Creative Loafing Charlotte is a print and online newspaper that is a “go-to source for all things arts and entertainment in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg area of North Carolina.” They publish reviews, profiles, polemical essays, investigative pieces, stories about local institutions, and more. According to their guidelines, their pay generally starts at 10 cents per word. To learn more, refer to this page.
Portland Mercury is an alternative newspaper, website and blog that covers Portland, Oregon’s news, politics, fashion, film, music, arts, events and entertainment. An old payment report suggests that they paid $0.15 per word for a 1900-word feature. To contact them, refer to this page.
Bay Nature is a quarterly magazine that is “dedicated to the intelligent and joyful exploration of the natural places, plants, and wildlife of the San Francisco Bay Area.” They welcome queries from freelance journalists, writers, thinkers, scientists, photographers, conservation leaders, artists, cartographers, and infographic designers. They pay contributors based on their experience, but as a nonprofit, independent media organization, don’t pay as much as they’d like to. Further details can be found here.
Style Weekly is Richmond, Virginia's alternative weekly for news, events, culture, arts and opinion. Their mission is to provide a “smart, witty and tenacious coverage of Richmond.” According to an old payment report, they paid $0.25 per word for a 1000-word feature. To contribute, refer to this page.
Mud Season Review is an international literary journal run by members of the Burlington Writers Workshop, a free writing workshop based in Vermont. They seek deeply human work that will teach something about life, but also about the craft of writing or visual art. According to their guidelines, they pay $50 for work that appears in their issues. To learn more, refer to this page.
Ninth Letter is the award-winning literary arts journal edited and produced by the Creative Writing Program at the University of Illinois. They are interested in prose and poetry that experiment with form, narrative, and nontraditional subject matter, as well as more traditional literary work. They charge a submission fee, but there are waivers. According to their guidelines, they pay $25 per poem and $100 for prose. To learn more, refer to this page.
Pennsylvania Heritage magazine is published by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission with the Pennsylvania Heritage Foundation. They focus on Pennsylvania's "rich culture and historic legacy." Articles on such varied topics as archaeology, architecture, decorative arts, fine arts, folklife, heritage foods, historic sites, industry and technology, military history, natural history, oral history, paleontology, political history, popular culture, and social history are suitable. According to their guidelines, they pay between $250 and $500. To learn more, refer to their submission guidelines.
Ohio Magazine is a regional magazine for the state of Ohio, covering travel destinations, interesting Ohioanns, arts and culture, as well as local trends. Their magazine departments cover Travel, Arts + Events, Food + Drink and History, Heritage + Home. In addition, they seek out features running between 1,100 and 1,800 words. These can be history pieces, features on travel destinations of note or profiles on interesting Ohioans. Pay rates are not mentioned. Read their submission guidelines here.
Charleston Style & Design is a local magazine that publishes articles about architecture, fashion, businesses, food, and travel of interest to people in Charleston, South Carolina, and the surrounding region. They previously indicated to pay $200 for personal essays that offer a relatable story and good insight, but their guidelines have been removed. To contact them, refer to this page.
The Broad Street Review is an online arts and culture journal serving the greater Philadelphia area. They accept pitches in theater, music, visual art, exhibitions (not limited to museum exhibits), dance, books, film, television, and design. They also accept personal essay pitches, especially those with a tie to life in the Philadelphia area, and pitches that are relevant to grassroots social and political efforts (like activist profiles), the creative economy, and public spaces. According to their guidelines, fees range from $50 for previews, profiles, and reviews; with essays and some longer profiles and features paying $100. To learn more, refer to their submission guidelines.
Smoky Mountain Living Magazine covers the southern Appalachians and its environment, people, crafts, music and art. They previously indicated to pay $250-450 for features (1,500-3,500 words), $200 for non-fiction/personal essay (1,000-1,500 words), and $125 for Mountain Views essay and departments (700-850 words), but current rates are unclear. Details here.
Washington City Paper is a source for local news for D.C. natives and newcomers. Stories should be about the city and its surroundings, and narratives with a conflict of some sort at the center are preferred. They publish a variety of journalistic genres, including profiles, investigative pieces, polemical essays, stories about local institutions, and an occasional first person narrative. They have news, arts and food departments that accept shorter pieces, an arts blog, and reviews. No op-ed pieces or ‘service journalism’. The word count is 2,500-5,000 for cover stories; 900-2,000 for departments; 500-2,000 for reviews; 150-250 for City Lights. Pay rates are not mentioned, but according to a payment report, they paid $0.19 per word for a 800-word profile or interview. Details here.
Seattle Magazine wants news-related stories about the city and region, civic and social issues, local travel, food news, home, interiors, and other lifestyle stories, arts and culture, home and garden, and front-of-book features. Rates were previously listed as $400-$1,000 for features; $350 for departments; $50-100 for very short pieces. Current rates are unclear. Details here.
Ft. Myers & Southwest Florida is a bimonthly magazine – “the leading ‘arts & living’ publication in Southwest Florida.” Its content is focused on local and national arts and lifestyles. Its audience includes “educated, active, creative and successful residents of Southwest Florida, ages 20-75 years old.” They previously indicated to pay $50-$100 for 500-1000 words and $100-$150 for 1,000-1,500 words, but their guidelines are no longer available, so current rates are unclear. To learn more, refer to the ''writers wanted'' section on their about us page.
