Ever wonder how to pitch your favorite publication? Look no further. We’ve compiled the public pitch guidelines for most top publications. Sorted by category, you can look below to find out how to pitch places like National Geographic Traveler, Business Insider, Vice Life, Condé Nast Traveler, The New York Times Style Section, Scientific American, The Verge, Bon Appetit and more! We’ve even included the New York Times Crossword!
While we have sorted publications into loose categories for convenience, take this with a grain of salt. Remember that only the publication–and you as a writer–will define what your story is like and where it goes.
Have a publication to add? Email us at hello@comewritewithus.com
How to Pitch Science Publications
How to Pitch Scientific American – The iconic science publication looks for “articles on recent scientific discoveries, technical innovations and overviews of ongoing research.”
How to Pitch Discover – The famous print and web-based science publication looks for “stories that enlighten, inform and get readers excited about science.”
How to Pitch Cosmos – This quarterly science magazine aims to “inspire curiosity in ‘The Science of Everything’ and make the world of science accessible to everyone.”
How to Pitch AIR & Space/Smithsonian – This general interest publication states “Its goal is to show readers, both the knowledgeable and the novice, facets of the enterprise of flight that they are unlikely to encounter elsewhere.”
How to Pitch Sapiens – This anthropology-centric publication “features writing by anthropologists and journalist contributors across all fields of anthropology—biological/physical, linguistic, and socio-cultural anthropology, as well as archaeology.”
How to Pitch The Scientist – This publication is looking for writers to “contribute enterprising reporting to tell the stories of life science around the world.”
How to Pitch Hakai Magazine – “Hakai Magazine explores science and society in coastal ecosystems. ”
How to Write for Sierra – The magazine of the Sierra club accepts pitches and recommends writers expect a 4-6 week response time.
How to Pitch Tech Publications
How to Pitch Wired UK – This famous magazine is about more than just tech hardware. They note, “WIRED is not just a gadget magazine. In print and online we tell stories about how the world is changing, for better or worse, and try to explain why this change is happening.”
How to Pitch The Verge – This well known tech publication “covers the ways that technology and science are changing the way we live.” Part of Vox Media.
How to Pitch Gizmodo – Upon writing this roundup this link was broken, but a cached version used to say “Send your pitches to pitches@gizmodo.com or email me directly at marina.galperina@gizmodo.com. Include your potential headline, a short paragraph describing your feature, who you’re hoping to interview for the piece (whenever applicable), and links to your previously published work.”
How to Pitch Gaming and Videogame Culture Publications
How to Pitch Launcher – The Washington Post’s video games vertical. “Launcher aims to be an authoritative, clarifying voice on the video game industry and the culture and mass audience that has developed around it.”
How to Pitch Polygon – This Vox Media online magazine accepts pitches on esports, video games, culture, movies, and more.
How to write for Nerdist – This gaming and “nerd” pop culture site accepts pitches on gaming, science, tech, and more!
How to Pitch Food and Cooking Publications
How to Pitch Bon Appetit – The iconic food publication that looks at the “intersection of food and culture in America. If that sounds broad, it’s because it’s meant to!” A Condé Nast property.
How to Pitch Basically – A cooking website that helps “people feel more comfortable and confident while cooking”. A Condé Nast property.
How to Pitch Healthyish – A publication that publishes “conversational, passionate articles that cover the many intersections of food, wellness, and culture today.” A Condé Nast property.
How to Pitch Epicurious – This food publication “enthusiastically accepts pitches from writers, recipe developers, illustrators, and other creators.” A Condé Nast property.
How to Pitch News, Politics, Culture and Opinion Sites:
How to Pitch Vice Life: This lifestyle arm of Vice looks for ” health, wellness, self-care, sex, relationships, drugs, alcohol, and money.”
How to Pitch Slate – This well-known online publication publishes work in a variety of fields from national politics to tech, to business, to sports–and more. “Slate is known for smart, witty, persuasive arguments.”
How to Pitch The American Prospect – This left-leaning political publication publishes “a diverse range of domestic and international issues—economic, political, and cultural.”
