If you want to get paid to write, here’s a variety of magazines, and websites that pay up to $600 or more per article.
If you’re brand new to freelance writing, I highly recommend taking Litworth’s course on pitching. You’ll learn how to actually get your pitch accepted (so you can get paid) — and you’ll learn this very quickly. Check it out.
Adi Magazine
General Interest / NewsAdi Magazine is a literary magazine of global politics that is dedicated to rehumanizing policy. They publish fiction, poetry, nonfiction (essays, interviews, and reportage), and translated work alongside original illustrations. According to their guidelines, they pay $600 for essays, $250 for interviews, $150 per poem, $500 for short fiction (up to 5,000 words), and $200 for flash fiction (under 1,000 words). To learn more, refer to this page.
Roadtrippers Magazine
TravelRoadtrippers Magazine “celebrates road culture, Americana, and the great outdoors.” They are occasionally seeking new contributors to tell stories from the North American road. They are not always open to submissions. According to their pitch guide, they typically pay $100 to $600, based on length, article type, and how much reporting is required.
Going
TravelGoing offers cheap flight deals. They regularly seek calls for pitches on a variety of travel related topics. According to their write for us page, their rates range from $250 to $600.
Software Testing Help (STH)
TechnologySoftware Testing Help (STH) is a software testing blog. They want topics based on the writer’s area of expertise. It can be any technical or non-technical topic where you have hands-on experience. They previously indicated to pay $200 to $600 for a tutorial, but current pay rates are not clear. To learn more, refer to this page.
CircleCI
TechnologyCircleCI is a continuous integration and delivery platform that helps software teams release quality code, faster. They allow freelancers to write on topics of their own choice. According to their pitch guide, they pay $600 per accepted blog post.
Teen Vogue
FashionTeen Vogue is an online publication that offers the latest on fashion, celebrity style, entertainment, beauty, teen issues, etc. They accept pitches for reported and op-ed pieces across the following sections: culture (covers TV, movies, music, internet culture, etc), identity (covers mental health, sexual health, body image, etc), style & beauty (highlights trends, changemakers, celebrity styles, and more), politics (covers social justice, politics, history, and education.) According to an old tweet from their news & politics editor, they generally pay $250 to $600 per piece, and according to a payment report, they paid $0.29 per word for a 1400-word story. To learn more, refer to their pitch guide.
Foodism
Food & NutritionFoodism is a food print magazine published by twenty-two, a Canadian publishing house and creative agency. They pay for print-first features, which are then repurposed online, and are interested in original stories that explore Toronto’s diverse and layered food scene. They also accept travel features, which must have a unique perspective. According to their pitch guide, they pay $600 for 1,200 – 1,500 words and $0.40 per word for the travel guides, which should be 500 words and up. To learn more, refer to this page.
Escapism
TravelEscapism is a travel print magazine published by twenty-two, a Canadian publishing house and creative agency. They pay for print-first travel guides, which are then repurposed online. Their travel features are also included in the company's food magazine, Foodism. For those, features don’t have to have a food or beverage angle, but they do need a unique perspective. Escapism's travel guides are less about first-person experiences in longform, and more about what to see, eat and do in a given destination. According to their pitch guide, they pay $600 for features of 1,200 – 1,500 words, and $0.40 per word for the travel guides, which should be 500 words and up. To learn more, refer to this page.
Long Now
Philosophy and CultureLong Now is a non-profit organization that fosters long-term thinking. Their pitch guide says, “Our work encourages imagination at the timescale of civilization — the next and last 10,000 years — a timespan we call the long now.” They want stories that explore the ‘long now’ of climate change, the rise and fall of civilizations, biotechnology and artificial intelligence, economics, architecture, and more. They accept pitches for essays (1,200 - 3,000 words), reported features (1,200 to 3,000 words), interviews (2,000 to 3,000 words), book reviews, shorter articles, fiction, and poems for Ideas, their living archive of long-term thinking. According to their pitch guide, rates begin at $600 for features and essays and range between $300 and $600 for interviews, reviews, science journalism, and news articles. They pay $100 for science fiction stories and $25 for poems.
Scout Life
Lifestyle / EntertainmentScout Life (Formerly Boys’ Life) is a monthly magazine published by the Boy Scouts of America. Articles should interest and entertain scouts aged 6-17. They cover a broad range of non-fiction, from professional sports to American history. Department pieces include nature, aviation, health, pets, history, and music. Fiction is assignment-only. Articles run 500-1,200 words for major non-fiction articles and up to 600 words for departments. According to their guidelines, pay is $500-$1,200 for major non-fiction articles and $100-$600 for departments. To learn more, refer to this page.
Fine Books Magazine
Lifestyle / EntertainmentFine 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.
Wellbeing
Health and WellnessWellbeing is an Australian publication about holistic health, sustainability, and spirituality. They look for articles that are empowering, informative, and entertaining. They've previously indicated pay of AU$600 to AU$700 for feature articles typically 2,000 words long, AU$750 for travel articles, AU$1700 for special reports, and AU$150 for real life experience articles of 800-1000 words. Current pay rates are not clear. To learn more, refer to their contributor guidelines.
The Cut
Lifestyle / EntertainmentThe Cut publishes stories that address their readers’ lives head-on, with generous wit, honesty, and power. They are in a dynamic conversation with women about the issues that matter to them most — politics, feminism, work, money, relationships, mental health, fashion, and issues relating to equality — and they're always looking for ideas that add to that conversation. They are looking smart, generous, funny writing for their four verticals: POWER, SELF, STYLE, and CULTURE. According to their guidelines, they pay $500 minimum for essays and columns (1,000–1,500 words) and $600 minimum for features (1,500–2,000) words. To learn more, refer to this page.
Stanford Social Innovation Review (SSIR)
Human Rights / Social JusticeStanford Social Innovation Review (SSIR) is a quarterly print magazine and website that covers “cross-sector solutions to global problems.” They are based at Stanford University’s Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society. They aim to inform leaders of social change. For the print magazine, they accept 6 types of editorial articles: book review (1,700 words), case study (4,000-6,000 words), feature (4,500-6,000 words), field report (1,700 words), viewpoint (1,500 words), and what's next (700-800 words). For the website, they look for shorter works (1,200-2,000 words). According to an old tweet by their editor, they pay $600 for 800-word articles and $1,500 for 1,700-word articles. They pay $600 for 1,700-word book reviews. For more information, refer to their submission guidelines.