30 Creative Non-fiction Magazines that Pay up to $3,000

Written By S. Kalekar

These magazines and outlets accept a variety of creative non-fiction; memoirs, personal narratives, literary essays, and more, and they pay up to $3,000. Many of them also accept other genres, like fiction and poetry. Many, but not all, of them are open for submissions now, or have announced when they will open next for submissions. Some of the deadlines are approaching quickly.  

London Review of Books
This magazine accepts unsolicited submissions as well as proposals. “The best guide to what we might like is what we usually publish, including poems, reviews, reportage, memoir, articles for our Short Cuts and Diary slots, and blogposts.” Pay is unspecified. Details here.

The Masters Review: New Voices
For the New Voices section, they say, “Writers with single-author book-length work published or under contract  with a major press are ineligible. We are interested in providing a  platform to new writers; authors with books published by indie presses are welcome to submit unpublished work, as are self-published authors.
We accept fiction and narrative non-fiction. We do accept a variety of genres and styles; our only requirement is that you show excellence in your craft. We want to be wowed. Bend genres, experiment with structure, and write your heart out. But please, send us polished work.” Pay is $100 for flash works in this section (up to 1,000 words), and $200 for longer (up to 7,000 words). They have both fee-free and fee-based opportunities for writers. Details here.

West Branch
West Branch accepts creative non-fiction of up to 30 pages, fiction, poetry, and translations. It is affiliated with Bucknell University.  Pay is $100 per submission of poetry, $.10/word for prose up to $200. They accept submissions between 1^st August and 1^st April. Details here.

Baltimore Review
They publish creative non-fiction of up to 5,000 words, fiction, and poetry. They have detailed guidelines, including, “For creative nonfiction, we look for the hallmarks described by Philip Gerard in Creative Nonfiction: particularly, an apparent and deeper subject, a well-told story, and the sense that the writer has spent considerable time exploring the subject and making connections outside personal experience—to subjects such as current events and social issues, history, science, politics, religion, the arts—and demonstrating fresh insight. CNF involves telling true stories about people and events using narrative techniques, with a careful attention to language.  It rises above chronological description. The narrator is involved with the subject, and there is evidence of reflection in the work. Although the work usually involves the narrator's experience and opinions, the story should rise above the personal and speak to a larger truth.” And, some editor preferences are in the bios on their Staff page. Pay is $50 (via a gift certificate or PayPal, if preferred), the deadline is 30 November 2024. Details here and here.

Vast Chasm Magazine
They publish “bold work that explores the expansive human experience, including flash and short fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and other nonconforming work.” They publish creative non-fiction (flash, up to 1,200 words, and longer, up to 5,000 words), fiction, and poetry. They pay $50, and read submissions on an ongoing basis. Details here.

Ecotone
This is “the literary magazine dedicated to reimagining place” – they accept non-fiction (up to 10,000 words), fiction, and poetry. They usually charge for online submissions, but have opened a brief window for fee-free submissions, the deadline for which is 31 August 2024; they specially welcome work from writers historically underrepresented in literary publishing during this submission window. And September 1–5 is their general submission window for poetry, fiction, and nonfiction ($3 fee via Submittable, no fee via post). They pay a minimum of $200 for prose, and a minimum of $100 for poetry. Details here.

The New York Times: Modern Love
Modern Love is a non-fiction column of the New York Times. They want “honest personal essays about contemporary relationships. We seek true stories on finding love, losing love and trying to keep love alive. We welcome essays that explore subjects such as adoption, polyamory, technology, race and friendship — anything that could reasonably fit under the heading “Modern Love.” Ideally, essays should spring from some central dilemma you have faced. It is helpful, but not essential, for the situation to reflect what is happening in the world now.” Also, “Love may be universal, but individual experiences can differ immensely and be informed by factors including race, socio-economic status, gender, disability status, nationality, sexuality, age, religion and culture.” Send essays of 1,500-1,700 words. Modern Love has two submission periods, March through June, and September through December. Writers are paid. They especially welcome work from historically underrepresented writers, and from those outside the US. Details here.
(Also see their Tiny Love Stories column; these are also personal essays similar in theme to Modern Love, but much shorter, of 100 words.) 

