25 Publications that Pay for Op-Eds and Opinion Pieces

Get paid for your opinion!

Writers! Today for you, I have a list of 28 publications that pay for opinion pieces.

We’ve researched payment rates and contact information for these publishers, so you can easily contact the right editor.

This is curated from our members-only database of publishers. A quick search of our database pulls up over 100 publishers that match the keywords “op-ed” or “opinion.”

If you want full access to the database, be sure to become a paid Litworth subscriber.

If you’re new to pitching, I encourage you to spend time carefully studying the publications you would like to write for. Learn their style, how they’re organized, the types of writing they publish, and even the general lengths of the articles they publish. Also, pay special attention to the way they write article titles, as this is often vital to the pitch writing process.

Once you’re familiar with the publication, you can brainstorm ideas, and then carefully craft a short pitch to the appropriate editor at the publication. For paid subscribers, feel free to send me a draft pitch, and I’ll give you my feedback.

1. The Urbanist is committed to publishing a diverse array of op-eds, articles, and essays on improving the ‘quality of city life’ and ‘urban planning’. Deeply reported articles can earn as much as $400.  To learn more, visit their write for us page.

2. New City covers urban policy, planning, housing, economic development, transportation, tech, environmental sustainability, arts and urban culture, health and safety, and design. They pay $100 to $200 honorarium for Op-eds and a flat rate for freelance stories is $400. Maximum word length for op-eds is 1,200 words.To learn more, read their submission guidelines.

3. Prism is a nonprofit that is working in tandem with Daily Kos. They elevate “stories, ideas, and solutions from leaders, thinkers, and activists whose voices are critical to a reflective democracy.” They are seeking pitches for articles, essays, and op-eds. They pay 50 cents per word.  To learn more, refer to this Twitter post and their pitching guidelines.

4. Religion Unplugged is a news organization that covers religion stories around the world. They publish at least one story each day on their website. Their pay rates vary by department: News features (801 words or more): $300, Opinion and essays (800 to 1,000 words): $200, Film and TV reviews (800 words or more): $200, Art reviews (800 words or more): $200, Book reviews (800 words or more): $200. For more details, check out their submission guidelines.

5. Eos is a science news magazine by the American Geophysical Union (AGU). They publish “news and features reported by science journalists” and “research updates, opinions, and features written by scientists.” News articles word length is (500-800 words) and features (2000 words). According to a payment report, they paid $1/word for an 800-word news story. For more information, refer to their submission guidelines.

6. Amateur Photographer is “the world’s oldest consumer weekly photographic magazine, first published in October 1884.” They feature photography news, reviews, buying guides, interviews, and more. According to one payment report, they paid £75 for an op-ed of 400 words. To contact them, refer to this page.

7. Undark is a digital magazine that explores the “intersection of science and society.” They seek to publish various types of projects including blog posts, book excerpts or reviews, op-eds, short features and long-form projects. Our sources suggest that they pay an average of $0.61 per word. To learn more, refer to their submission guidelines.

8. Lilith is a magazine for Jewish women. Their tagline is "Independent, Jewish, & Frankly Feminist." They publish reporting, analysis, opinion pieces, memoir, fiction and poetry with a feminist take on subjects of interest to Jewish feminists.  Features are under 2,500 words, news clips are 500 words and fiction, under 3,000 words. Details here.

9. The Institute for Palestine Studies is a source of information and analysis on Palestinian affairs and the Arab-Israeli conflict. For their English blog, PALESTINE SQUARE, they welcome articles on a variety of topics related to Palestine. The articles must fall under these categories: “news/culture coverage, feature stories, opinion or perspectives, analysis, or historical narratives.” They also welcome interviews and reviews. The articles must be 800 to 1,200 words long; shorter pieces are accepted for news/culture category. As per their senior editor, they pay $120 per piece. To learn more, refer to this page.

10. Scientific American covers science discoveries and technology innovations. They “welcome ideas for articles on recent scientific discoveries, technical innovations and overviews of ongoing research.” They welcome opinion and analysis (1,000 words). Payment reports indicate that they pay up to $0.50 per word. For details, refer to this page.