The Arkansas Advocate is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization dedicated to tough, fair daily reporting and investigative journalism that holds public officials accountable and focuses on the relationship between the lives of Arkansans and public policy. They invite independent journalists to pitch their ideas, whether they have decades of journalism experience or next to none. They seek ideas that are fresh and fulfill their mission to influence the conversation in Arkansas with groundbreaking reporting on issues of importance to Arkansans. Every pitch should include a plan for art. According to their guidelines, they pay $250-$750 depending on the type of piece, and an additional $25 for each photo they run. To learn more, refer to this page.
Communication Arts is the premier source of inspiration for graphic designers, art directors, design firms, corporate design departments, advertising agencies, interactive designers, illustrators and photographers. They are seeking creative industry thought leaders who can contribute well-written opinion columns or reported pieces that cover emerging trends, ethical issues and what it takes to thrive in the visual communication field. They pay a ''highly competitive'' rate or flat fee, which is negotiated upon assignment. To learn more, refer to this page.
Motley Bloom is “a curated collective focused on Neurodivergent First living.” They’re looking for short first-person narratives and articles (500 to 800 words) on “travel, beauty, home design, work and career, product reviews–anything that falls under the umbrella of Neurodivergent Living.” They’re also seeking longer first-person narratives (1,000+ words) that “showcase the diversity of opinion and experience with neurodivergence.” According to their submissions page, rates begin at $300 for short articles and $500 for longer pieces. If interested, email your pitches to pitch@motley-bloom.com. To learn more, refer to their submissions page.
STAT is “an anti-profit arts & culture zine made for the North West.” They’re interested in “stories and writing that help to define present-day art and culture across the North West of England.” They don’t want Manchester city centre stories. According to their pitch guide, pay is £50 for pieces over 500 words and £25 for those below. They also cover transport expenses and event tickets, if necessary.
Intervenxions is a publication of the Latinx Project at New York University committed to “exploring contemporary Latinx art, politics, and culture.” They publish “reviews, criticism, reporting, interviews, and essays on U.S. Latinx art, politics, and culture between 1,500 and 2,500 words.” According to their guidelines, they pay $300 for reviews, interviews, and short essays, and $400 for articles, profiles, and long-form content. To learn more, refer to their editorial guidelines.
The 51st is a worker-led local news source for D.C. Their focus areas include: guides that make living in D.C. easier, Reporting that holds accountable local government, nonprofits, businesses, and other folks in power, stories that showcase the people, arts, and organizations that make D.C. an awesome place to live. According to their rate sheet, their rates range from $150 to $1,000+ per piece. To learn more, refer to this page.
Public Books is “an online magazine of ideas, arts, and scholarship.” As per this post by their TV section editor, they pay an honorarium of $150 per piece to individuals who are not in secure academic positions. To learn more, refer to their submission guidelines.
The New York Amsterdam News is NYC’s oldest Black newspaper. They’re primarily, but not exclusively, seeking New York based freelancers to cover the following areas: general assignment, public safety, religion/church, education, environment, arts, photography. According to their pitch guide, they pay $80/story and $30/photograph. To learn more, refer to this page.
Plinth, a contemporary culture magazine, is accepting pitches. They want to “open up London’s visual art scene and contemporary culture in ways that intrigue and resonate with a broad audience.” According to their pitch guide, they pay £125 for an 800-word piece. To learn more, refer to this page.
Fine Books Magazine is a quarterly magazine about rare books, manuscripts, maps, fine art, and more. They’re 90% freelance written. They welcome proposals from freelance writers, and also assign them topics. Their features are generally 1,500 to 2,000 words long, and they buy about 8 of them a year. The digest section of the magazine contains shorter, newsier pieces of 500 to 700 words. Digest is divided into 3 categories: book, art, and object. They have mentioned negotiating rates with writers based on experience with the subject matter and the level of research. According to a deleted post by their editor, they pay between $200 and $600 per piece. For more information, refer to their guidelines for writers.
The Metropole covers urban history and architecture sponsored by Penn State University. Authors must be solicited by a senior co-editor to participate in a theme month or submit a pitch that clearly articulates the relevance of their proposed post to the theme month. They publish “original pieces on any aspect of urban history or on topics that are of interest to urbanists.” According to their pitch guide, they are currently able to pay $200 per essay for “themed month” articles.
Azure is a magazine focused on contemporary architecture and design. According to an old tweet by their senior editor, they pay $300 to $600. To contact them, refer to this page.
Documentary magazine is a quarterly print journal by the International Documentary Association (IDA). The magazine is dedicated to “covering the art, craft, and business of documentary films.” They publish “interviews with filmmakers, festival dispatches, news items, reported investigations, open letters, critical essays, trend pieces, legal analysis, practical guides for documentarians, updates from IDA, and other essential updates.” According to their guidelines, they pay from $100 to $1,000 per piece. To learn more, refer to their guidelines.
Futuress is a learning and publishing platform that supports democratising design education and empowering marginalised communities. They welcome unsolicited submissions for fact-based essays, interviews, features, investigative reporting, or narrative nonfiction and academic writing. According to their guidelines, they offer an honorarium of 150 CHF for republished content and between 200 CHF and 400 CHF for newly developed texts, depending on the length and level of research and reporting involved. To learn more, refer to their contribution guidelines.
