Here’s 32 calls for pitches directly from freelance writers, covering a wide variety of topics.
If you’re not sure how to approach these publishers, I highly recommend watching this free webinar.
Please, please, please DO NOT contact these publishers unless you are confident that you are sending a high quality proposal that is carefully crafted to meet their needs.
I occasionally get complaints from editors that certain readers of Freedom With Writing are sending them very low quality pitches. Please, don’t let this happen! If you’re not sure how to craft a quality pitch, then at the very least, watch this free webinar. You’ll gain a few valuable insights.
– Jacob Jans
PS: Thanks to Fatima Saif for her research on this article.
Faithfully Magazine is a news and culture publication that amplifies Christian communities of color. They publish insightful Q&As, features, profiles (500-800 words), historical biographies (500-800 words), reviews (500-800 words), opinion and analysis (up to 2,500 words), commentaries, and news and lifestyle articles (500-800 words). The pieces do not have to be about race. Pay is $50 to $100 per piece. To learn more, refer to their Tweet and submissions guide.
Ms. Magazine is a liberal feminist magazine. They are accepting pitches from 14 to 19 year-old girls for “a late fall (post election) The Future is Ms. column.” They will pay $100 per piece. Details here and here.
Metro.co.uk covers news, lifestyle, fashion, health, food, sex, soaps, entertainment, travel, sports, property, weather, and more. If you have any personal essays or op-ed ideas, send them to leah.sinclair@metro.co.uk. According to one payment report, they paid £100 per 1,000 words for an online article. To learn more, refer to this Tweet. To contact them, refer to this page.
Gizmodo, io9, and Earther always welcome feature pitches. They are seeking features about “technology, science, science fiction, our planet, and the internet.” They pay $500 for most features and $350 for smaller pieces. Send pitches to pitches@gizmodo.com or marina.galperina@gizmodo.com. For more information, refer to their features editor’s Tweet and this page.
Stocktrades is an investment website that provides Canadian investors with quality stock market research. They are looking for Canadian freelance financial writers. They will pay $0.12 to $0.25+ per word. If interested, send a DM on Twitter or send an email to dkent@stocktrades.ca. Read their Tweet here and find more contact information here.
Penlight Magazine is an ad-free, Canadian publication that showcases “personal stories from people from all walks of life.” They welcome personal essays from writers of all levels of experience and from anywhere in the world. They want full drafts, not pitches. They pay $100 (CDN) per story (at least 700 words). They aim to publish 1 to 2 stories per month. If interested, send your draft to submit@penlightmag.com. For details, refer to their Tweet and this page.
Flintside is a weekly online news magazine based in Flint. They cover arts, culture, diversity, community development, economic development, entrepreneurship, public health, education, sustainability, technology, and transportation in the city of Flint. They are offering paid freelance opportunities. They want contributors to send their pitches for stories, essays, and other content about life in Flint to editor@flintside.com. They pay $50 to $150 for short, community-focused pieces. To learn more, refer to their editor’s Twitter thread and this page.
The Guardian is looking for stories for This Land is Your Land series. They want “newsy stories on Canada’s public/crown lands, national parks, nature/flora/fauna, and intersections” with First Nations. They are also seeking Canada’s marine and fisheries stories. They pay $0.50 per word. Read their editor’s Tweet here. Read This Land is Your Land series here and their freelance charter here.
CityMetric is the New Statesman’s cities site. They navigate the future of the world’s cities. Their newly appointed senior editor is accepting pitches at allison.arieff@citymetric.com. According to one payment report, they paid $0.09/word for a 700-word piece. To learn more, refer to their senior editor’s Tweet and this page.
Next City is “a nonprofit news organization that believes journalists have the power to amplify solutions and help spread them from one city to the next city.” Their senior editor is seeking specific pitches from writers on solutions happening in cities around: health and equity, zero waste, and sustainable transportation. They pay $300 for reported pieces. They don’t pay for op-eds. Email your pitches to rachel@nextcity.org. Read their editor’s Tweet here and their pitch guide here.
