This is an ever-changing list of
print and online publications that pay to publish personal essays.
If you have a paying market to add to this list, or if the information
on any of these markets has changed, please email webmaster@writingtoheal.com and put Markets in the Subject field. Always check guidelines before submitting.
PAYING MARKETS FOR
PERSONAL ESSAYS
Categories
General Interest Magazines
Humor
Sports Magazines
Special Population Magazines
Religious/Inspirational
Magazines
Magazines
for People with Disabilities/Medical Conditions
Literary Journals
About Parenting
Women's Magazines
Newspapers
Airline Magazines
Radio
Lists of Paying Markets
General
Interest Magazines
Cappers
1503 S.W. 42nd St.
Franklin, TN 37068
Personal essays about family issues and home life in the rural Midwest
www.cappers.com
Chicken Soup for the Soul
www.chickensoup.com
Cyber Oasis (an online journal)
www.sunoasis.com/oasis.html
Email: eide491@earthlink.net
Personal essays that are evocative, wise observations patterned after
Thoreau
FATE Magazine
PO Box 460
Lakeville, MN 55044
www.fatemag.com
Stories concerning personal experiences with the unknown
Good Old Days
306 East Parr Rd.
Berne, IN 46711
Personal experience pieces on first half of the 20th century
Grit Magazine
1503 SW 42nd St.
Topeka, KS 66601
www.grit.com
Pet tales, stories of favorite gardens, hobbies, love, hometowns,
unique travel nostalgia, holiday remembrances
Joe Magazine (distributed
by Starbucks Coffee)
1271 Avenue of the Americas
Suite 2872B
New York, NY 10020
Ms.
135 W. 50th St., 16th Floor
New York, NY 10020
www.msmagazine.com
"Guest Room" is the back page essay
Newsweek
251 W. 57th Street
New York, NY 10019
My Turn column
Seedhouse: The Magazine for Modern Writers and
Poets
PO Box 883009
Steamboat Springs, CO 80488
Email: seedhouse98@yahoo.com
Skipping Stones Magazine
P.O.Box 3939
Eugene, OR 97403-0939
Essays aimed at adults as well as youth, limited to 750 words
TheSmartSet.com
3210 Cherry St.,
Philadelphia PA 19104
Pays $350 to $750 for columns (1,500 words). Feature assignments (2,500 to 6,000 words) pay significantly more. Takes personal essays and travel essays. Check guidelines at www.thesmartset.com/about.
Smithsonian
900 Jefferson Drive
Washington, DC 20560-0406
www.smithsonianmag.si.edu
Travel + Leisure
1120 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10036
www.travelandleisure.com
Yesterday's Magazette
PO Box 18566
Sarasota, FL 34276
Personal essays on nostalgia from the 1920s to the 1970s
Humor
Funny Times
PO Box 18530
Cleveland Heights, OH 44118
www.funnytimes.com
Horizon Air
Air Time section takes humor essays to 700 words. Contact info in Airline Magazines section below.
Orion
Orion Society
187 Main Street
Great Barrington, MA 01230
www.oriononline.org
Curmudgeon in the Wild section takes humorous essays to 600 words.
Spirituality and Health
74 Trinity Place
New York, NY 10006
www.spiritualityhealth.com
Takes humorous essays to 600 words.
Stitches: The Journal of Medical Humor
240 Edward Street
Aurora, ON LAG 3S9
Canada
www.stitchesmagazine.com
Specializes in humor and lifestyle pieces for physicians.
Sports
Magazines
American Angler
Abenaki Publishers, Inc.
