It doesn’t require any investment. The pay is mostly fast–you write and submit the article, it gets published, and you get paid.
And that is why I personally recommend freelance writing to anyone who wants to earn extra cash on the side and can write.
I have gathered a huge list of online magazines and websites that will pay you anywhere from $10 up to $500 or more per article.
Transitions Abroad’s focus is on people who travel, regardless of the reason – work, education, retirement, volunteering, etc.
They pay around $150 for travel related article.
Britain-based Wanderlust targets the travel market as well.
Writers are known to have received £220 for their feature articles (with article length around 1000 words).
Their audience contains people who are mostly looking for
opportunities where they can get paid to travel -photography, travel
writing, tour guide, cruise crew, etc.
They also publish short interviews with professionals who work in industries that allow them to get paid while traveling.
This is the proprietary in-flight magazine found inside Alaska Airlines.
They are looking for writers with fresh ideas and tips.
This is an in-flight magazine read by over 1 million travelers every
single month who find the magazine in the seat pockets of Air Canada
aircraft and in Maple Leaf™ Lounges and select Star Alliance™ lounges
around the world.
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I couldn’t find any information on exactly how much they pay.
HEM is a monthly in-flight magazine for Horizon Air. The magazine is read by over half a million travelers every month.
They pay $100 for short articles.
Feature articles (usually much longer) will earn you about $450.
Out of all the in-flight magazines, Delta Sky is one of the most well-known ones.
They are looking for “
executed stories about travel, lifestyle, and business.”
Your article can be short (100 words,) or long a (2,000 to 4000 words) feature stories.
You can send your pitches to edit@deltaskymag.com, or to: Delta Sky Editors, 220 S. 6th St. Suite 500, Minneapolis, MN 55402.
9. MotorHome – $900 per post
As the name suggests, this is a magazine for RV enthusiasts.
And as you can imagine, they want articles related to the RV lifestyle.
Here are the kind of topics they are interested in:
- Travel destinations
- Activities and events
- The newest motorhomes on the market
- (RV related) do-it-yourself projects
- RV service and repair recommendations
They do have a lead time of about four to six months.
The pay ranges from $100 to $900.
General Interest
10. Vibrant Life – $100-$300 per post
Vibrant Life is a bimonthly magazine with a focus on healthy living – physically, mentally, and spiritually- with a “
Christian perspective.”
One very interesting fact about this one is that they do accept already published articles under certain circumstances.
Their guidelines page states that they will look at articles already published elsewhere if:
…the writer has sold only one-time rights or has written permission to sell the article elsewhere without a reprint credit.
You can expect anywhere from 4100 to $300 per article.
This is a magazine by The Salvation Army that has been in publication for over 135 years!
They pay per word:
- $0.35 per word for original content
- $0.15 for previously published content
They accept articles based on true stories about people who achieved
certain goals, overcame obstacles or learned lessons through their
faith.
They pay upwards of $250. You get paid after the submission is accepted.
Here is what they want:
Tell an exciting, heartwarming or funny story about something that has happened to you or someone you know.
If your content is accepted, it’ll be a part of the famous Chicken Soup for the Soul book series.
And yes, you may have to wait months and even a year or two until the next edition of the book is published to see your work.
If they publish your story or poem, you will be paid $200 approximately a month after the book is published.
As a bonus, you’ll also receive 10 free copies of the book.
Power For Living is dedicated to Christian adults.
For short articles that range from 750 words up, the payout is $125.
Those longer articles (1400-1600 words) will go for $375.
15. AARP – Pay unknown (maybe $1 per word)
The AARP magazine accepts articles on topics such as money, health, business, food, travel, relationships, and more.
They don’t say how much they pay on the site, but from what I gather, it’s around $1 per word.
Short Stories
16. Tor – Pay unknown
They accept three different kinds of submissions:
- Original Short Fiction
- Novella
- Non-Fiction
For Novella submissions, they offer an advance against royalties. The
size of it will depend on factors such as the length of the story and
how commercial it can be.
For non-fiction work, they’ll send you an invoice with details.
As of Jan-7-2017, they stopped accepting original short fictions.
17.Clarkesworld – $500 to $1,380 per post
Clarkesworld is a multiple award-winning (with 3 Hugo Awards among them) science fiction magazine.
They have a 1000 to 16000 word limit for each article.
You are paid 10¢ per word for the first 5000 words, and 8¢ for each word over 5000.
Harper is a made in America monthly publication that publishes content about everything under the sun.
There is no information on how much they pay on the site.
This is arguably the most commercially successful magazine with a large international fan base.
You can submit short stories to take advantage of the amazingly huge readership over here.
