Contributed by Samantha Kolesnik for Freedom With Writing
The following is a list of 10 outdoors magazines that pay freelance writers. Payment information is included for each publisher when available.
- Backpacker Magazine is a print and web-based publication looking for articles about hiking, wilderness, North American destinations, and backpacking advice. They generally pay between $0.40 and $1.00 per word upon acceptance of contract. To learn more, read their contributor guidelines.
- OutdoorsNW seeks articles about outdoor recreation, adventure travel, health and nutrition, outdoor fitness product reviews, and more. They prefer queries over unsolicited manuscripts, and their pay varies based on assignment. They pay $75 for a news brief (300 – 600 words), $100 for an article (650 – 1,000 words) and $125 for a feature (over 1,000 words). To learn more, read their contributor guidelines.
- Outdoor Canada publishes well-researched articles about what’s happening in the Canadian outdoors. They are looking for how-to articles, entertaining features, and in-depth reporting. Payment is negotiated upon acceptance, but their guidelines state they generally pay $100 – $400 per article. To learn more, read their contributor guidelines.
- American Snowmobiler Magazine publishes travel stories of areas where people can snowmobile, how-to snowmobile modification guides, photos and stories about vintage snowmobiles, and other news-worthy snowmobile stories. All payment is negotiated with the author and agreed upon via contract. To learn more, read their contributor guidelines.
- Western Woods & Waters Magazine covers angling and hunting news in Western Canada. They accept product reviews, outdoors advice, feature articles, and 700-word columns about select outdoors activities. The payment is $150 for a feature article and photo package, and $100 for a column which includes at least three images. To learn more, read their contributor guidelines.
- Canoeroots Magazine publishes articles about canoeing and canoe camping. They accept profiles of important figures in the canoeing lifestyle, adventure travel stories, how-to articles, family camping features, and more. Pay is negotiated with the editor up to $0.20 per word. To learn more, read their contributor guidelines.
- Arizona Wildlife Views Magazine publishes articles on Arizona wildlife and wildlife management, habitat issues, outdoor recreation, and historical articles. E-mail queries are preferred over manuscript submissions. Payment for features varies by length from $450 to $800 per accepted article. To learn more, read their contributor guidelines.
- Wild Northeast is a quarterly magazine that publishes articles on outdoors activities in the northeastern region of the United States and parts of Canada. They are interested in gear reviews and techniques, environmental issues, cultural stories with an outdoors connection, and articles about outdoors activities. Pay is dependent on length and runs from $25-$50 for brief articles (300-600 words) to $125-$150 for features (over 1,000 words). To learn more, read their contributor guidelines.
- YakAngling Magazine publishes articles about kayak anglers across the world. Contributors receive a flat-rate payment based on the length of the article, running from $50 to $150. To learn more, read their contributor guidelines.
- Journeywoman accepts articles about female-centric travel experiences. They want articles written from a woman’s point of view which contain information of interest to women travelers, up to 900 words in length. Journeywoman pays a flat $35 per accepted article. To learn more, read their contributor guidelines.
