Photo by Lauren Gray via Unsplash
Do you have an article to pitch but aren’t sure where or how to send it? AHCJ now has over 40 market guides available on our Freelance Center, with the four most recent being: bioGraphic, Capital & Main, NBCNews.com and STAT.
I hope to add several more in September, and I continue to periodically check with editors to make sure that our existing guides are current. Each market guide has the date it was created and the latest date that it was checked for accuracy or revised.
AHCJ’s market guides include a link to a publication’s submission guidelines, if available, and tips from one or two editors whom I have interviewed. These tips include advice on how to craft an email pitch, what kinds of stories they’re interested in and common mistakes editors see in pitches. The guides also include pay rates and typical lengths of freelance articles.
Here is some general information about the four most recent market guides:
bioGraphic pays freelancers between $0.75 and $1.50 per word, depending on the experience level of the writer. Features in this online, multimedia magazine typically are between 2,500 to 3,500 words in length, and some run as long as 6,000 words. The editors try to publish a significant feature piece at least every two weeks. “Every story needs to have a direct connection to biodiversity, meaning natural organisms and ecosystems,” said Steven Bedard, co-founder and editor-in-chief. “We are always on the lookout for good biodiversity and human health stories.”
Capital & Main reports on economic, environmental and social issues, including health. This California-based digital publication sets freelance fees on a case-by-case basis according to the length and complexity of the article. Stories range from 800 to 1,200 words long, but in-depth features and investigations can run longer. “Health equity is really what we’re interested in covering,” said Peter Hong, editor-in-chief. Short pre-pitches are welcome.
NBCNews.com‘s health vertical pays $400 for 500 to 800 word articles about medical studies and up to $700 for a feature story that can run from 800 to 1,500 words in length. Jane Weaver, the managing editor of the Health & Medical Unit at NBC News, is particularly interested in feature stories about infectious diseases, public health, disadvantaged communities, healthcare access and health trends in younger people. Weaver advised against pitching studies from major journals because the unit usually assigns those.
STAT pays freelancers $1 per word for features that range in length from 800 to 1,500 words. The publication is looking for “smart, compelling, original reporting that takes readers inside the world of health, medicine and scientific discovery,” according to its pitch guidelines. Editors are particularly interested in industry stories for STAT+, its premium subscription service focusing on pharma, biotech, health tech and hospitals. Gideon Gil, managing editor and AHCJ board member, said freelancers should send a full pitch and not bother with a pre-pitch to gauge interest.
As always, please contact me at freelance@healthjournalism.org if you notice out-of-date information in any of our market guides or if you have a suggestion for a new one and would like to share editor contact information.