They don’t mention the pay, but they do say it can take up to 6
months to hear back. So if you’re looking for quick cash, this won’t be
the best option.
But it’s a great platform for getting your work and name out.
Asimov’s name is universally associated with science fiction and they are much acclaimed by the international community.
The pay is $0.08 for every word, up to $1,600 per story.
Politics/News/Entertainment
The Christian Science Monitor writes about everything contemporary, and they tend to have a slight national focus.
Their basic rate starts at $250. But it can go higher depending on the subject and the actual work.
High Country News focuses its circulation on the American West.
The rate is $.50 to $1.50 a word (which is impressive considering
that they are a not for profit organization), with a cap on 2,400 words.
The Sun Magazine is an elegant magazine with a huge slant on literary stuff.
A typical non-fiction article can fetch something like $2,500 if it is written well.
24. The Nation – $150 to $500 per post
The Nation is a left-leaning publication.
Here are the kind of content they look for:
- Comments and analyses of news developments (approximately 750 words.)
- Articles that use reporting and analysis to create in-depth content about issues (typically 1500-2500 words.)
- They also accept poems.
Other topics of interests include:
- civil liberties
- civil rights
- labor
- economics
- environmental
- privacy and policing
- feminist issues and politics.
For in-depth articles they pay is between $350 and $500.
For political commentary, the rate is$150.
25. Salon – Pay unknown
Salon covers entertainment news mostly.
Humor
26. Cracked – $50 to $200 per post
Cracked a massive and quickly growing humor site that is always looking for new content.
They pay $50 for four really short funny stories.
For feature-length articles, the rate increase to about $100.
One of my favorite magazines. Reader’s Digest is actually kind of famous for its reader stories.
So it’s not a supersize that they’re always looking for new stories and content.
They pay $100 per article regardless of the length.
Education
This is a magazine geared towards teachers.
Their audience is a national audience of preK-12 educators interested.
The kind of content they look for include:
- Diversity
- Multiculturalism
- Anti-bias and social justice
They pay up to $1 per word.
American Educator is a quarterly magazine funded by the American Federation of Teachers.
It covers all aspects of teaching from the perspective of policy formulation, labors, trends, etc…
You are paid up to $300 per accepted article.
Religion
30. devozine – $25 to $100 per post
Devozine’s goal is to provide guidelines to young adults in order to strengthen their faith in Christianity.
You earn$25 for meditations related articles and $100 for feature-length articles.
The quarterly issued Quiet Hour features anecdotal stories, and each one is to be closed with a prayer or quotation.
First-time contracts have a pay of up to $115.
Sports Spectrum tends to focus on how Christianity can inspire sporting success.
You can expect to fetch $315-$420 for an article length of 1,500-2,000 words.
Special Interest
Pentimento is focused on the disabled community, and making the public more aware of their needs.
They like well-balanced and engaging stories about the disabled
community in general or real stories about specific disabled individuals
and their lives.
They pay$250 per piece.
34. Drum! Magazine – $50 to $300 per post
As the name implies, it is all about drums.
If you have interesting stuff to say about drumming, you get paid $50-$300 for every feature article.
35. LightHouse – $100 per essay
This is a magazine/site focused on the blind and visually impaired community.
And they are looking for blind and visually impaired writers to submit content.
The underlying theme is not so much on the sufferings, but about conquering adversities in life.
They pay $100 for essays published on their blog. However, they do
mention that for long or ambitious pieces, you can talk to the editors
for a bigger payout.
This magazine sets out to collate and consolidates all things pertaining to cruises.
They do not mention the pay rate. Only that the payment is issued after publication.
37. DRAFT – $0.80 per word
As the name suggest, this is a beer related site, thus naturally they look for content related to the industry.
They pay $0.80 per word.
Rapid Media
publishes four magazines, Canoeroots, Rapid, Adventure Kayak and Kayak Angler.
Each of these magazines has their own guidelines and pay rate.
A magazine dedicated to covering boating in Main!
They like short articles of between 500 to 1500 words.
You can expect between $250 to $500 per article.
As the name suggest, this is a magazine dedicated to the country lifestyle.
You can submit content about anything that relates to this lifestyle.
You’ll be paid a one-time fee of $100 per accepted submission.
Business / Money
They look for content focused on the online retail industry.
Here is how they pay:
- $75 for articles between 400 to 600 words
- $125 for articles that are 600 words long
- $150 for articles longer than 600 words
42. iWorkWell – $200 per article
iWorkWell is fully dedicated to human resource practices.
If you are in the HR business, you can make $200 per article here.
Fiction
As the name suggests, this one is geared towards fantasy and science fiction.
