Freelance Writing Markets Paying $1000 Per Article or More in 2025

If you're looking for high-paying freelance writing assignments in magazines or online publications, explore this updated list of markets that pay $1000 per article (and more)

Note that these publications don't necessarily pay $1000+ for every freelance article they accept. For example, rates for longer features might exceed $1000 per article while shorter departments will pay a lower fee due to their smaller scope.

Visit the full writers' guidelines link for each listing below for more details. If you come across markets with outdated summaries here, click "report link" below that summary to send an auto-populated email to have the listing reviewed.

Remember to check back occasionally, as this list of freelance writing markets automatically updates as markets are added or updated in the broader database.

Publications Paying $1000 per Article (and More)

Audubon

The National Audubon Society accepts freelance contributions for Audubon magazine and its website. They accept shorter pieces up to 1200 words for both print and online publication in addition to some longer investigations, profiles, features, and essays from 1500-4000 words. They prefer these to run around 3000 words. Online and other shorter pieces pay $.50 / word. Longer essays pay $1.00 / word. Features, print and online, typically pay $1.50 / word. A feature package (equivalent to a six-page print story) starts at $2500 per project.

Central Coast Farm & Ranch

Central Coast Farm & Ranch is a quarterly magazine covering the agricultural community in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties in California. They cover local food, agriculture, edible gardening, agri-tourism, and more. Pay is $.50 - $1.00 per word for features, and $350 for departments.

Clarkesworld Magazine

This magazine is devoted to science fiction, fantasy, and horror. They purchase both fiction and nonfiction writing. Payment for nonfiction is 10 cents per word up to their 2500 word limit. Payment for fiction (1000-22,000 words) is 14 cents per word.

Defector

Defector is a subscription-based sports and culture website. They accept freelance pitches for stories covering "sports, politics, TV, movies, science, weird shit that happens on the internet, and anything else that catches [their] attention." According to their freelancer policies, they pay a minimum of $1000 for longer essays and a minimum of $500 for shorter pieces.

Dwell

Dwell publishes home tours, reported pieces, interviews, and essays related to smart design and "new ideas about where and how we live." They feature homes with noteworthy stories from around the worlds (from sustainability to affordability). The print magazine publishes six issues per year. Online stories start at $.50 / assigned word. Print stories pay $1.00 / word. Some sections have flat per-piece rates. Dwell+ Exclusive home tours pay $400 for 600-800 word stories and the Design News section pays $350 / story. Most print stories pay $1000-2000.

Earth Island Journal

Earth Island Journal covers environmental issues such as wildlife conservation,land conversation,public policy, climate and energy, and more. Contributors are paid $.50 per word for print stories up to 4000 words, with 2800 words being most common. Online reports pay $400 and are a good way for new writers to break into the market.

Gray's Sporting Journal

Gray's Sporting Journal accepts freelance submissions on sporting topics such as shooting / hunting and angling / fishing. They publish seven times per year, with four themed issues covering fly fishing, upland bird hunting, big game hunting, and their "Expeditions and Guides Annual." They're open to a wide range of word counts, but prefer shorter to too long (12,000 is okay if necessary, but 3000 is preferable, and 1500 words preferable even to that). In addition to articles and yarns (750-1500 word campfire tales -- can be factual or fiction), they also accept poetry up to 1000 words. They pay $600-1250 for features, $600 average for yarns, and $100 for poems. Longer "expeditions" travel pieces run 2500-3000 words and pay $850-1000 plus $75 for each picture published.

High Country News

High Country News is a nonprofit news magazine covering the Western U.S. They pay $.50 - 1.00 per word. They accept in-depth news and analyses, features, short-form reported stories, and essays about life in the West.

Jewish Currents

Jewish Currents is a print (quarterly) and digital publication covering politics, culture, and ideas through the perspective of the Jewish left. Articles cover topics such as the Israel / Palestine conflict, inner workings of Jewish communal organizations, diasporic cultural expression, and more. The publication also considers poetry, but only reads unsolicited poems during the month of June. In-depth web features pay at least $1000. News reports start at $500, analysis and reviews start at $400, and print features are paid $1.00 / word.

Model Railroad Hobbyist

Model Railroad Hobbyist publishes articles and videos "on all aspects of model railroading and on prototype (real) railroading as a subject for modeling." Articles typically run around 3000 words with 10 photos and a short video clip (payments being $230 for these). $200-600 per feature is typical, though they've paid over $1000 for longer articles as well (such as through their website where length isn't an issue).

Popular Woodworking

Popular Woodworking Magazine accepts pitches for features that typically run around 2500 words. Pay is generally $1000-3000 per article.

Science

Science accepts freelance contributions including 140-word news briefs to 2500-word features. Freelancers author around half of Science's online-only stories and around a quarter of stories found in weekly print issues. Rates begin at $1.00 / word for online-only stories and $1.25 / word for print-only articles. Some projects pay a flat rate. Online Q&As pay $500.

Sierra

Sierra is a bimonthly national magazine from the Sierra Club. They accept freelance submissions for both features and departments on conservation and other environmental issues. Features range from 3000-4500+ words with payments starting at $1.00 / word (and going to $1.50 / word for well-known writers). Only select departments are open to freelance contributions.

The Food Section

The Food Section is seeking freelance contributors for reported stories highlighting the diversity of the American South through articles that explore food-and-drink experiences throughout the region. Articles run around 1200 words and pay $1084.61 per feature story.

The Open Notebook

The Open Notebook is a nonprofit organization providing tools and resources for science journalists. They accept freelance pitches for reported features and "story-behind-the-story" interviews. They also accept pitches for features intended for their Diverse Voices in Science Journalism series. Pay is $1800 for interviews and $2500 for reported features (both running 1500-2000 words).

Trails Magazine

Trails Magazine is a quarterly print publication covering backpacking, bikepacking, canoe camping, mountaineering, and related topics focused on being "human-powered" and involving overnight outdoor sleeping. The publication focuses mostly on North American destinations. Features run 1000-5000 words and sometimes longer. Pay is $.50 - $2.00 per word depending on difficulty, experience, and commitment required. Shorter columns and rubrics pay $.50 per word. These shorter pieces include recipes, trip reports, essays, gear reviews, opinion pieces, and more.

WIRED

Most freelance contributions to WIRED are longform feature articles. They also sometimes assign freelancers pieces for their business, science, gear, and service sections. Features run from 2000-10,000 words, with 5000 words being the "sweet spot." Pay is per-project, with features starting around $2500.

Writer's Digest

Writer's Digest is a magazine for writers. They accept a variety of freelance submissions including for the Inkwell upfront section (1600-word lead stories and shorter 1200-word stories), 800-1200 word author profiles, and writing technique articles of 1200-2500 words. Writer's Digest pays $.50 per word on acceptance. They do not pay for unsolicited online-only contributions and guest posts (and when they do in rare cases, they pay $50-100).

Is $1000 per Article a Good Pay Rate?

As with any freelance writing gig, this depends what you're comparing it to. For example, $1000 per article is significantly higher than most advertised freelance writing jobs pay. Then again, the best gigs often aren't advertised.

You'll want to consider the full scope of any project before deciding if the pay rate is appropriate. $1000+ for a blog post turned around in a week or less is more reasonable than a $1000 fee for a print feature requiring multiple interviews and significant editorial collaboration over the course of a month or more.

With that in mind, $1000 per article can be a very good rate. Or it can be a mediocre rate depending on the specific project, publication, and process. Before pitching any publication, review their submission guidelines thoroughly for a better idea of what's expected of their freelance contributors.

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