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 a deleted tweet by their editor-in-chief, they pay $0.50 to $1.00 a word for narrative features. To learn more, refer to this page.
The Urbanist is committed to publishing a diverse array of op-eds, articles, and essays on improving the ‘quality of city life’ and ‘urban planning’. According to their pitch guide, deeply reported long articles can earn as much as $400.
Final Gravity tells personal, human-centered stories about beer. They publish writing focused on people, places, ingredients, sensory experiences, cultural intersections, and the holistic ways we interact with and around beer. According to their pitch guide, their rates are about $0.15–$0.25 per word. For short pieces, they pay $125–$175; short features, $175–$250; longer features, $225–$300; and art features, $100. Poetry pays $50 per poem. If a writer is able to take their own quality photography for an article, they pay an extra $25. To learn more, refer to this page.
Pittsburgh City Paper is an alternative newspaper that covers news, restaurants, food, culture, arts, and entertainment in Pittsburgh. They publish reported pieces, profiles, essays, op-eds, etc. According to their pitch guide, rates range from $250 to $750.
Nieman Storyboard is an "online resource" on the art and craft of nonfiction storytelling. They're published by The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. They accept pitches from professionals and students. They publish articles on the craft of nonfiction. They want "stories that go behind the reporting, writing, editing, production and ethics of story work produced across platforms — or about the people producing that work." According to their guidelines, rates start at $200, and can vary depending on time and level of effort required. To learn more, refer to this page.
Darklight Digital is an online platform featuring fresh voices in photography culture. They like stories that have a strong photographic lean. They state that writer’s fees are negotiated depending on the type of feature, but that they are able to offer a higher rate for longer thought pieces than for visual essays. According to an old tweet, their rates begin at £125. To learn more, refer to their pitching guide.
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.
The Leicester Gazette is a not-for-profit local newspaper in Leicester. They’re seeking “investigations, solutions-focused features, news features, human-interest stories, arts and culture features, history features, voices (comment/opinion), photo essays, podcasts, fiction and poetry, and much more!” As they’re a local newspaper, the pieces should be about Leicester. According to their pitch guide, pay is 10p per word. To learn more, refer to this page.
Noema is a magazine that explores the transformations sweeping our world. They publish “essays, interviews, reportage, videos and art on the overlapping realms of philosophy, governance, geopolitics, economics, technology, and culture.” They do not list pay rates publicly, but payment reports indicate they may pay from $0.10 to $1.00 per word. They want pitches or drafts for essays, reported features, interviews, or fiction short stories. To pitch them, refer to this page.
whynow is an online magazine and production studio that features stories from both emerging and established people in arts, music, and entertainment. They’re seeking features, interviews, stories, and reviews related to arts and culture. According to their pitch guide, they pay £50 to £120 for the majority of pieces. Reviews are at the £50 end of the scale for 350-word pieces.
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. They have previously indicated to be open to “other aspects of formal analysis and cultural criticism, interviews, essays, etc,” and according to a deleted tweet, they pay $100-$500. Their submissions page have been removed, but they still have a form for writers available. To find the form, refer to this page.
The Sask Dispatch is a Saskatchewan-focused news publication by Briarpatch Magazine. They publish “articles about Saskatchewan on a range of topics, including provincial and municipal elections, grassroots activism, Indigenous rights, arts and culture, economic justice, ecology, gender equity, harm reduction, and more.” They welcome pitches from anyone with a story to tell. According to their pitch guide, rates are $100 for profiles, short essays, and reviews (less than 1,000 words); $200 for feature stories (1,000-1,500 words) and photo essays; and $300 for research-based articles and investigative reportage (1,500-2,000 words). To learn more, refer to this page.
Mexico News Daily is an English-language news source for Mexico. They accept pitches and submissions (800 to 1,100 words) on travel, culture, history, the arts, and lifestyle. They previously indicated they pay freelancers 3 pesos (about $0.15)/word for 1,100 words maximum. Current rates are not clear. For details, refer to their submission guidelines.
The New York Review of Architecture is “a cooperative of working writers, architects, and artists who review architecture in New York.” They are “particularly interested in pieces that break down architecture’s silos, tying together academia, practice, and the public we all serve.” They value writing that is critical and engaging. In general, they run “profiles, reviews of buildings, books, trends.” According to their pitch guide, their rates for essays and reportage start at $0.25 per word. Rates for commentary and review pieces start at $500. They also publish short, pithy reviews of shows, books, music, art, buildings, and other miscellany of between 100 and 200 words, for which they pay $100.
Vulture is an entertainment news website for the culturally obsessed. They cover TV, movies, comedy, music, theater, art, books, and more. They’re open to pitches for several of their sections. According to their editor’s post, rates generally start at $200, and they pay $150 to $300 for TV recaps. To learn more, refer to their pitch guide.
The Flatlander provides detailed information about important issues impacting Manitoba and Saskatchewan. They have previously indicated to welcome pitches for stories and that topics that they were interested in covering included “the arts, culture, politics, the environment, health, technology, agriculture, education, history, and all things important to people living in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.” They paid 50 cents a word. Because their pitch guide has been removed, current pitching information is unclear. To contact them, refer to this page.