The payout is 7-12 cents for every word, but the payment is a capped
at 25,000 words, which means that you can potentially make up to $3,000
per article.
Parenting
They look for useful parenting tips.
The accepted article will be paid $100.
Update: They no longer pay. Although they still accept submissions.
Scary Mommy gives parenting a unique twist – practical tips presented in a humorous way.
If you can produce lighthearted yet useful parenting tips, you will be paid $100 for your article.
46. Babble – $150 per post
Disney is the parent company of Babble.
You can write about anything that’s relevant to parenting.
You are paid $150 for every 1200 words.
47. Youth Today – $150-$2000 per article
Youth Today is intended for the caregivers and policymakers of the youth.
The kind of stories they like include:
- Best practices
- Survey pieces
- Issues
- Management
- Follow the Money
- Professional Development
- Debunking Myths
- Funding
- A Sense of Place
- Sidebars
They don’t mention the pay, but I’ve heard anywhere from $150 to $2000 per article.
Lifestyle
This magazine gives useful updates and advice on boys-girls relationship, celebrity gossip, grooming, etc…
Payment can go up to $300 per article.
This is the column piece found in the New York Times.
They encourage personal stories in relation to parenting, marriage, relationship and dating.
This is another column in another famous.
They tell of the hot and not-so-hot aspects of the dating scene surrounding Southern California.
They pay $300 per accepted article.
Popular publisher MacMillan runs this Heroes and Heartbreakers magazine.
They generally take in articles of 15k-30k words.
They pay $1,000 per story against a 25% royalty.
True to its name, the magazine is always looking for Italian related stories and content.
They look for articles between 800 to 11000 words long.
You can expect $350 per piece.
Regional
53. Boulevard – $225 per post
The Canadian-based magazine that tends to focus on the art scene in Vancouver Island.
They encourage short articles (around 850 words.)
The rate is 25 to 30 cents per word.
Big Grey Horse is a lifestyle blog from Texas.
They like blog posts written in first person POV ranging from 600 to 1,000 words.
You are paid $125 to $200 per post.
55. AMC Outdoors – $150 to $700 per article
AMC Outdoors’ main focus is on recreational activities around the Northern Appalachian.
For short submissions you get $150 to $400.
For feature-length pieces the pay is $500 to $700.
56. Vermont Life – $600 to $800 per post
Needless to say, this one is about all things Vermont!
According to their guidelines, the standard department rate is $600, feature rate $800.
1859 Oregon’s Magazine celebrates the history and lifestyle of the region.
Payment varies from $0.30/word to $0.50/word.
They pay after publication.
Colorado Life Magazine is dedicated to the entire Colorado state and
the magazine uses clever and colorful storytelling to illustrate the
many attractions in the state.
The rate ranges from $75 to $125 for short stories and $130-$975 if they are feature-length articles.
Alaska Magazine is well-known for its narrative style used to describe Alaska life in general.
Payment can go up to $1,500 subject to the article length and accompanying photo(s).
This is a lifestyle magazine published for the member-owners of South Carolina’s not-for-profit electric cooperatives.
Here are the kind of content they want:
Features: Pocketbook energy issues and travel/lifestyle/general-interest topics.
- Length: 1,500 to 3,000 words.
- Rate: $450
Departments SC Stories: These are one-page mini-profiles.
- Length: 350 words
- Rate: $200
SC Travels: Two-page stories on interesting places to visit in South Carolina.
- Length: 500-750 words
- Rate: $300
Chef’s Choice: Profiles of interesting restaurants and the people behind them.
- Length: 500-700 words
- Rate: $300
61. Douglas – $0.40 per word
Douglas is a business magazine that caters to the Southern Vancouver Island’s community.
They are often interested in feature-length articles (around 1,200 to 3,00 words.)
Pay is $0.40/word.
This is the brainchild of the New Mexico Tourism Department.
They like “
story ideas about New Mexico experiences, with opinionated storytelling and a first-person point of view when appropriate.”
For short articles, the pay rate is ¢35 to ¢40 per word.
Longer ones (e.g. above 600 words) can fetch up to $250 per article.
Kids/Teens
Here the target market makes up largely of teenagers and young adults.
The rate is $0.25 per word, with a 9000 words cap, so the most you make is $2,250 for one single article.
Cricket Magazine is a sports magazine for young readers.
The rate here is $0.25 for every word and they usually restrict to less than 2000 words.
Sports/Outdoor
65. Canoeroots – $0.20 per word
Canoeroots have just three publications every year, but they touch on all aspects of canoeing.
There is a limit of 2000 words on feature-length articles.
They pay $0.20 for every word.
