If you want to get paid to write personal essays on interesting topics, this list is for you. It’s a list of websites, magazines, and newspapers that accept submissions of essays directly from writers. All of these publishers pay at least $100 for the essays they publish — and sometimes much more.
For even more opportunities, check out this list of 33 Publishers that Pay for Personal Essays
Real Life Magazine is a website funded by Snapchat. They publish “essays, arguments, and narratives about living with technology.” According to reports, the pay around 15 cents per word. To learn more, read their
contributors page.
Vox is seeking personal narratives for their “First Person” section. They are seeking “provocative personal narratives that explain the most important topics in modern life. ” Reports indicate they pay around $500 per essay. To learn more, read their submission guidelines.
ZEAL is a blog that publishes writing on comics, games, and pop culture. They also publish original comics. They are “interested in writing on games that are not generally the target of serious criticism; games that are too weird, too bad, too forgotten, and too anime. ” They even publish “revisionist fan-fiction.” They pay up to $100 per article, and up to $200 per comic. To learn more, read their
submission guidelines.
Sasee is a women’s lifestyle magazine. They are interested in
500-1,000 word non-fiction submissions for and about women: essays, humor, satire and first-person experiences. Previous writers have reported payment from $100 to $200 per essay. Details
here.
Modern Love is a regular column published by the New York Times. They are “interested in receiving deeply personal essays about contemporary relationships, marriage, dating, parenthood…” They pay $300 per essay. The submissions page is old, but is still up to date. To learn more, or to submit, be sure to read their submission guidelines.
L.A. Affairs is the Los Angeles Times column about the dating scene in L.A. They publish essays with a strong sense of place — rooted in Southern California. They pay $300 per essay. Read their submission guidelines.
Parabola is the magazine published by
The Society for the Study of Myth and Tradition, a non-profit organization. Each issue of Parabola focused on “one of the timeless themes of human existence.” The tag line for the magazine is “the Search for Meaning.” They pay $150 to $400 for essays, 1,000 to 3,000 words. They also accept book reviews, retellings of traditional stories, and poetry. To learn more, and to submit, read their submission
guidelines.
