5 Magazines That Will Pay For Your Writing

I was once sat in a university lecture when my lecturer announced, “How many of you have submitted any writing for publication?”

I raised my hand, as did a few others. I had submitted to some magazines — about 10 at the time.

The thing you need to know about submitting your writing to magazines is that it’s basically like the lottery, only with slightly better odds. I’m not going to sugar-coat it, it’s hard. But it’s still worth doing. Many writers become known by first submitting to magazines.

Now not all magazines pay for your writing, but over time I’ve located several that do. If you want to submit to any of the magazines discussed below, go for it, but take these tips with you:

1. Submit Different Pieces To Many Magazines — And Be Consistent With Submissions.

2. Always Strive to Improve Your Work.

3. Submit To Magazines That Favour Your Genre/Style Of Writing.

So, let’s get into it…here’s the list.

1. Swamp Pink

This is a literary journal that will pay you for poetry, fiction, and non-fiction. They pay $40 per poem, and $0.05 per word for prose. However, this journal charges $3 per submission (one submission: 3–6 poems or 7,500 words writing).

They welcome submissions from beginners as well as expert writers. They are quite broad in what they are willing to accept, but it’s worth checking out some of their recent magazine issues to see what they currently like to publish. Regarding poetry, consider submitting bold, different, captivating pieces to this journal.

2. Rattle

Rattle mainly publishes poetry, and sometimes book reviews. They pay a handsome $200 per poem for in-print publication, $100 for online publication. Each submission can include no more than 4 poems. Rattle has FREE submissions.

They like poems of any length, and they have a focus on a broad range of styles. But make your poetry unique to be in with a better chance of getting accepted.

3. The Sun Magazine

The Sun offers a variety of options for publication — you can publish stories, personal essays, poetry, and even photographs. This means it’s great for both the eclectic writer and the specialist.

They love receiving personal work. In terms of essays, they look for deeply personal, emotional writing. Therefore, I think this magazine is a perfect fit for the writers on Medium who share personal stories.

In terms of fiction and poetry, the net is once again cast wide. But they are looking for impactful pieces with an emotional tone (specifically for short stories). They do, however, favour a specific type of poetry a little more. This is poetry about the mysteries of life, God, and the deeper subjects.

Accepted essays, fiction, and poetry can all hope to receive $200 and up! An incredible payout. However, submissions do cost $2.50.

4. Frontier Poetry

Frontier Poetry is brilliant because it offers ‘New Voices’ submissions. This is specifically for new and emerging poets. They offer $50 per poem, and submissions are FREE.

They also offer a handy service where you can get feedback from editors on your submission — this helps you improve your writing. Each submission should include no more than five poems.

This one is really great for new poets, so if you are an emerging poet, definitely check out their website — consider submitting your best poems. This magazine might help get your work out there.

5. Willow Springs Magazine

Willow Springs accepts fiction and poetry, and they currently have a Surrealist prize. So if you write Surrealist poetry, this might be worth going in for.

They pay $100 for longer prose, and $40 for a short piece. They pay $20 per poem. As with other magazines in this list, they do charge a fee — it’s $3 per submission. Also, the previously mentioned Surrealist prize is $15 entry (for 3 poems).

To see exactly what writing they are after, it’s worth checking out issues of the magazine on the website. But it’s safe to say that Surrealist poetry wouldn’t be undervalued at this publication.

Concluding Points

So, there we go. There’s a few magazines that you can submit to and potentially earn some good money from. I’m sure you’ll agree that some of the payouts are very reasonable. However, these magazines are looking for quality work, they will not accept just anything. This is a clear reminder for all of us to sharpen our skills as writers.

As a final point, it is also worth reading through each magazine’s formatting guidelines before submitting. These guidelines concern how the publication wants to receive your poetry — the layout of your document, the information included in your submission etc. Please do check these out prior to submitting.

I hope this post has been useful for your journey as a writer.

Thanks for reading,

Adz