MotherJones.com Writer's Guidelines

Freelance Writer: Mother Jones Magazine

MotherJones.com is looking for solidly reported, hard-hitting, ground-breaking news stories. We're also open to thought-provoking, timely opinion and analysis pieces on important current issues.

We're interested in just about anything that will raise our readers' eyebrows, but we focus especially on these areas: criminal justice, environment, corporate wrongdoing, poverty, gay/lesbian, political influence, and international issues.

Our readership is nationwide, so please, no local issues unless they have national interest or implications. At the same time, anything that has already been covered extensively in the major national media will probably not work for us, unless you have some unique, new angle. We will look at cultural stories, but not product, movie or book reviews, nor travel pieces. Not polemical screeds, either. Save yourself and us time and effort by taking a good look at our site before you send a query.

Best bet is to query us by mail, regular or e. Tell us in no more than a few paragraphs what you plan to cover, why it's important and interesting, and how you will report it. The query should convey your approach, tone, and style, and should answer the following: What are your specific qualifications to write on this topic? What ins do you have with your sources? If other major stories have been done on this topic, how will yours be different (and better)?

Please also include your resume and two or three of your most relevant clips. If the clips are online, please provide the complete URLs; don't just tell us to search for your name on Yahoo!

Length: 500-2,500 words.

Pay: Negotiable according to post-edit length and quality. Typical fee for an 800 to 1,000-word opinion piece is $150; fees for reported news stories start at $250 and go up from there, depending on the piece.

No phone calls please.
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