Very Good Light is a beauty and skincare publication for Generation Z and young Millennials. They are redefining masculinity and men’s beauty. They are seeking pitches from Latinx writers/journalists for Hispanic heritage month. They are open to “ideas surrounding Latinx identity as it relates to beauty, culture, sex, etc.” They welcome personal essays. Pay is about $150 per piece. Send your pitches to cristina@verygoodlight.com. Read their editor’s Tweet here and contact them here.
The Guardian is a British news and media website. Their science correspondent is accepting pitches and tips. According to payment reports, they pay an average of $0.45 per word. If interested, send your pitches and tips to natalie.grover@theguardian.com. To learn more, refer to this Tweet and this page.
Huck Magazine celebrates and explores “independent culture – people and movements that paddle against the flow.” They are accepting pitches for their next issue. For interviews and profiles, they pay £120 to £200 (more for a cover feature). For larger pieces, they pay £225 and up. Send pitches to niall@tcolondon.com. To learn more, read their editor’s Tweet and their submission guidelines.
Asparagus Magazine is a publication that is “dedicated to telling the large and small stories of how we can live sustainably, from an environmental, social, and cultural perspective.” Their “audience is primarily on the West Coast, and located in both Canada and the US.” They are looking for pitches for their print issue. They are seeking short reported pieces (700 to 1,200 words) for Start Small (their front-of-book section) and an essay (1,400 to 1,800 words) for the Natural History department. They welcome submissions from writers from groups that are under-represented in the media. According to their submission guidelines, they pay an average of C$0.25/word. If interested, email your pitches to editor@asparagusmagazine.com. For details, refer to their Tweet and call for submissions.
SOLRAD is an online literary magazine for comics. They are looking for a cartoonist of color to interview another cartoonist of color. They will pay $75 to the person conducting the interview. The length of their interviews is usually about 1,000 words. If interested, send your pitches to pitch@solrad.co. To learn more, refer to their publisher’s Tweet and their submissions page.
Wethos builds tools to help independent consultants team up and make more. They are accepting pitches for their online publication which covers 4 main categories: growth, collaboration, leading, and insights. They pay $50 to $500 per article. To learn more, refer to this Tweet and this page. To read their pitch and style guide, refer to this page.
VICE News Canada offers original reporting from Canada and around the world. They are accepting pitches. They are “looking for new talent, original news stories, and features and investigations that have a strong Canadian angle or bring Canada to the rest of the world.” Their base rate for a quick reported story is $300 CAD. Rates for longer-reported stories and features are higher. For details, refer to their editorial director’s Twitter thread and their pitch guide.
GamesIndustry.biz is a website about the games industry. They cover “every facet of the games industry, from design, development, publishing, marketing, distribution or retail, all the way through to media, freelance and studying.” They are looking to expand their freelance roster. They accept pitches for investigative pieces, interviews with industry figures, academy articles, and editorials. They encourage pitches from writers of diverse backgrounds. Their standard rate is £150 per article. Read their Tweet here. Learn how to pitch them an article here.
Mashable is a media and entertainment company. They cover technology, web culture, social and digital media, and entertainment. Their director of special projects has tweeted, “I’m looking for pitches for reviews! Email ahazlett@mashable.com with tech, lifestyle, and kid/family ideas for the Extremely Online.” Pay will be $300 per review (1,000 to 1,200 words). To learn more, refer to this Twitter thread and this page.
Lady Science is a monthly magazine about “women and gender in the history and popular culture of science, technology, and medicine.” They are open for non-feature pitches. They are especially interested in the topics of men and masculinity, gender and democracy, and science fiction. Payment reports indicate that they pay $100 per piece. Send pitches to anna@ladyscience.com. To learn more, read their Twitter thread and pitch page.
