15 Publishers that Pay for Writing on Climate Change

Want to get paid to write about climate change?

These publishers work with freelance writers. All of them pay for writing on climate change.

If you want to actually get paid by these publications, you’ll need to learn how to write a good pitch. The good news, is you can easily learn how to write a good pitch, if you have the right guidance.

And you can get that guidance for free, with a free trial to Litworth.

The author of their course on pitching, Maggie Gigandet was published by the Atavist, listed below in this article. Maggie was very new to freelance writing when she landed the publication. If you want to learn how she did it — and how you can land these types of assignments, I highly recommend taking her course. Sign up for a free trial, and take Maggie’s pitching course here.

If you’re already confident in your pitching skills, then I encourage you to check out the list below.

1

National Wildlife

Environmental & Sustainability

National Wildlife is a magazine published by the National Wildlife Federation, the largest private conservation group in the United States. It is quarterly, has an average circulation per issue of more than 300,000 and focuses on storytelling related to wildlife and habitat conservation, environmental justice, climate change, and more. They are looking for features from 1,000 to 2,000 words and departments (short pieces) from 350 to 900 words. According to their pitch guide, they pay $1.50 a word for print. For web, pay is negotiated per article and typically starts at $250. To learn more, refer to this page.

2

Long Now

Philosophy and Culture

Long 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.

3

The Lead

British

The Lead is a micro-mag about politics and culture. They cover “the sharp angles that define our life in the UK today: poverty, racism, climate change, corporate and government malfeasance, the breakdown of our healthcare system and the fracturing of the state.” According to their pitch guide, op-eds start at £200 for 800-1200 words, features are paid from £400 for around 1500 words, and fees for investigations and long reads are negotiated individually. To learn more, refer to this page.

4

Vox

Lifestyle / Entertainment

Vox is a general interest website that covers public policy, politics, world affairs, climate, culture, technology, science, health, and business. They accept pitches in a variety of categories, including money, technology, culture, and climate. According to a pitch guide document posted by their deputy editor, rates are $0.50 to $1.00 a word or more for their Future Perfect section. They also accept pitches for their climate section. To learn more, refer to this page.

5

Governing

General Interest / News

Governing provides news, analysis and insights for the people making government work. It is a trusted source of record for people who lead, manage and direct public agencies as they work towards well-managed, vibrant and resilient communities. They welcome pitches from journalists for stories and features on issues of interest to state and local government, including the effects of dramatic changes in technology, demography, climate and the economy that are driving societal transformation, as well as explorations of politics, policy, public management, infrastructure, public finance, social issues and economic development. They pay freelancers competitively. To learn more, refer to this page.

6

Audobon

Lifestyle / Entertainment

Audubon publishes journalism, photography, and illustrations to "to celebrate the joy and wonder of birds and to inform its readers about the natural world, inspire them to care passionately about that world, and motivate them to take action on its behalf." They`re interested in issues that affect birds through a much broader lens—whether that’s native and invasive species, land use, pesticides, climate change, racial and environmental justice, and many more topics. They prefer freelancers to write articles of 1,500 words to 4,000 words, with a preference for 3,000 words. According to their pitch guide, they pay $0.50 to $1.50 per word. To learn more, refer to this page.

7

Overland

General Interest / News

Overland is a magazine of cultural criticism, essays, and literature. They are interested in articles on economic inequality, housing, arts policy and governance, climate change, and environmental justice. They are looking for thoughtful, provocative and argumentative articles, pieces that will provoke discussion and debate. Articles should be 800 to 1200 words. According to their pitch guide, they pay $180 per published online piece.

8

Talking Points Memo (TPM)

General Interest / News

Talking Points Memo (TPM) is a web-based political news organization that covers “politics, policy and national news in Washington D.C. and beyond.” They are particularly interested in stories relating to climate, economic policy, and labor. According to their pitch guide, they pay competitive rates. According to an old payment report, they paid $0.25 per word. To learn more, refer to their pitching guidelines.

9

Asimov Press

Science

Asimov Press features writing about biology and its impact on our world. They welcome pitches from “writers who can make sense of biology’s impacts on climate, energy, security, agriculture, materials, and medicine.” They publish essays; Moonshots; speculative fiction; interviews and photo essays. They have previously indicated to pay $1,500 for articles under 2,500 words, $2,000 for longer pieces, and $1,000 for fiction. To learn more, refer to their pitch guide.

10

Mother Jones

General Interest / News

Mother Jones is an investigative news organization. They report on politics, criminal and racial justice, democracy, human rights, education, climate change, food/agriculture, and more. They commission revelatory and dynamic stories that teach people something they didn’t already know. According to their pitch guide, print rates begin at $1.75/word, while their online rates begin at $0.75/word. For more details, refer to their freelance writer guidelines.

11

Informed Comment

General Interest / News

Informed Comment is a website covering news, politics, and foreign policy, especially about the Middle East, South Asia, and the United States. Topics include religion, human rights, women’s rights, workers’ rights, religious discrimination, and energy and climate change. Authors for Informed Comment are typically high-powered professionals with higher degrees and/or extensive publications in national, prominent venues. They seek out topical, original opinion pieces that make a single point and run 800-1000 words. According to their pitch guide, payment is $100 per article. To learn more, refer to their submission guidelines.

12

Outrider

Environmental & Sustainability

Outrider strives to be “an online source of hard-hitting commentary and journalism that calls for the end of nuclear weapons and action against the existential threat of climate change.” They are seeking new voices to produce climate and nuclear non-proliferation journalism. Typically, their word counts run between 1,000-1,200 words, and they publish everything from investigative articles and expert analyses to interviews and book excerpts. According to their guidelines, their standard rate is $1,000/story. Their stories are usually 1,000-1,200 words. To learn more, refer to their writer guidelines.

13

Nonprofit Quarterly (NPQ)

Human Rights / Social Justice

The Nonprofit Quarterly (NPQ) is a nonprofit print and digital magazine that educates the nonprofit sector through research-based articles and resources. Short-form pieces are 750-1,500 words, and long-form pieces are 1,500-2,500 words. They especially look for articles and pitches that cover one or more of their “four justice areas—economic, racial, climate, and health justice—as well as leadership, management, and philanthropy.” According to their guidelines, rates are $300 for articles up to 1,000 words and $500 for articles more than 1,000 words. To learn more, refer to their submissions page.

14

Type Investigations

General Interest / News

Type Investigations is a nonprofit investigative newsroom. They cover the “most urgent issues of our time, including racial and economic justice, climate and environmental health, and civil and human rights.” Their written features are generally 4,000-5,000 words and, according to their pitch guide, they typically pay $3,000-$6,000 (including travel and reporting expenses). For more information, refer to their pitch guide.

15

The Real News Network

General Interest / News

The Real News Network is an independent, nonprofit news network that is focused on providing uncompromising and fact-based journalism. They cover politics, prisons and policing, racial justice, climate crisis, and economy and inequality. According to their pitch guide, they pay $250–$400 for Short News Article / Dispatch; $400–$600 for Standard Reported Story; $600–$1,200 for In-Depth Feature; $1,200–$2,000+ for Investigative Series or Special Assignment; and $200–$350 for Op-Ed / Commentary. To learn more, refer to this page.

 

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