160 Benmont Avenue
Bennington, VT 05201
The magazine of fly fishing and fly tying
Backpacker
Rodale
33 E. Minor Street
Emmaus, Pa 18098-0099
www.backpacker.com
Backcountry column: personal perspectives, quirky and idiosyncratic,
humorous critiques, manifestos and misadventures, interesting angle,
lesson, revelation or moral
Boating Life
330 W. Canton Avenue
Winter Park, FL 32789
Email: BB2@worldzine.com
Canoe & Kayak Magazine
10526 NE 68th St., Suite 3
Kirkland, WA 98033
www.canoekayak.com
Cruising World
Box 3400
Newport, RI 02840-0992
www.cruisingworld.com
The Golfer
21 E. 40th Street
New York, NY 10016
Email: racquet@walrus.com
Sail Magazine
takes personal stories and photos for the Sailing Memories and Voice of Experience sections. Send manuscripts to:
Managing Editor
SAIL Magazine
98 North Washington Street, 2nd Floor
Boston, MA 02114
amy.ullrich@primedia.com
Send images to:
Photo Editor, same address
kathryn.berry@primedia.com
Details:
www.sailmag.com
Soundings
10 Bokum Road
Essex, CT 06426
Monthly boating newspaper carries personal essays. Pays $200.
Special
Population Magazines
Alaska Magazine
Morris Communications Corp.
301 Arctic Slope Ave., Ste. 300
Anchorage, AK 99518
www.alaskamagazine.com
Takes personal experience pieces on all aspects of life in Alaska. Send SASE for guidelines.
Backhome Magazine
Wordsworth Communications, Inc.
P.O. Box 70
Hendersonville, NC 28793
www.backhomemagazine.com
Pays $35 per printed page for first-person experience on sustainable, self-reliant living.
Byline
PO Box130596
Edmond, OK 73013-0001
405.348.5591
www.bylinemag.com
First person essays related to writing
Chicago Reader
11 East Illinois Street
Chicago, IL 60611
www.chicagoreader.com/readerinc/freelance.html
Surprise, takes Chicago-related items
First Things
156 Fifth Avenue, Suite 400
New York, NY 10010
www.firstthings.com
Personal essays related to religion in public life
GreenPrints
c/o Pat Stone, Editor
PO Box 1355
Fairview, NC 28730
Query patstone@atlantic.net; no email submissions
www.greenprints.com/wguidelines.html
Personal gardening writing
Home Cooking
306 E.Parr Rd.
Berne, IN 46711
Takes personal experience items of 200-350 words plus six recipes. Pays $75-$200 for assigned and $25-$200 for unsolicited articles.
www.homecooking.com
Home Pool & Bar-B-Que
Hawks Media Group, Inc.
PO Box 272
Cranford, NJ 07016
For upscale owners of pools, hot tubs and spas. Pool experience articles up to 1,500 words pays $40 plus $10 for photos. Likes built-in grill shots.
Email: jeanette@hawksmedia.com
Horticulture Magazine
Horticulture Magazine
F + W Media, Inc.
4700 E. Galbraith Rd.
Cincinnati, OH 45236
Takes personal gardening experiences from 900-1,200 words. Pays $600 to $1,000. Email for guidelines. edit@hortmag.com.
Samples at hortmag.com.
House Beautiful
The Hearst Corp.
1700 Broadway, Fl. 29
New York, NY 10019
"Thoughts of Home" section takes literary, personal (is there any other kind?) memoirs up to 2,000 words. Send detailed outline first. Pay not noted but Hearst tends to pay well. www.housebeautiful.com
Islands
PO Box 4728
Santa Barbara, CA 93140
www.islands.com
Pieces with a narrative thread and a personal voice
Midwest Today
P. O. Box 685
Panora, Iowa 50216
www.midtod.com
Short true-life stories with a Heartland setting, particularly stories which are uplifting or inspirational, with a positive outcome
Ocean
Writing Submissions
P. O. Box 84
Rodanthe, NC 27968
www.oceanmag.org
Publishes essays and other forms about the ocean. Check guidelines online.Pay varies.
Plenty, The World in Green
Pays $750 for first-person essays of 800 words max dealing with an eco connection. Check guidelines at: www.plentymag.com/guidelines.php.
