Here’s a list of 25 publishers that accept submissions and/or pitches of first-person essays, narratives, and stories. Note, this is not for fiction. Please study each publication carefully before contacting them.
HuffPost Personal is a personal stories section in HuffPost (a news and opinion website). Their personal stories are “original, authentic, compelling and told in the first person.” They pay for all personal stories that they publish. Payment reports indicate that they pay up to $0.08 per word. To pitch, refer to this page.
Guideposts is an inspiration-focused magazines about “people who have attained a goal, surmounted an obstacles, or learned a helpful lesson through their faith.” They typically publish first-person narratives. They pay $250 or more for stories. 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.
You and Me Magazine publishes personal essays about experiences as a medical patient. They also publish some articles from provider’s perspectives. They pay 4-5 cents per word for articles 1,000-2,500 words. To learn more, read their submission guidelines.
4W is “a publication for the next generation of feminist writing.” They are always looking to expand their base of contributors. They only accept female writers. They want “original reporting on the issues affecting women and girls around the globe”, “feminist analysis of the local, national, or global news affecting women and girls”, “well-researched and cited 101-level pieces exploring a particular feminist topic with accessible language”, “first-person essays and personal stories”, and “interviews or profiles of feminists and female thought-leaders.” Their articles are typically 1,000 to 2,000 words. Their rate is $0.05 per word. To learn more, refer to this page.
Public Discourse is the online journal of the Witherspoon Institute (a research center in Princeton, New Jersey). They pay an honorarium of $200 for original essays (1,500 to 2,000 words), first-person stories (800 to 2,000 words), and review/response essays (1,500 to 2,000 words). They pay $50 for book notes (300 to 500 words). For details, visit this page.
The War Horse is a nonprofit newsroom that educates people on war and national security. They publish “stories that are engaging and insightful to veterans and civilians.” They pay a flat rate of $300 for first-person reflections of 800 to 1,300 words. To learn more, refer to this page.
Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news organization that reports on education in poor communities across America. They elevate the “voices of educators, students, parents, advocates, and others on the front lines of trying to improve public education.” They are looking for personal essays (around 800 words) centered around a personal experience or observation. They publish these essays in a series called First Person. According to their story editor, they pay $100 per personal essay. If interested, send your pitches or drafts to firstperson@chalkbeat.org. For more information, read their first person guidelines.
Alpinist Magazine is a print magazine about “alpinism and adventure climbing in the simplest, most beautiful manner possible.” They publish first person accounts from alpine adventures from around the world, as well as investigative reports, documentaries, and photography. They generally pay $0.25 per word. To learn more, read their submission guidelines.
Six Hens publishes first-person nonfiction stories about “moments that define and redefine.” They only accept submissions from women writers but the topic of the essay does not have to be about feminist or women’s issues. Pay is $50 for stories of up to 2,000 words. To learn more, read their submission guidelines.
The Los Angeles Times Travel section includes original sophisticated and compelling destination articles that evoke “a strong sense of place (sounds, colors, smells, tastes), time (when did you go?), expertise and personal perspective.” Trips must be taken within the previous two years. Editors look for first person experiential pieces (about 2,000 words) and Guidebooks (about 500 to 700 words). Payment is $200-$750 for print stories and $500 for online only stories. To learn more, read writers’ guidelines: http://www.latimes.com/la-trw-guidelines-story-story.html.
BirdWatching Magazine is a bimonthly magazine for people with an interest in wild birds and bird watching. They accept article proposals from freelance writers and pay $400 for most features. They accept submissions on a variety of topics, including “first-person accounts”, birds in the news, hotspots near you, and photo essays. For more information, and to submit, be sure to read their full submission guidelines.
Horse Illustrated is a magazine for horse lovers. They offer horse health and care advice, training tips, lifestyle features, and more. They are seeking “reader-friendly pieces with a conversational tone, shorter word counts (500 to 1,200) and topics to add dimension to the magazine’s regular training and horse care features—human interest, lifestyle, fashion, travel, equestrian issues—both large (welfare) and small (boarding barn drama!)—plus humor, first person stories, and more.” They previously indicated payment of $25-$150 per article. To learn more, read their writer’s guidelines.
LightHouse seeks to publish first person stories and essays by blind and visually impaired writers. They want to hear stories “not merely about blindness, but about what it takes to survive and strive as a human.” Read their submission guidelines.
Trains — They want photographs, news stories and feature articles covering railroading’s past and present, including first-person recollections. They do not buy travel stories, poetry, or fiction. Each issue contains 80-100 photos and 27,000 words. Pay is $15-300 for photos, and begins at $0.10/word for text. Query first. Details here.