A magazine about fishing and hunting.
You will make $300-$700 for every accepted piece.
As the name suggests, this one is all about knives.
Naturally, your content needs to be relevant.
You can earn between 4150 to $300 per article.
A magazine all about birds and bird watching.
For each accepted bird related article or photo-essay, you are paid $400.
Sport Fishing magazine offers a good rate for freelance writers.
It pays $250 for short articles and $750 for longer, feature-length articles.
70. Canoe & Kayak – $100 to $800 per article
They have been around since 1973, providing content for paddlers of every style and ability level.
They don’t mention the pay, but
according to WritingCareer.com, they pay anywhere from $100 to $800 per article.
This is a magazine by The United States Trotting Association.
Obviously, this is a very niche subject so you have to know what you are talking about to get published.
Depending on the length, the pay varies from $100 to $500.
This is published by the United States Dressage Federation.
They look for:
- features
- health articles
- personality profiles
- how-to training articles
- and first-person accounts of life in the dressage world
You can expect to be paid $40 to $400 based on the length and depth of your submission.
73. Wooden Boat – $250 to $300 per post
A bi-monthly magazine for wooden boat owners, builders, and designers.
They pay $250 to $300 for pieces containing around a 1000 word.
They look for Martial Arts related content – training, techniques,
history, weapons, philosophy, well-known martial artists, etc.
They don’t mention the pay on their site.
According to the magazine, Black Belt Magazine is the oldest martial arts magazine in the U.S.
They pay $150 to $300 per article.
This is an educational magazine for young boys that only publishes six issues each year.
They look for “lively writing” that explains things from a 10-year-old boy’s point of view.
They like short articles between 500 to 750 words long.
You are paid ¢5 per word.
This is a magazine founded in 1973 geared towards dressage, hunters and jumpers, eventing, foxhunting, and steeplechase racing.
They accept the following submissions:
News stories
- Length: 1500 words
- Pay: $165-$220
Feature Articles
- Length: 1500-2500 words
- Pay: $150-$400.
- They also accept photographs which they pay $30 to $50 for each.
78. Kitplanes – $250 to $1,000 per post
This one calls itself “the leading independent voice of kit and amateur-built aircraft construction.”
They don’t have any restrictions on article length, but a typical article contains around 200 words.
They do pay generously, though – $250 to $1,000 per accepted piece.
79. Backpacker – up to $1 per word
As the name implies, this one focuses on hiking/backpacking related activities.
The payout can be as much as one dollar for every word subject to the
complexity of the topic and your credential as a writer in this
particular field.
80. Gray’s Sporting Journal – $100 to $1250 per feature article, $600 for yarns, and $100 per poem
Grays Sporting Journal revolves around the great outdoor, like hiking, fishing, hunting, etc.
The pay scale varies depending on the type of content. And according to the site, they pay based on quality, not length.
Here are the numbers according to the site:
- Feature articles: $600-$1250,
- Yarns: $600
- Poems: $100
- Expeditions pieces: $850 to $1,000 plus $75 per picture published.
For the photographers among you, they also pay for pictures – anywhere from $50 to $300 per photo.
All payment is made upon publication.
81. Horse & Rider – $25 to $400 per post
As you’ve probably figured it out already, this is a magazine for
fans of horse riding, and as such, they want content related to horses
and riders.
Their payment scale ranges from $25 to $400, depending on article length, department, and research.
DIY/Home Improvement
If you know a lot about woodworking or like to write about it, this one is for you.
They pay up to $250 for a 600-word-long article.
Art
This is an online publication by Kalmbach Publishing Co.
It acts as a resource for everything jewelry-making. From projects
and how-to guides, to inspirations, tips, and interviews with big
designers.
You can earn up to $400 for feature-length article.
84. Howlround – $150 per post
Howlround is a site for theater lovers.
They make it very easy to pitch your content using their online form.
By filling out the form you give ’em a summary of what you want to
write about, what section of the magazine it is for, and a little
background about yourself.
You are paid up to $150 per published piece.
85. SpinOff – $50 per page
SpinOff is the magazine to go to when it comes to hand spinning yarns and fibers.
They pay per page and one page pays $50.
You can submit a maximum of 6 pages (or use 2,700 words as a guideline).
86. HOW – $250 to $800 per post
HOW is all about graphics design – from tutorials and guides, to inspirations, show cases and more.
They pay based on a set fee instead of per word.
Columns in HOW typically run around 1,200 words, while features are 1,500–2,000 words.
You can expect between $250 to $800, subject to stories covered and also credential of writers.
With a circulation of 60,000, The Artist’s Magazine is one of the biggest publications focus on art exclusively.
