page.

Health.com is a source for information on fitness, nutrition, beauty, wellness, and lifestyle. The majority of their readers are female. Their previous pitch guide detailed rates as $200-$1,000 for personal essays and topical service; $250-$1,000 for reports/trend pieces; $200-$500 for explainers, as told to, and social trends; and $150 to $300 for product reviews. Current rates and pitching information are unclear, but they're actively looking for new writers. To learn more, visit this page.

The Financial Diet is a cross-platform media company and a digital destination where young women can talk about money. They are always seeking new freelance writers for their website. According to an old tweet from their creative director, they pay $250 for personal essays of 800 to 1,000 words. For details, refer to their write for us page.

The Xylom is a media outlet that creates “personal stories of science and humanity.” They are looking for personal essays (1,200-1,500 words) that are “at least tangentially related to science”, science analysis and opinion pieces (1,200-1,500 words), narrative-driven science feature stories, and 10-ish-word stories. According to their pitch guide, they pay every storyteller $200, with the opportunity to earn more.

The Dance Current is a Canadian dance magazine. They publish 4 times a year. They invite writers and dance artists either from Canada or living in Canada to pitch them. They accept pitches for reviews, Q & A’S, personal essays, body columns, tips columns, poetry, feature profiles, feature stories, and photo essays, both for print and online. According to their contributor guidelines, they pay $125 to $400 per piece.

Economic Hardship Reporting Project (EHRP) is a nonprofit organization that produces compelling journalism about income inequality and poverty in America. They commission “news stories, narrative features, short and feature-length documentaries, nonfiction comics, illustrated works, photo essays, podcasts and radio features about economic inequality in the United States. Personal essays are welcome only if they are completed or close-to-completed. According to their pitch guide, they pay $750 to $1500 for news stories, and up to $2,500 for narrative features and investigative reports. They generally pay $1.00 to $1.25 per word. They also have grants to cover travel expenses, up to $2,000.

Can I Play That? is a community where disabled gamers share their stories of game accessibility. They are looking for personal essays, industry accessibility analysis, commentary/features, and more. They publish 2 paid pieces a month. According to an old tweet, they pay $100/piece. For more information, refer to their submission guidelines. 

Borderless Magazine is a nonprofit online publication that covers labor, justice, and advocacy issues affecting the Midwestern immigrant communities. They welcome reported feature story, comics, and as-told-to story pitches from freelance journalists. They also welcome personal essay pitches from immigrants. They encourage pitches from immigrants, people of color, LGBTQ community, and women. In 2020, 93% of their stories were written, photographed/illustrated by people of color. According to an old tweet, their rate for reported stories starts at $250. Pitches should be sent to pitch@borderlessmag.org. You can contact them here.

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.

Winnipeg Police Cause Harm (WPCH) is a community-centered police abolitionist group that shares "articles and personal essays that tell unique stories from across Canada related to defunding and abolishing carceral systems of policing, prisons, and migrant detention.” Their previous pitch guide indicated that they accepted pitches for blog posts on an ongoing basis, were committed to publishing writers of color, and paid BIPOC writers $100 for posts over 1,000 words and $50 for posts under 1,000 words. Pitches should be sent to wpgpolicecauseharm@gmail.com. They no longer have a pitch guide, but the email is the same. Visit their website here.

Arkansas Soul is a digital media publication that publishes content for BIPOC by BIPOC in Arkansas. They have previously indicated to accept pitches, and that topics could include politics, arts, music, culture, history, fashion, business, news, personal essay, and interviews – all centered on the Black or minority experience in Arkansas. Pay was $150 to $300. Their submissions page has been removed, so current pitching information is not clear. To contact them, refer to this page.

Carefree Magazine is “a Black women's magazine dedicated to the wanderers, late bloomers, and dreamers.” They're always seeking “pitches that speak firsthand to the Black woman’s experience.” They accept pitches for personal essays, fiction, culture pieces, and for their Hair Diaries, Twelve Out of Ten, and Adventures Unknown columns. According to a tweet, they pay $100 per piece. To learn more, refer to their submissions page.

Flintside is a weekly online news magazine based in Flint. They cover arts, culture, diversity, community development, economic development, entrepreneurship, public health, education, sustainability, technology, and transportation in the city of Flint. They want  pitches for articles, personal essays, and other content. According to a deleted tweet by editor, they pay $50 to $150 for short, community-focused pieces. To learn more, visit this page.

Asparagus Magazine is a publication that is “dedicated to telling the large and small stories of how we can live sustainably, from an environmental, social, and cultural perspective.” Their “audience is primarily on the West Coast, and located in both Canada and the US.” They are seeking traditionally reported feature journalism, creative non-fiction, and personal essays/opinion pieces on environmental and social justice topics. They are interested in pieces between 800–1,500-word range and some features with exceptions that run into 2,000-3,000-words. According to their guidelines, they pay an average of C$0.25/word. They get funding from the Canadian government that requires them to prioritize Canadian creators. To learn more, refer to their submission guidelines.

OkayAfrica is a media company that connects a global audience to Africa. They cover culture, music, dance, style, visual art, politics, and health. They have previously indicated the general formats they would like for stories to be interviews, service journalism, opinion pieces/personal essays, short features, longer features, and video/photo/socials. According to an old tweet from their director of editorial operations, in the past, they have paid $150 to $200 for straightforward pieces. As per a payment report from 2023, they paid $0.25 per word for a 1000-word news story. Their pitch guide has been removed, but you can contact them here.

Hippocampus Magazine is “an online publication set out to entertain, educate and engage writers and readers of creative nonfiction.” They want true stories; intensely personal experiences that reflect universal truths about what it means to be human. They are looking for personal essays & memoir excerpts, max 4,000 words, and flash creative nonfiction, max 800 words. According to their guidelines, they pay an honorarium of $40 to contributors. They charge a submission fee; you must contact them to learn about how to get a fee exemption. Details here.

ILY is an online magazine about love. They cover “all variations of love, from kinship to romance, ILY features essays, interviews, vignettes, photography, poetry, interviews, and other forms of art.” They are always seeking love/dating pitches. According to an old tweet, they pay up to $200 for reported stories/trend pieces (think less tik-tok trends, more larger studies) on self-love, dating, romance, friendship, parenthood and familial love. They don't accept personal essays. To contact them, refer to the email at the bottom of their about page.