Let’s Travel is a bi-monthly travel magazine that focuses on “articles with a twist that offer first person accounts of travel in New Zealand, Australia and the South Pacific Islands.” They also publish a few stories from far flung places like, South East Asia, Europe and Americas. Their “readership demographics is luxury”, so if the pitch is about getting by on a few dollars, they would probably not be interested in it. Their feature articles are of 800 to 1,200 words. They pay a flat fee of NZ$300 per story to unpublished writers. While, to previously published writers, they pay NZ$500. To find out more, refer to this page.
The Boston Globe Magazine is published weekly inside the Sunday paper of The Boston Globe (a newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts). For new writers, the best places to start with the magazine are the Perspective column (which includes opinionated essays of 800 words on timely local news topics) and Connections (which includes first-person essays of 650 words on relationships of any kind). According to payment reports, they pay up to $1.33 per word. To learn more, visit this page
The Wheeler Centre is a Melbourne-based publisher “dedicated to original writing that celebrates strong ideas, surprising perspectives and generous conversations.” A few times each year, they publish Notes- “a collection of new work, supported by writing and recordings from our archive, exploring a broad idea or theme.” They are currently accepting pitches for the Face theme of their Notes. They are looking for work related to culture, technology, society and/or the natural world. They “encourage first-person pieces, creative non-fiction, Q&A-style interviews and researched, feature-style culture pieces (ideally with an Australian angle).” Their commissions usually run 600 to 1,200 words. They normally pay about $0.50 per word. For details, read their contributor guidelines.
Chron is the website of the Houston Chronicle (the largest daily newspaper in Houston). They are seeking feature pitches as they increase their culture and lifestyle reporting. They are looking for profiles, first-person essays, cultural commentaries, listicles, trend coverage, and more. Their rates start at $0.50 per word. For more information, refer to their guidelines.
Broadview is a Canadian print magazine and website about spirituality, justice, and ethical living. The print magazine is published 10 times a year and the website showcases new content daily. They serve a niche audience of progressive Christians and those who share similar core values. They are looking for stories about “spirituality, ethical living, social justice, and the United Church.” They can be “investigative features, engaging profiles, first-person narratives, reported news stories, essays, photo essays, opinion pieces, blogs, interviews or reviews of books or film.” Rate: $0.65 per word for reported pieces and $0.40 per word for Q&As, blogs, and personal essays. To learn more, read their submission guidelines.
Arkansas Soul is a digital media publication that publishes content for BIPOC by BIPOC in Arkansas. They accept pitches from writers. “Topics can include politics, arts, music, culture, history, fashion, business, news, personal essay, and interviews – all centered on the Black or minority experience in Arkansas.” Pay is $150 to $300 for Reimagine Arkansas stories and content (500 to 2,000 words), $100 to $250 for personal essays, first-person accounts, and op-eds (750 to 2,000 words), $150 to $250 for reported news stories (500 to 1,000 words), $150 to $250 for feature stories (1,000 to 2,000 words), and $150 to $250 for profiles and interviews (flexible word count). To learn more, refer to their submission guidelines..
Orato World Media is a non-profit digital publication that publishes true stories from real people. They welcome non-fiction, first-person story ideas. They publish 5 long-read (at least 2,000 words) stories per month and 3 standard-length (at least 500 words) stories per day. They pay $100 for long-read stories and $25 for standard-length stories. For details, refer to this page.
Chaos+Comrades is “a publication run by minorities who seek to break down identities by fostering unity and understanding through multimedia storytelling.” They are seeking POC or queer doctors/nurses to write a first-person essay about the COVID-19 pandemic. They pay $125 per piece. You can find contact information here. Read their Twitter thread here. Read their pitching guidelines page here.
The Word Among Us is a print and digital Catholic devotional magazine. They are looking for first-person testimony narratives of 1,200 words. They want “stories that focus on a significant experience of conversion, change, or spiritual insight in a simple, anecdotal style.” They pay $150 per story. Details here.
The Christian Century is a Chicago-based Christian magazine that “explores what it means to believe and live out the Christian faith in our time.” They invite readers to contribute first-person narratives (of less than 1,000 words) on the topics of lapse and feet. They pay $100 per essay. For details, visit this page.
AnswersForMe is a website that “offers support and encouragement for every-day life.” They’re currently offering $35 for short articles about how COVID-19 has affected you. for For more information, refer to their writer’s guidelines.