Reminisce
PO Box 998
Greendale, WI 53129-0998
www.reminisce.com
Rotarian
1560 Sherman Ave.
Evanston, IL 60201
www.rotary.org/newsroom/rotarian
Organization of hope, encouragement, cooperation
Sierra
Sierra Club
85 2nd Street, Fl. 2
San Francisco, CA 94105
www.sierraclub.org
Pays $800 - $3,000 for essays with an enviromental theme from 1,500 - 3,000 words.
Teaching Tolerance
400 Washington Ave
Montgomery, AL 36104
www.tolerance.org
Accepts personal essays by teachers, students and parents.
Techniques: Connecting Education and Careers
1410 King Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
Wend Magazine
1020 SW Taylor St., Suite 542
Portland, OR 97205
Wants first person accounts of adventure travel, photos preferred. Pays 25 cents per word with minimal editing, less when extra editing is needed. Find guidelines at www.wendmagazine.com or contact edit@wendmagazine.com.
Wine Enthusiast
103 Fairview Park Dr.
Elmsford, NY 10532
Takes true travel tales related to wine from 200 to 800 words. Pay varies, on acceptance. Find guidelines at:
www.winemag.com
Yoga Journal
475 Sansome St., Ste. 850
San Francisco, CA 94111
the "Yoga Diary" section takes first person stories of 250. Pays 90days after acceptance. Not great, but it does pay. Send queries to:
queries@yogajournal.com.
Check content at:
www.yogajournal.com
.
Religious/Inspirational
Magazines
Angels on Earth
pays from $25 to $400 for true, first-person stories about heavenly angels or humans acting in angelic roles. Check guidelines at: www.angelsmagazine.com/writers_Guidelines.asp
Dovetail
A Journal by and for Jewish/Christian Families
775 Simon Greenwell Lane
Boston, KY 40107
www.dovetailinstitue.org
Pertaining to life in an interfaith (Jewish/Christian) family
Guideposts
16 East 34th St
New York, NY 10016
www.guideposts.org
True first-person stories telling in dramatic form how people have
overcome difficulties, gained courage, or developed positive attitudes
through faith in God. Payment: $200 - $400.
Liguorian
Pays 10 to 15 cents per published word for personal essays from 1,200 to 1,400 words that provide practical direction for Catholics in this changing world. Guidelines at:
www.liguorian.org.
Momemt
Takes personal essays from 1,000 to 2,500 words relating to all branches of the North American Jewish community and Israel. Pay varies. Guidelines at:
font face="Times">www.momentmag.com.
Pure Inspiration
Pays $100 for stories about encounters with angels or an epiphany. Wants uplifting tales with no particlular religious slant. Guidelines at:
http://www.pureinspirationmag.com/information/guidelines.shtml
Reform Judaism
633 3rd Avenue, 17th Floor
New York, NY 10017-6778
http://reformjudaismmag.org
Personal experience of Reform Jews
Magazines
for People with Disabilities/Medical Conditions
Arthritis Today
1330 W. Peachtree St
Atlanta, GA 30309
www.arthritis.org
Upbeat, inspiration, also articles generally appealing to older audience
non-arthritis
Careers & the disABLED
Equal Opportunity Publications
1160 E. Jericho Turnpike, Suite 200
Huntington, NY 11743
www.eop.com
Coping with Cancer
Unique, upbeat stories about a cancer experience. 775 words
www.copingmag.com/CopPages/CgHome.html
Cure
3500 Maple Avenue, Suite 750
Dallas, TX 75219
This magazine for cancer patients and their caregivers takes 700 word max reader essays. Pays $100 for the print edition and $25 for the quarterly online newsletter.
www.curetoday.com
Literary
Journals
AGNI
236 Bay State Rd.
Boston, MA 02215
www.bu.edu/agni
Accepts personal essays, memoirs. Pays $10 per page up to $150. Snail mail submissions only, no e-queries. Reads Sept. 1 through May 31. Check guidelines online before submitting.
