Earn Extra Cash Writing for these 10 Literature Magazines

Earn Extra Cash Writing for these 10 Literature Magazines 

Considering the number of freelance writers (knowbies and newbies) flooding the internet daily in search of potential clients and gigs, there are chances that you may not land a single job in weeks and months. Sorry, but someone has to feed you the hard truth this time. It is not to discourage your daily searches and unsolicited pitches; it reminds you of old wisdom about not putting all your eggs in one basket, especially if you are an amateur freelancer trying to break into the industry.

Here, I have carefully compiled some practical literature magazines/websites you can submit creative works to earn yourself some cool cash while waiting for clients to show up. I said “practical” because these are magazines with higher rates of acceptance, not the far-fetched ones you submit to, and in 6 months, your submittable still reads “in-progress.”

Also, here are things to note:

1. They respond to you in time.
2. No reading fees attached, meaning you pay absolutely nothing to have your works reviewed.
3. They accept simultaneous submissions so that you can submit a particular work to several magazines. This raises your chances because if one doesn’t accept, there are possibilities the others will. However, when accepted by one, you have to write to the others that your work has been accepted elsewhere or click withdraw on your submittable page.

Below are the magazines in no particular order and how much they pay:

1. Agbowó is an African magazine focused on the collection and publication of new African arts. They welcome poems of any length and form, stories within 1500-5000 word range, essays within 750-3500 words, and one-act plays that run between 10 and 30 minutes.

Pay: $25-$75 (effective from January 2021).

2. If you write poems, Palette Poetry is your go-to. They are open for submissions year-round to all poets (emerging or established). They preach diversity, so they highly encourage “under-represented” and “marginalized” voices to submit works. Only submit 1-5 poems in a single submission.

Pay: $50 per poem, up to $150.

3. Every month, Kalahari Review launches a memoir/essay contest for writers. This contest has a theme for each month; for Nov. 2020, the theme is Food.

Pay: $50

4. Frontier Poetry has a lot in common with Palette Poetry. They create a space for New Voices and aim at diversity. They are open to your submissions any time, not more than five poems at a time.

Pay: $50 per poem, up to $150.

5. Chicken Soup for the Soul focuses on inspirational and true stories about everyday humans and their extraordinary experiences. They look for stories that are personal, funny, exciting, and packed with emotion.

Pay: $200

6. The Journal of Compressed Creative Arts looks for compressed art forms: flash fiction, micro fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, hybrid, visual arts, etc. They are now open for submissions until December 15, 2020. Their next reading period opens March 15, 2021, and closes June 15, 2021. They accept no more than one submission in each genre at a time. Response time is 1-3 days.

Word Limit: 600

Pay: $50 per accepted piece and signed contract.

7. OnlineBookClub, as you may guess, is a book club online, where you get to meet and hold conversations with fellow bibliophiles. You also get paid to give honest reviews of books set to your preferences. It is exciting because you get to learn new things and sharpen your skills while making cool money at the same time. For the club, I am currently reviewing The Great Awakening by Arthur Seymour. Do check them out.

Pay: $5 to $50 per review, plus free books.

8.  Rattle conducts a monthly Ekphrastic Challenge in which you write a poem in response to a visual art/photography provided by the magazine. Their regular submission runs all year round. Send up to four poems at a time.

Pay: $100-$200

9. The Offing is a home for new and emerging writers. In all genres, they look for works that challenge conventions. They accept fiction, poetry, essay/memoir, art, translation, etc.

Pay: $25-$100 “depending on department and number/length of works published.”

10. SmokeLong Quarterly looks for honest work that “feels as if it has far more purpose than a writer wanting to write a story.” They do not consider poetry, only flash narratives up to 1000 words and essays on the blog’s craft.

Pay: $50

Which of them are you going to try out? Drop your comments below.