They like practical lessons, engaging interviews, lively discussions of timely issues and news of exhibitions and events.
Expect anywhere between $400 to $600 per piece.
According to the site, Pastel Journal is “the only national magazine devoted to the pastel medium.”
It’s a bi-monthly publication with interviews, how-to demonstrations, and more.
According to their guidelines (found in
this PDF,) they pay up to $600 for feature articles that can range anywhere from approximately 500 to 2,000 words.
This one is all about making things out of clay.
And if you can write about this craft, you can earn ¢10 per word.
The Earth Island Journal looks for “
compelling and distinctive
stories that anticipate environmental concerns before they become
pressing problems, stories that scan the horizon for the next big issue.”
Here is how they pay:
- ¢25 cents per word for print stories.
- $750-$1000 for an in-depth feature story (about 4,000 words.)
- $50-$100 for online reports.
This is a magazine for “
art collectors and architecture aficionados across the United States.”
They have a few different columns and they pay varies based on which column you write for.
The columns include:
- Artist profiles
- Home features
- Illuminations
- In the Studio
- Perspective
- Rendering
- Wanderings
- Western Landmark
- Collector’s Eye
The pay ranges from $400 to $600 per piece.
92. Writers Digest – $300 for a 600-word article
Writer’s Digest calls itself “
the No. 1 magazine for writers.”
It is published eight times a year and it’s main focus is to help writers write better and get published.
The pay structure
They pay ¢30 to ¢50 per word for manuscripts, for one-time print use and perpetual electronic use.
However, if they decide to reprint any of the content they purchased
form you, you get %25 of the original purchase price per use.
So if your original piece was bought from you for $300 and they decide to reprint it, you get paid 25% of $300 which is $75.
And that’s per use. So if they use it 5 times, you earn a total of $375.
Science
93. Analog – $0.08 to $0.10 per word
This is an established market for science fiction stories.
Here is the pay structure:
- Short Fictions (up to 20,000 words): ¢8 to ¢10 per word
- Serials (40,000-80,000 words): ¢6 per word
- Fact Articles: ¢9 per word
- Poetry: $1 per line
Farm & Gardening
The American Gardener is the official publication of the American Horticultural Society.
It is a 64-page bimonthly magazine with nearly 20,000 members.
Topics include anything and everything about farming and gardening.
For shorter articles, they pay $150 to $200.
Feature-length articles will fetch $300-$600.
95. Hobby Farms – $300 per post
As the name suggests, Hobby Farms is a magazine for hobbyist farmers.
They don’t publish their rates so expect to do some negotiation, but
they are known to pay up to $300 for feature-length articles.
Web & Technology
96. A List Apart – up to $200 per post
A List Apart is a site dedicated to “
people who make websites.”
They publish three types of content:
- Features (between 1500 to 2500 words): Pays $200
- Articles (between 600 to 1500 words): Pays $100
- Mini-articles (between 500 to 600 words): Pays $50
iPhone Life Magazine has a large audience of avid iOS users.
So if you can write about the iOS platform and anything related, this is a good choice.
Expect anywhere from $50 to $100 per piece.
98. The Layout – $50 to $100 per post
The Layout is all about the world’s best and most used CMS (Content
Management System), WordPress (Yes, MoneyPantry runs on WordPress!)
They accept anything WordPress related.
They like articles between 700 to 1200 words long.
Expect between $50 to $150 per accepted piece.
Similar to the Layout, PhotoshopTutorials.ws also features great instructional stuff, but its focus is on Photoshop.
Here is how they pay:
- Articles: $25-$50
- Quick tips: $50
- Full tutorials: $150-$300
100. DigitalOcean – $100 to $200 per tutorial
DigitlaOcean is an awesome cloud hosting service with tons of features.
They also serve as a kind of library for tutorials and step by step guides about Linux and FreeBSD cloud hosting.
A full tutorial will earn you $200 while shorter guides can earn you around $100.
101. Polygon – $0.25 per word
Polygon targets computer/video games.
They encourage short stories (approx 500 words.)
Expect ¢25 per word.
New additions
This is a site for “
anyone who has felt the sting of being out of work.”
It’s a rather new site suggested by one of our readers.
Articles should be at least 350 words.
They pay $50 to $100 per article.
Final Words
There you have it, over 100 online magazines and publications that will pay you to write on a variety of subjects.
This list by no means is a complete list. I’ll be adding to this list
as I find other online magazines and websites that pay writers.
If you know of any other source, please share it by leaving a comment below.
Please be sure to bookmark and share this post on your social media
accounts and check back often for updated versions with more sites.
Do you like doing laundry?