How to Pitch Undark – This online publication publishes “a mix of long-form, narrative-driven journalism, shorter features, profiles, essays, op-eds, book excerpts, Q&A’s, reviews, photography, digital video, and data visualizations.”
How to Pitch High Country News – With an online presence and 12 print issues a year, “High Country News is an award-winning nonprofit magazine that tells the complex story of the Western United States, through coverage of its communities and environment, in the belief that the West holds lessons of national and global importance”
How to Write for Bustle – The iconic online women’s magazine accepts pitches in a wide variety of topic areas.
How to Write for xoNecole – This online magazine covers culture, beauty, career, life, love, and more. On its submission page, xoNecole notes; “The journeys of women of color are filled with inspiration, life lessons, and reminders of our fierce independence. The xoNecole community thrives because of readers and writers who lend their voices and stir discussion.”
How to Write for SELF “SELF magazine is a mission-driven health and wellness brand. Our goal is to help people take good care of themselves, their loved ones, and their communities.”
How to Write for Travel Publications
How to Pitch Conde Nast Traveler (CNTraveler.com) – This venerable travel publication accepts travel pitches but notes; “While we are a travel publication, we also publish stories that intersect with other fields: food, environment, art, history, architecture, design, tech, shopping, nightlife, and more.” A Condé Nast property.
How to write for National Geographic Traveler – This venerable travel publication is among other things, looking for “stories that reveal the authentic qualities, histories, and cultures of places.”
The following two travel publications are based in Britain, but accept pitches from around the world.
How to Pitch Condé Nast Traveler UK – “Condé Nast Traveller shines a light on amazing people doing amazing things in amazing places.” Note, this is the UK Condé Nast Traveler.
How to Pitch BBC Travel – The travel arm of the United Kingdom’s government broadcaster aims to celebrate “the people, places and cultures that make this world so wonderfully diverse and amazing.”
How to Write for Comedy Publications
How to Pitch McSweeneys – The iconic online humor publication accepts unsolicited pitches.
How to Write for Business Publications
Business Insider – The well-known online business publication accepts a wide variety of freelance pitches in several categories.
The Muse – This online magazine accepts articles based on career advancement and life in the office.
From Day One – A “conference series on business and society” which looks for pitches from freelancers. According to their guidelines, pay is generally $200-$300 for stories of 800-1000 words, but this is negotiable.
How to write for Institutional Investor – This business magazine looks for “stories that feature conflict, narrative. access, and disclosure,” “cultural stories about the financial industry” and more.
Fast Company – This business publication accepts articles in its Work Life section, which used to be called “Leadership.” (Note: As of this writing, Fast Company does not pay for these articles, but promises to “energetically promote” them.)
How to write for Fashion Magazines
How to Pitch The New York Times Styles Section – This section of the NYT accepts freelancer submissions. Beyond the well-written pitch guide linked to here, their editors are on Twitter.
Social Impact Publications
Bright Magazine – This Medium publication publishes “fresh stories about health, education, and social impact.
How to Pitch Longreads – The famous publisher of, well, long reads is looking for “Well-written, well-told stories with narrative arcs that are accessible and easy to follow, and which illustrate some relatable human experience readers will identify with, even if their own experiences in life have been quite different.” These pieces should be between 2,500 to 5,000 words, and are paid a flat fee of $500.
Arts and Literature
How to Pitch Literary Hub – Lit Hub is a famous online publication about “literary life and culture.”
Interesting stories
How to Pitch Atlas Obscura – This famous online publication is a “friendly tour-guide to the world’s most wondrous places. Travel tips, articles, strange facts and unique events.”
How to Pitch Mental Floss – This venerable online magazine publishes articles in a diverse field of topics from “history, science, entertainment, language, pop culture, art, or beyond.”
Other Notable Places to Pitch
The New York Times Crossword Puzzle – Yep, you can even pitch a crossword to the New York Times. The rates are interesting. From Monday – Saturday, you are $500 per puzzle, unless you have published more than three, in which case you get $750 per puzzle. For the larger, Sunday puzzles, current rates are $1500 for your first two, and $2250 for each one thereafter. These rates may change, but are super interesting.
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