The American Scholar
1606 New Hampshire Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20009
www.theamericanscholar.org
Published by Phi Beta Kappa, this one is for experienced writers. Recommended personal essay length 3,000 to 5,000 words. Pays $500 on acceptance. E-queries OK. scholar@pbk.org Check guidelines online before submitting.
Arts & Letters
Campus Box 89, Georgia College & State University
Milledgeville, GA 31061
Pays a minimum of $50 for up to 25 pages of memoir and personal essay. Reads from September 1 to March 1. Check guidelines at http://al.gcsu.edu.
Black Warrior Review
P.O. Box 862936
Tuscaloosa, AL 35486-0029
www.webdelsol.com/bwr
Accepts personal essays
Brave Hearts
Ogden Publications
1503 SW 42nd St.
Topeka, KS 66609
www.braveheartsmagazine.com
Accepts personal essays from 300-900 words. Token payment.
Brick, A Literary Journal
537, Stn. Q,
Toronto, Ontario,
M4T 2M5, Canada
www.brickmag.com
Pays $100-$500 (CDN) for orignal work, less for reprints
The Chattahoochee Review
Georgia Perimeter College
2101 Womack Road
Dunwoody, GA
www.chattahoochee-review.org
Pays $100 for essays from emerging and established writers.
Chelsea
P. O. Box 773
Cooper Station
New York, NY 10276
Cimarron Review
Oklahoma State University
205 Morrill Hall
Stillwater, OK 74078
cimarronreview.okstate.edu
Likes essays with contemporary themes.
Chelsea
P. O. Box 773
Cooper Station
New York, NY 10276
Colorado Review
Colorado State University
English Dept.
Fort Collins, CO 80523
www.coloradoreview.colostate.edu
Pays $5 per page for personal essays. Snail mail submissions only. Reads September through April.
Confrontation
Takes essays and memoirs. Reads Sept. 1-May 31. Query nonfiction.
martin.tucker@liu.edu
Long Island University
C.W. Post of L.I.U. Dept. of English
Brookville, NY 11548
Conjunctions
Takes contemporary essays with no restrictions or guidelines. Pay varies, usually $125.
www.conjunctions.com
Conversely
www.conversely.com
Crazyhorse
Takes personal essays to 25 pages, pays $20 per printed page.
http://crazyhorse.cofc.edu
Creative Nonfiction
Essays can be personal, but must reach out universally.
www.creativenonfiction.org
Daughters of Sarah
2121 Sheridan Rd
Evanston, IL 60201
Nonfiction: Essays, inspirational, opinion, personal experience
The Eclectic Journal
PO Box 2142
Walnut Creek, CA 94595
Essays, especially with an upbeat message
Epoch
Pays $5-$10/page for personal essays. Reads Sept. 15 to April 15. www.arts.cornell.edu/english/epoch.html
Event
Pays up to $500 for personal essays up to 5,000 words. http://event.douglas.bc.ca
Five Points
Georgia State University
P.O. Box 3999
Atlanta, GA 30302
www.webdelsol.com/Five_Points
Pays $15 per page with $250 maximum for personal essays of 7,500 words. Reads Sept. 1 through April 30.
Fourth Genre
Michigan State University
285 Bessey Hall
East Lansing, MI 48824-1033
http://msupress.msu.edu/journals/fg/
Awards an annual prize of $1,000 for an essay or memoir up to 6,000 words. Winners and runners up published. $15 entry fee. Reads August 15 through November 30.
The Georgia Review
Reads from Aug. 16-May 14.
www.uga.edu/garev
Gettysburg Review
Takes memoir from 3,000-7,000 words.
www.gettysburgreview.com
Good Gosh Almighty
http://goodgoshalmighty.com/submissions.htm
A site for determined individualists
Gowanus
www.gowanusbooks.com
Gulf Coast
Reads Aug. 15-April 30. Also has contests.
www.gulfcoastmag.org/gcssubmissions.html
Indiana Review
Indiana University
Ballantine Hall 465
1020 E. Kirkwood Ave.
Bloomington, IN 47405
Reads Sept. 1-May 31.
