The following is a list of calls for pitches directly from editors and publishers. All

We’ve included payment rates when available, as well as contact information. All of these publishers pay at least $500 per article; often significantly more.

Please only approach these publishers if you are confident in your ability to send a pitch.

– Jacob Jans

Thanks to Fatima Saif for her research on this article.

Vice is a digital media and broadcasting company. Their senior features editor has tweeted, “We are going to be commissioning ambitious international features and investigations on gender, inequality, development, colonialism, religion, security, health, misconduct, extremism, climate change, and more. We’re interested in stories from all over the world, and though stories can touch on issues and people in the U.S., they must have an international component. Countries and areas of particular interest right now (and this list is not exhaustive): Chad, South Sudan, Sudan, Burundi, Mozambique, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Brazil, Iran, China, Antarctica, and the Arctic.” Their baseline rate is $0.50 per word. Pitches should be sent to leah.feiger@vice.com. Read their editor’s Twitter thread here and learn more about them here.

Submissions for Modern Love column are open again; the current submission period is September through December. They announced on Twitter recently that they especially encourage BIPOC to submit, as well as those outside of the United States and people who identify as members of L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ communities. Modern Love publishes honest personal essays about contemporary relationships, of 1,500-1,700 words – see guidelines for further details and examples of past published essays; pay is $500. Submissions are also open for Tiny Love Stories (of 100 words), though these are unpaid. Details here (Tweet) and here (submission guidelines – you need to create a free account or log in to access these).

Sisters From AARP is a weekly newsletter that celebrates Black women. Their senior editor is looking for a West Coast writer to write an essay on the wildfires. Pay is $500. If interested, send your pitches to sistersletter@aarp.org. Read their editor’s Tweet here and contact them here.

SNEWS is a B2B publication that is a source for outdoor industry news. They want opinion, reporting, essays, and more for their next print magazine issue. They will pay $0.50 to $1.00 per word. Send your pitches to aweaver@pocketoutdoormedia.com. To learn more, refer to this Tweet. To contact them, refer to this page.

5280 is a monthly magazine and website that covers dining, entertainment, culture, arts, lifestyle, and politics in Denver, Colorado. Their digital editor is looking for pitches for their website. They are always accepting pitches in all categories. Right now, they are “looking to bulk up in a few areas: politics (esp. at the city level), news (localized takes on national topics of interest count!), health, business, and education.” They would “love to see fresh ideas on how to continue to cover COVID-19, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the upcoming election.” Every pitch should be timely and localized (to Denver / Colorado). They strongly encourage writers of diverse backgrounds to pitch. They prefer writers who are local to Colorado. According to payment reports, they pay up to $1.25 per word. If interested, contact erin@5280.com. For details, read their digital editor’s Twitter thread here and their writer’s guidelines here.

Reader’s Digest UK is a general interest family magazine. Their editor is seeking well-researched sex and relationships pitches targeted at a 40+ audience. According to one payment report, they paid £450 for a feature. To learn more, refer to their editor’s Tweet. To contact them, refer to this page.

Reader’s Digest Canada is a general interest family magazine. Their newly appointed assistant digital editor is accepting pitches and playlists at erica.ngao@rd.com. According to payment reports, they pay up to $1 per word. Read their editor’s Tweet here and contact them here.