The following is a list of editors and publishers seeking pitches directly from freelance writers on a wide variety of topics.
Please do not pitch these editors unless you are confident your idea closely matches their needs.
If you aren’t sure how to generate the right ideas and craft a good pitch, then I highly recommend The No B.S. Course on Freelance Writing. You can learn more about it here.
Sincerely,
Jacob Jans
PS: Thanks to Fatima Saif for her extensive work on this article.
Increment is a quarterly “print and digital magazine about how teams build and operate software systems at scale.” They are seeking pitches on all things remote. They want pitches about “org structure, process, access, research, transformations, inclusion, learning, experiments, communication, failures, surprises, the works.” They pay $1 per word for “original through-written pieces” and fair rates for other types of work. Send pitches to submissions@increment.com. Read their editor-in-chief’s Tweet here and learn more here.
The Atavist Magazine is a digital-only publication that releases one blockbuster nonfiction story every month. They are looking for “pitches for longform, character-driven, narrative nonfiction stories.” The stories should be 8,000 to 30,000 words long. Their editor-in-chief has tweeted: “We’ve done a lot to boost gender diversity in the last 2 years, but we need to do better wrt other metrics. Female, Black, LQBTQIA+, however you identify—send me your best narrative longform ideas.” They pay at least $6,000 per story plus expenses. They pay kill fees upfront. Send pitches to seyward@atavist.com. For details, refer to this Twitter thread and this page.
The Wall Street Journal provides coverage of news, business, politics, technology, real estate, arts, culture, and more from the US and around the world. They are seeking “pitches for WSJ Mag online (interviews, Q&A’s, profiles, features, etc.) for July and August.” They don’t want essays or commentaries. According to payment reports, they pay $0.66 per word. Send your pitches to myles.tanzer@wsj.com. For details, refer to this Tweet. To read the magazine, refer to this page.
OneZero is a Medium publication about technology and science. They are accepting freelance pitches. They highly value “future-facing tech and science, scoopy reported stories.” Email their commissioning editors at yasmin@medium.com, mz@medium.com, skessler@medium.com, and bmerchant@medium.com. Payment reports indicate that they pay up to $1.25 per word. To learn more, refer to this Tweet and this page.
Whetstone Magazine is a print and digital magazine about global food culture and origins. They are accepting pitches for stories. They will pay $300 per piece. Send pitches to whetstonemagazine@gmail.com. For details, refer to their founder’s Tweet. To contact them, refer to this page.
Narratively publishes original and untold human stories. Their editorial assistant is seeking “reported stories and memoir pieces that shed a light on labor justice around the world, spotlighting compelling characters with truly unique methods for fighting against gentrification, exploitation and abuse in the workforce.” The length of most of their stories is 1,500 to 3,000 words. They pay $400 for reported stories and $300 for memoir pieces. Send pitches or submissions to julia@narratively.com. To learn more, refer to this Twitter thread and this page.
Deadline: July 15th, 2020
The Texas Observer is a bimonthly magazine and website that offers sharp reporting on news, politics, and culture of Texas. They are looking for freelancers. They publish short news stories (500 to 1,000 words), political commentaries and opinions (500 to 1,000 words), book reports (800 to 1,200 words), features (1,500 to 4,000 words), culture features (2,000 to 3,500 words), essays (1,000 to 1,500 words), postcards (2,000 to 3,500 words), and poems (30 lines or shorter). According to payment reports, they pay up to $0.50 per word. Send your pitches to pitches@texasobserver.org. For details, refer to their Tweet and writer’s guide.
Oklahoma Today is a regional bimonthly magazine that covers Oklahoma’s people, places, culture, history, food, and events. They are always seeking “great new voices, especially from BIPOC writers, photographers, and artists in or from Oklahoma.” Their base rate is $0.33 per word. Their stories are typically 600 to 2,000 words. Their rate for poetry is $100. Contact their editor-in-chief at nathan.gunter@travelok.com. Read his Tweet here and their submission guidelines here.
Rewire.News is a daily online publication that publishes evidence-based news, commentary, analysis, and investigative reporting on sexual and reproductive health, rights, and justice. Their senior editor is accepting pitches, especially related to sex and parenting. According to payment reports, they pay $250 to $300 per piece. Send pitches to gim.esther@rewire.news. To learn more, refer to their editor’s Twitter thread and their pitching guidelines.
MedTruth is a digital magazine that reports on health, safety, and justice. They are “accepting July pitches related to drugs, medical devices, patient safety, justice, chronic illness & summer.” Writers of color, LGBTQ+, Trans, BIPOC to the front. Pay is $0.25/word for non-reported writing and $0.40/word for original reporting. Send your pitches to info@medtruth.com. For details, refer to this Twitter thread. To learn more about them, refer to this page.