Pays $5 per page, $10 minimum, for lively essays.
inreview@indiana.edu
www.indiana.edu~inreview
The Kenyon Review
Pays $30/page for essays,7,500 words max.
www.kenyonreview.org
Literal Latte
Takes personal essays, all topics.
www.literal-latte.com
The Massachusetts Review
South College
University of Massachusetts
Amherst, MA 01003
Reads Oct. 1-June 1.
Pays $50 for lively essays.
massrev@external.umass.edu
www.massreview.org
MillenniumSHIFT
www.millenniumshift.com
The Missouri Review
1507 Hillcrest Hall, University of Missouri
Columbia, MO 65211
www.missourireview.org
Narrative Magazine
Takes personal essays and much more. For experienced writers. Pays $100-$1,000. Reading fee $5. Check guidelines at www.narrativemagazine.com
New England Review
Middlebury College
Middlebury, VT 05753
www.middlebury.edu/~nereview/
New England Writers' Network
Email Glenda Baker, Editor-in-Chief at newsmag@aol.com
New Letters
Offers prizes plus publication. Reads Oct. 2-April 30.
www.newletters.org
New Works
www.new-works.org
Pif Magazine
Requires free membership to submit. Takes memoir.
www.pifmagazine.com
Ploughshares
Emerson College
120 Boyle Street
Boston MA, 02116-4624
www.pshares.org
Accepts some personal essays, reads August 1-March 31
Quarterly West
Takes memoir and essays, 500-6,000 words.
www.utah.edu/quarterlywest
Rosebud
Rosebud Inc
RFI PROSE Submissions
c/o Roderick Clark
N3310 Asje Road
Cambridge, WI 53523
www.rsbd.net
Occasional essays
Segue
www.mid.muohio.edu/segue
Seeks memoirs
The Sigurd Journal
P.O. Box 93
American Fork, Utah, 84003
Pays $10 per 500 words for memoirs of 500 to 1,500 words preferred. Submit by email only.
submissions@writingindepth.com
Snowy Egret
P.O. Box 29
Terre Haute, IN 47808
Seeks essays on human relationship to the natural world from 500-10,000 words, and first-hand experiences (Woodnotes)from 250-2,000 words.
The Sun - A Magazine of Ideas
107 N. Roberson St,
Chapel Hill, NC 27516
www.thesunmagazine.org
Tiny Lights
Annual contest for personal narrative with pay and publication.
www.tiny-lights.com
Tin House
Pays $200 for nonfiction essays.
www.tinhouse.com
Virginia Quarterly
Takes travel essays from 5,000–10,000 words. Minimum pay $200. Reads Sept. 1 - May 31.
www.vqronline.org/index.php
The Yale Review
Yale University
P.O. Box 208243
New Haven, CT 06520
Pays $500 for nonfiction.
www.www.yale.edu/yalereview
Parenting
Child Magazine
375 Lexington Ave. 9th Floor
New York, NY 10017
www.child.com
Takes personal essays about family life. Query with clips and SASE
Home Education Magazine
P.O. Box 1083
Tonasket WA 98855-1083
www.homeedmag.com/index.html
Request guidelines with SASE or email the editor at the site.
Mothering
P.O. Box 1690
Santa Fe NM 87504
www.mothering.com
The WAHM Magazine
pays $150 for 801-1,000 word stories (less for shorter works) about experiences as work-at-home parents. Topics are open. Guidelines:
thewahmmagazine.com/Submission_Guidelines.html
Working Mother
Pay not specified for personal stories about career tirumphs and life-changing experiences. 700-1,500 words. Guidelines:
www.workingmother.com/?service=vpage/140
Women's
Magazines
Most major women's magazines do not post guidelines. Send SASE or check current issue for appropirate departments.
