Here’s a list of eleven calls personal essays, essays, and op-eds directly from editors and publishers. We’ve found payment rates, deadlines, and contact information for all of these publishers.

Thanks to Fatima Saif for her research on this article.

— Jacob Jans

LIVEKINDLY covers vegan and plant based news stories. Their director of editorial is looking for “climate journalists who write critical essays on the environmental (intersected with economic/social/racial) impact of the traditional food system.” They will pay $0.50 to $1.00 per word. If interested, contact heather@livekindly.com. Read her Tweet here and learn more about LIVEKINDLY here.

Well+Good covers fitness, cutting-edge nutrition, natural beauty, travel, and more. Their managing editor is accepting pitches and has posted their writer’s guidelines. According to their writer’s guidelines, their topic areas are health and mental health, food, lifestyle, travel, beauty, and fitness.

Rates for reported pieces:

• Tier 1: $150 to $350 (500 to 800 words, 0 to 2 sources)
• Tier 2: $350 to $500 (800 to 1,200 words, 3 to 4 sources)
• Tier 3: $500+ (1,200+ words, heavily reported)

Rates for personal essays and op-eds: 

• Tier 1: $200 to $400 (600 to 1,000 words)
• Tier 2: $400+ (1,000+ words)

Read their managing editor’s Tweet here and their writer’s guidelines here.

Digital Spy is the United Kingdom’s biggest TV and movies site. Their deputy movies editor is open for pitches for their movies section. She loves strong opinions/hot takes, especially from writers from underrepresented groups. According to payment reports, they pay £70-£90 for comment pieces (about 700 words). Send pitches to ggeisinger@digitalspy.co.uk. Read their editor’s Tweet here and their pitch guide here.

DAME Magazine offers reporting and analysis on politics, policy, science, culture, and more. They are seeking “pitches on economic issues, social science, health, cultural trends, and media criticism.” They pay $200 for essays and $300 to $400 for reported features. Pitches should be sent to editorial@damemagazine.com. For details, refer to their Tweet and submission guidelines.

The Juggernaut is a publication that features untold and smart South Asian stories. Their business and tech editor is looking for pitches. She is interested in a broad range of topics including: big tech and big media’s arms race in India; Silicon Valley and the South Asian diaspora; South Asian diaspora and entrepreneurship; and trends. You don’t have to be South Asian to contribute. Rates start at $400 for reported features and profiles, and $250 for columns and essays. If interested, email your pitches to beejoli@thejuggernaut.com. For more information, refer to their editor’s Twitter thread and their pitch guide.

un Magazine is a bi-annual contemporary art magazine which is printed in Narrm/Melbourne, Australia. They are open for submissions for un Magazine 15.1. Their guidelines say: “At the end of 2020, we are reflecting on a year of constraint, austerity, isolation, and withdrawal. We have collectively witnessed, though differently experienced, a year defined by a crisis of social reproduction, the foreclosure of the promise of a certain kind of future, death, illness, and the protection of work over life, capital over the workers who accumulate its value. In short, 2020 has been a year defined by the dialectics of deficit and surplus. This issue of un Magazine will take surplus as its focus.” They publish essays, interviews, artworks, creative commentary, and more. They encourage submissions from diverse writers and artists. They pay $150 to $450 per piece. To learn more, refer to this page.

Broad Street Review is a Philadelphia-based online arts and culture forum. They focus on “events in and around the greater Philadelphia area, with coverage including South Jersey and Wilmington, DE.” They welcome essays and reviews. They accept pitches for the following ten categories: “art, books, the creative economy, dance, design, film and TV, museums, music, and theater, plus the interdisciplinary cross-cultural.” They usually pay $50 per review (500-850 words) and up to $100 per essay (750-1,000 words). For more information, read their Tweet and guidelines for writers.

Logic is a print and digital magazine about technology and society. They publish 3 times a year. They are looking for reported articles, features, essays, and profiles for their next issue which is themed Distribution. They pay $200 for shorter essays (1,000 to 1,200 words) and $500 for longer features (2,000 to 3,000 words and up). If interested, email your pitches to pitches@logicmag.io. To learn more, read their co-founder’s Tweet and their pitch guide. 

Deadline: January 15th, 2021