Freedom With Writing 1 Presents The Paid Publishing Guidebook 654 Magazines, Websites, & Blogs that Pay Freelance Writers Updated May, 2018 1 Freedom With Writing Table of Contents Introduction How to Write a Pitch that Gets You Published Case Study: How I Got Paid to Write for Vice as a Teenager Frequently Asked Questions Writing Markets Lifestyle/Entertainment General Interest / News Finance / Business Technology Art & Design Parenting Travel Education Feminist Writing Outdoors / Hunting / Fishing Sports / Athletics / Fitness Horses, Dressage, Riding Creative Writing / Short Stories Christian Religions & Spirituality Regional Health and Wellness Canadian Food & Nutrition Farm and Gardening The Paid Publishing Guidebook Freedom With Writing Environmental & Sustainability Professions & Professional History Boating / Sailing Hobbies & Crafts Pets Philosophy and Culture Miscellaneous 3 The Paid Publishing Guidebook Freedom With Writing Copyright 2018 Freedom With Writing. All rights reserved. Do not distribute without explicit permission. To share this book, send your friends to http://www.freedomwithwriting.com/writi ng-markets/ Questions, complaints, corrections, concerns? Email [email protected] Suggestions for additional markets? Email [email protected] Edited By Jacob Jans Contributions by S. Kalekar, Tatiana Claudy, and the contributors to Freedom With Writing. 4 The Paid Publishing Guidebook Freedom With Writing Introduction This is a practical book for writers who are ready to get paid to write. It includes hundreds of publishers that accept queries, pitches, and submissions from freelance writers. According to our research, all of these publishers pay for the writing they publish. All of them publish work from freelance writers. Many of them are not listed anywhere else, including the famous “Writer’s Market.” In fact, if you’re a writer submitting to publishers listed in the Writer’s Market, you’re shooting yourself in the foot. Because it is so popular and so widely distributed, you’re facing very stiff competition. The publishers in this book are less likely to be famous or widely known. Because of that, the discerning writer will have better odds of getting published. Less competition means higher odds of connecting with the right publisher. Many of these markets are presented with expected payment information. This information should be considered a starting point for your negotiation with the publisher. Payment for some markets are “set in stone”, while others are quite flexible. Of course, there is quite a lot that goes into building a successful freelance writing career. If you’re looking to launch your freelance writing career, I highly recommend The No B.S. Course on Freelance Writing. While the majority of these markets are always open to submissions from freelance writers, some of them are closed to submissions from time to time. 5 The Paid Publishing Guidebook Freedom With Writing Since the previous publication of this book, I have seen a rise in the number of quality blogs that pay writers decent rates for long-form writing. As the digital publishing comes into its own, I hope this trend will continue. In 2018, I will continue to collect and present writing markets to our subscribers. To get our free updates, be sure to subscribe at FreedomWithWriting.com If you have any comments, questions, concerns, or corrections please mail me: [email protected] Sincerely, – Jacob Jans Editor 6 The Paid Publishing Guidebook Freedom With Writing Note This book is intended to be used as a research tool for writers. In it, you will find listings for hundreds of publishers that pay writers. The information has been vetted, but is not guaranteed to be accurate. The publishing world changes quickly. Publishers regularly out of business. They change their submission requirements, pay scale, etc. The information in this book is intended to serve as a starting point. The goal is to connect writers with publications that want to pay for their writing. This book is updated on a regular basis. Be sure to subscribe to Freedom With Writing to get access to the updates. Categories have been created where it makes the most sense. As the book evolves, more categories will be created. 