Bridal Guide
3 E. 54th Street, 15th Floor
New York, NY 10022
www.bridalguide.com
Guidelines from Valerie Berrios at vberrios@bridalguide.com
Country Woman
PO Box 643
Milwaukee, WI 53201
www.countrywomanmagazine.com
Nostalgia pieces, 300-500 words
Essence
1500 Broadway
New York, NY 10036
www.essence.com
Family Circle
375 Lexington Avenue
New York, NY 10017-5514
www.familycircle.com
Glamour
350 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10017
www.glamour.com
Viewpoint or Hers/His column
Good Housekeeping
959 Eighth Avenue
New York, NY 10019
www.goodhousekeeping.com
Dramatic narratives
Ladies' Home Journal
http://www.lhj.com/lhj/file.jsp?item=/help/writersGuidelines
Pay varies on the high end. Query first and check guidelines above.
More
More
379 Lexington Ave.
New York, NY 10017
www.more.com
Prints personal essays on subjects of interest to midlife women (in their 40s and 50s). For guidelines send a note and SASE to the address above.
Self
4 Times Square
New York, NY 10036
www.self.com
Personal, dramatic narratives
Radience, The Magazine for Large Women
PO Box 30246
Oakland, CA 94694
Skirt!
Takes personal essays on topics of interest to women between 800 and 1,200 words. Monthly themes at http://skirt.com/contributor_guidelines.
Woman's Day
Reader Service
1633 Broadway
New York, NY 10019
Thought-provoking, edgy, first person essays on controversial topics for You section. 650 words.
Woman's World
270 Sylvan Avenue
Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632
Dramatic personal women's stories
Newspapers
Hundreds of newspapers across the U.S. and many more around the globe print personal essays, usually in the lifestyles, travel and op-ed sections. Often they seek a local angle, but also accept items with a universal theme. Send your completed personal essays to the appropriate section editor. Call if you can't locate it in a copy or eslewhere and verify the name and spelling. Two sources for global newspaper markets are: www.nettizen.com/newspaper and newslink.org
Travel/Airline
Magazines
Business Traveler
Varquin Enterprises
115 w. 30th Street, Ste. 202
NewYork, NY 10001
Takes firsthand reports from 100-1,800 words and pays 50¢ per word. Email for guidelines: www.btsonline.com.
Hemispheres
Pace Communications for United Airlines
1301 Carolina Street
Greensboro, NC 27401
www.hemispheresmagazine.com
Accepts personal experience essays
Horizon Air
Paradigm Communications Group for Alaska Airlines
2701 First Avenue Suite 250
Seattle, WA 98121
mdill@paradigmcg.com for guidelines
Accepts personal experience essays
Mexico Travel & Life
Mexico Travel & Life
5850 San Felipe, Ste. 500
Houston, TX 77057
Takes memoirs about, oddly enough, Mexico. Guidelines at:
www.mexicotravelandlife.com.
TravelSmart Newsletter
TravelSmart
P.O. Box 397
Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522
Pays $50 for 1,500 words of true advice for travelers. Sample at:
www.travelsmartnewsletter.com.Email: TravelSmartNow@aol.com>
US Airways Magazine
Pace Communications for US Air
1301 Carolina Street
Greensboro, NC 27401
www.usairwaysmag.com
Accepts essays
Radio
All Things Considered
National Public Radio
635 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20001
www.npr.org/about/pitch/commentary.html
Accepts 1 or 2 essays running 2 1/2 minutes (300 words) each by email. Timely topics are a plus. Read guidelines.
Many local NPR stations accept essays on local topics.
Lists
of Paying Markets
The (Annual) Paying Markets for Writers
Published May. Available from Amazon.com or (faster delivery) at writersmarkets.com.
The (annual) Writer's Market
Published in the fall by Writer's Digest Books. Available in book
stores or from www.writersdigest.com
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