Powder is a magazine for skiers. Their editor-in-chief would like to work with a Native American writer for an assignment. Ski background and strong writing/reporting skills would be helpful. Pay: $250-$500. If interested, DM their editor-in-chief on Twitter or send an email to sierra@powder.com. To learn more, refer to their editor-in-chief’s Tweet. To contact them, refer to this page.
Business Insider is a website that covers business, financial, and technology news. They are seeking freelance writers for a quick project on unemployment in the following states: “Kentucky, Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Nebraska, Vermont, Arizona, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Georgia, South Carolina.” They will pay $250. For details, refer to this Tweet and this page.
eBaum’s World is an entertainment website. They are expanding their coverage of video games and are looking for articles, reviews, and new perspectives on gaming. They want pitches and not finished articles. They will pay a flat rate of $50 per post (250 to 500 words). For more information, refer to this Tweet and this page.
The Telegraph is a multimedia news brand. Their environment editor is seeking “news and short features on the impacts of climate change in the UK and worldwide, green innovation, conservation and the countryside, recycling and pollution (and more).” According to payment reports, they pay up to $0.40 per word. Send your pitches to emma.gatten@telegraph.co.uk. Read their environment editor’s Tweet here and contact them here.
Revolution Magazine is a new Medium publication about music. Their goal is to pay ARMY (the official fan club of a South Korean boy band named BTS) to write about BTS and the music industry. They are seeking pitches for an article in September. They have one slot open. Pay is $50 for 500 to 800 words. For details, refer to their Tweet. To learn more about them, refer to this page.
Ours to Save is a new journalism initiative that focuses exclusively on the climate crisis. They are looking for September pitches. They will pay £30 for “short profiles of global climate movers and shakers” and £80 for longer features. They would also love to hear ideas about “how the lifestyle, food and travel industries could be better integrating.” Send your pitches to hello@ourstosave.com. To learn more, refer to this Twitter thread and this page.
Deadline: August 30th, 2020
Courier Newsroom examines national stories through a local lens. Their national editor is building a roster of freelance writers who can “write quick beats and/or reported stories on racial justice, healthcare, climate change, gender, and the economy from a working class perspective.” Rates will start at 0.30 cents a word. If interested, email sarahharvard@couriernewsroom.com. For details, refer to their national editor’s Twitter thread. To learn more about them, refer to this page.
Slate is an online general-interest magazine. Their editor is looking for health/science story pitches. She likes “reported personal essays, neglected-but-important research, silly/maddening things you discovered while reporting other things.” Pay is $200 to $400 per piece (word count limit: 1,200 words). Send your pitches to shannon.palus@slate.com. For more information, refer to their editor’s Twitter thread and their pitch guide.
The Temper is “an online publication that explores life through the lens of sobriety, addiction, and recovery.” Their managing editor is seeking pitches surrounding co-occurring disorder (substance use disorder + mental illness). They will pay $100 per piece. For details, refer to their editor’s Tweet and their submissions page.
City & State is a media organization that covers New York’s politics and policy. They are seeking freelance contributions on politics and policy of New York. They want reported stories by professional journalists only. By professional journalists, they mean “people who do journalism as their profession rather than, say, activists, business executives or politicians who want to submit op-eds promoting their interests or opinions.” They will pay at least $250 per story. Send pitches to benadlercsny@gmail.com. To learn more, refer to their senior editor’s Tweet. To contact them, refer to this page.
Forge is a personal development publication by Medium. Their senior editor has tweeted, “Niche question(s): Do you use Google Sheets to track your sleep? Or fertility? Would you like to write about this strange yet wonderful practice of yours?” Pay is $1 per word for about 500 to 750 words. If interested, DM their senior editor on Twitter or email her at ashearn@medium.com. Read her Tweet here and their pitching guide here.
Reader’s Digest Canada is a general interest family magazine. Their associate editor is looking for funny/wholesome/heartwarming pitches. According to payment reports, they pay up to $1 per word. Submit pitches at robert.liwanag@rd.com. To learn more, refer to their editor’s Tweet. To contact them, refer to this page.