Milwaukee Magazine is a monthly magazine covering people, issues, and places in Milwaukee and southeastern Wisconsin. They are interested in timely stories about current issues, local personalities, area business, sports, health care, education, politics, arts and culture, architecture and urban life, history, food, shopping, music and nightlife, recreation and the environment. They are particularly looking for writers who can deliver brightly written, well-researched service stories but are also interested in in-depth narrative features (from profiles to investigative stories) from qualified reporters. Pay rates are not mentioned. Details here.
The North Coast Journal (of Politics, People and Art) is a newspaper published in Humboldt County, CA. Its editors do not want “straight hard news articles, inverted pyramids” – they look for articles “that people want to read simply for the pleasure of reading.” Editors want this publication “to tell the story of Humboldt County, one chapter at a time” through features – narratives, reported essays, and experimental writing. They previously indicated payment as $300-400 for cover stories (3,000-4,000 words) and $100-150 for upfront stories (1,000-1,500 words). Current rates are not clear. To learn more, refer to their writers’ guidelines.
Newcity wants timely, magazine-style stories about Chicago, its culture, or topics of interest to the urban dweller. They like stories about politics, the arts, social affairs, and social policy. In print, “front-of-book” features run 1,000-10,000 words, but can go up to any length appropriate. According to their guidelines, stories that run only on their web sites, and all reviews that run online or in print, are paid $40 each. In print, section features are $125; longer “front-of-book” features pay $100-$600 and up—roughly thirteen cents per assigned word. Details here.
Traverse, Northern Michigan, and Northern Home & Cottage magazines traditionally covered Northwest Michigan, but now include pieces based in the northeastern Lower Peninsula and the Upper Peninsula. Editors look for strongly rooted in the region articles on regional culture, food and dining, home and cottages, history, nature and the environment, arts and crafts, and personalities. Editors buy the one-time right to publish in magazines and the right to publish on the website. According to their guidelines, payment ranges from $50-$100 for online stories and up to $700 for longer format print features (1,500-3,000 words). Departments are expected to be under 700 words. To learn more, refer to their submission guidelines.
Resurgence & Ecologist Magazine is a bi-monthly magazine that covers environmental issues, social justice, engaged activism, spiritual values, arts, and more. They accept pitches for articles. According to an old tweet by their editor, they pay £100 for 500-word articles and £200 for 1,000-word articles. To learn more, refer to their pitch guidelines.
Smithsonian Magazine ‘’places a Smithsonian lens on the world, looking at the topics and subject matters researched, studied and exhibited by the Smithsonian Institution—science, history, art, popular culture and innovation.’’ They accept proposals from established freelance writers. When sending in your pitch for a history article, you must supply links to previously published works. While no pay is listed on their website, according to a payment report, they paid $0.23 per word. According to a deleted tweet, their print rates are $2.00 per word. To learn more, refer to their print magazine pitch guidelines and website pitch guidelines.
Solarpunk Magazine publishes fiction, poetry, essays, and art that envisions a hopeful and sustainable future. According to their guidelines, they pay $.08 per word for fiction ($100 minimum), $40 per poem, and $75 for nonfiction (per essay or article). To learn more, refer to this page.
The Offing is an online literary magazine publishing creative writing in all genres and art in all media. According to their guidelines, they pay a $25–$100 fee, depending on department and number/length of works published. To learn more, refer to this page.
The Suburban Review is a quarterly digital journal of short fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry and art. They’re interested in publishing the work of writers from all over Australia and the world. According to their guidelines, they pay $450 for fiction of 2000-2500 words, $400 for creative non-fiction of 1250-2000 words, and $375 for one poem over 30 lines. To learn more, refer to this page.
Grain is an internationally acclaimed literary journal that publishes engaging, surprising, eclectic, and challenging writing and art by Canadian and international writers and artists. They are interested in poetry, fiction, and literary nonfiction. According to their guidelines, all contributors, regardless of genre, are paid $50 per page to a maximum of $250. To learn more, refer to this page.
Fairy Tale Review is an annual literary journal dedicated to publishing new fairy tales and to helping raise public awareness of fairy tales as a diverse, innovative art form. They consider prose fiction, verse fiction, nonfiction, creative scholarship, and poetry; they also welcome work that does not fall neatly into any category. According to their guidelines, they pay a $50 honorarium. To learn more, refer to this page.
Mizna presents contemporary, critical, and experimental art, writing, and film centering the work of Arab and Southwest Asian and North African artists. In general, literary works of poetry, visual poetry, fiction, flash fiction, nonfiction, creative nonfiction, and comics are considered. According to one of their calls, contributors receive a $200 honorarium. To learn more, refer to the bottom of this page.
Artlink is a quarterly magazine devoted to art in the Asia-Pacific. Each issue is themed and covers the cutting edge of contemporary art. They have previously indicated to welcome proposals for essays, articles, exhibition or book reviews and guest-edited thematic issues. Current pitching information is unclear. To contact them, refer to this page.
Artforum is a magazine focused on the world of contemporary art. They also focus on film, photography, music, fashion, and architecture. According to an old payment report, they paid $0.27 per word for a 750-word criticism/review article. To contact them, refer to this page.
Artsy is a platform for collecting and discovering art. It is “used by art lovers, museum-goers, patrons, collectors, students, and educators to discover, learn about, and collect art.” According to an old payment report, they paid $0.20 per word for a 1000-word feature. To pitch them, visit their contact us page and refer to the ''editorial'' section.
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.