The Ampersand Review
They accept non-fiction essays/memoirs/excerpts (up to 4,000 words), fiction, and poetry. This magazine is affiliated with Sheridan College, and they are reading submissions for Issue 7. They pay $100 for prose, and $50-100 for poetry. The deadline is 31 August 2024. Details here.

Consequence Magazine
They publish work “that addresses the human experiences, realities, and consequences of war and geopolitical violence through literature and art.” They accept non-fiction – interviews, essays, and narrative non-fiction, of up to 4,000 words, as well as fiction (including flash and excerpts), poetry, translations, and art. All works will be considered for online and print. Pay is $30-50 for print prose, $50 for online prose, and $20/poem for print poetry, $50 for online poetry. The deadline is 15 October 2024. Details here.

Motherwell
This is a parenting magazine, and they take personal essays on parenting, as well as work on other themes and genres. “We are looking for evocative first-person narratives that have a unique focus, or take a novel angle, on a slice of the parenting experience. We are open to a range of styles and tones: the only requirement is that the essay works on its own terms—be it lyrical, humorous, research-oriented, etc—and conveys something fundamental about its writer. Up to 1,200 words.“ Apart from unthemed essays on parenting, they also accept themed essays – currently, they want work on Parenting and Food; Pandemic Little Lessons; and Holidays as a Parent. Some of the work they publish is paid, and some is unpaid (see guidelines). Details here.

Craft Literary
This magazine publishes fiction, creative non-fiction, essays on writing craft, critical essays, and book annotations. They also accept completed interviews/hybrid interviews, or pitches. Send up to 1,000 words for flash fiction and creative non-fiction, up to 6,000 words for short fiction and creative non-fiction. Pay is $100 for flash, $200 for short fiction and creative non-fiction, and $50-100 for craft essays. Details here.

The Stinging Fly
They accept work from Irish and international writers. They accept non-fiction, including graphic non-fiction, as well as short fiction, novel extracts, and poetry. They pay €45 per magazine page, with a minimum/maximum payment of €300/€1,200 for non-fiction and fiction, €150 for shorter essays/flash fiction (1 – 2 pages), and €40-60/poem. Their next submission period is November 13th and Wednesday November 27th 2024 (for our Summer 2025 issue). Their submission portal will open during the reading period. Details here. 

Reckoning
They publish creative work on environmental justice. They accept creative non-fiction (“The essays we publish tend to be more creative than journalistic; we like at least a bit of narrative with our information”, and they accept works up to 20,000 words – see here), fiction (mostly speculative), poetry, translations, reviews, review pitches, and art. “We are always seeking work from Indigenous writers and artists, racialized writers and artists, queer, trans and/or disabled writers and artists, and anyone, anywhere in the world, who has suffered the consequences, intended or otherwise, of dominant society’s systemic disconnect with and mistreatment of the natural world.” They’re reading submissions for Issue 9. The deadline is 22 September 2024. They pay $0.15/word for prose, S75/page for poetry, $75 for fiction reviews, and about $37 for non-fiction reviews. Details here, here, and here.

riddlebird
They publish personal essays of 650-5,000 words. “We like a memoirist’s essay that has achieved some distance and allows us to share a newfound insight. Think of Vivian Gornick’s idea of “the situation and the story.” They also publish literary fiction. Pay is $100. They have a monthly submission quota, and close when this is met. They will reopen for submissions on 1 September 2024. Details here and here.

The Dublin Review
This is a Dublin-based quarterly magazine of essays, memoir, reportage and fiction. You can read about the journal here. “Our fee scale starts at €300 for pieces with a published word count of 2,500 and under, and increases based on word count.” Submission is via a form on the guidelines page. Details here.

The Paris Review
They will begin accepting prose and poetry submissions on 1^st October, and will accept submissions via Submittable until they reach capacity. They also accept postal submissions during their reading period, which is till 30^th October 2024. Pay is unspecified. Details here.