7 The Paid Publishing Guidebook Freedom With Writing How to Write a Pitch that Gets You Published Before You Craft the Pitch At 19 years old, Zachary Schwartz was determined to get published on Vice, a major website with millions of visitors a month. He’d never been paid to write before and had never done any paid journalism. But he was determined. And he succeeded. If you want to write a pitch that gets you published and paid for your writing, his story sets a very good example. He did not start by writing a pitch and sending it to an editor at Vice. He did not start by thinking about his interests as a writer, and then carefully crafting every word of his pitch. The first step he took, and arguably the most important step, was carefully studying the Vice website. He gained a deep understanding of what they published -- and what they would want to publish. Then, and only then, was he ready for the next step. But, surprise. He didn’t write his pitch yet. There was more work ahead. He first had to get exclusive access to the material Vice 8 The Paid Publishing Guidebook Freedom With Writing would want to publish, which meant convincing a certain artist to give him exclusive access to his new project. As I’ll discuss later, getting exclusive access wasn’t enough to break into Vice. There was one more element: persistence. Choose Your Focus In 2013, Theresa St. John decided she wanted to be a travel writer. She was in a tight spot. Her ex-husband had gambled away her savings. She was struggling to pay her bills. But, like Zachary, she was determined. She knew that travel writing could lead to exciting adventures in faraway places. But, she quickly realized she would have to start closer to home. So, she became an expert on her small town of Saratoga. She didn’t just spend time digging around the internet. She took a notebook and visited local attractions, keep an eye open for potential stories that travel magazines would want to publish. She then found several magazines that published travel writing about Saratoga -- and sent them a pitch. Her work paid off. One of her proposals was accepted, and her career was off to a start. Her full case study is available to read in The Case Study Guide to Freelance Writing. 9 The Paid Publishing Guidebook Freedom With Writing The Three Sentence Pitch Formula As the editor of Freedom With Writing, I get a quite a few pitches from writers seeking to write for my publication. The best pitches follow this basic three sentence format: 1. Introducethe idea in one short sentence. Often, this is the only thing necessary for a pitch to get accepted. This makes it very easy on me, the editor, to quickly determine whether the pitch is suited for my publication. 2. Include a brief sentence that adds credibility. This could be another sentence that expands on the idea, mak- ing it more concrete. Or it could be a short sentence that establishes relevant experience, or even a sentence men- tioning previous articles we’ve published, and how this arti- cle was inspired by them. 3. Finally, a very short sentence to close the pitch. This part shows you’re easy to work with. Say something like “thank you for your consideration.” That’s it. Three sentences. (Surrounded by Dear Editor, and Sincerely, Author Name.) If you’re able to summarize a good idea in just one sentence, it also shows you have a deep understanding of both the publication and the idea. Sure, you can go long and double the length. Sometimes it is necessary, depending on the idea, but often it just makes it harder on the editor. But, a three sentence pitch is all you need to send for the vast majority of pitches. This type of pitch tends to work best for department articles, blog posts, and “front of book” pieces. 10 The Paid Publishing Guidebook Freedom With Writing If you’re proposing a feature article for a major publication, I would suggest a longer pitch, while still focusing on quickly and clearly communicating why the story is worth telling, and why you’re the writer who should tell the story. Also, this is not a strict formula that you have to use for sending out a pitch. There are many variations possible; feel free to develop your own style. One possible variation is to propose two or three ideas. This gives the editor a better sense of who you are as a writer. Keep in mind, that the work you’ve done before writing the pitch is what ultimately determines the success of the pitch. Will the editor be excited by the idea? Does the idea closely fit what they publish? Does the idea provide value not easily acquired by other writers? (Such as exclusive access, domain-level expertise, or a unique perspective?) Also, keep in mind that every publication is different – some publications make it clear that they want much more in-depth pitches. Some publications also ask that you send completed manuscripts, and not pitches. This goes back to the work that happens before contacting the publication. The more you know about them and their needs, the better your chance of success. If at first you fail, keep calm and pitch again. Based on feedback from my readers at Freedom With Writing, as well as through mentoring writers via our training programs at 11 The Paid Publishing Guidebook Freedom With Writing Writing Launch, I’ve discovered a common pitfall that holds quite a few writers back.