4 Catholic Publications That Pay Freelance Writers
Have you ever wondered how much you can earn by submitting your articles to Catholic websites?
In this exclusive post, I would like to share with you the possible rates you can make as well as the links and guidelines you need to submit your articles to these publications.
As a freelance writer, I know how important it is to have multiple streams of income. This is especially true for full-time writers like me who no longer have a day job.
One good way to have an additional source of funds is by getting paid for your article submissions. So far, this has helped me whenever my book sales are down or my other means of getting by are in trouble.
Of course it helps if you have a regular client. But contributing your content to more websites would also help you promote your brand. It is also a good marketing strategy to help in your book sales as many of these sites would allow you to include a link to your profile.
I hope you find the information I gathered below to be helpful in searching for Catholic websites that accept content from freelancers. Please note that the website’s terms can be updated anytime. But you can start here and verify later on the accuracy of the terms currently enforced by these websites.
Here are the Catholic publications that accept articles from freelance writers:
1. Radiant Magazine
This website is part of OSV’s ministry and is for young women in all walks of life.
Relevant links:
https://www.radiantmagazine.com/contact/
https://osv.submittable.com/submit/149178/submit-an-article-query-to-radiant
Note that you have to create an account on Submittable before you can submit your article. According to their guidelines, here are some of the things you should note in your article submission:
Orthodox perspectives on living out the Catholic faith as a young woman, covering topics such as spirituality, relationships, beauty, virtues, culture, saints and vocation.
Factual evidence for outside information.
Professionally written.
Follows AP style and uses the New American Bible.
Word count falls between 800-1,200 words.
Expect around one month before getting a response. They paid me $75 upon acceptance of my article. (Please note that this rate can change anytime.)
2. Busted Halo
Busted Halo is a ministry of The Paulist Fathers. According to their website, their vision is “for a more joyful and meaningful experience of Catholicism that positively impacts people’s lives.”
Relevant links:
editor@bustedhalo.com
https://bustedhalo.com/write-for-us
Expect around two to three weeks response time. Busted Halo pays $75 per 500-600 word article according to The Write Life.
Busted Halo prefers that you submit a pitch to them first. You must submit in advance for seasonal topics.
Please take note also of their Editorial calendar (subject to change):
January/February/March: Lent, Sacrifice, Spiritual Renewal
April/May: Easter, Pentecost, Creation, Church Community
June/July/August: Faith in Everyday Life, Relaxation and the Importance of Sabbath/Rest
September/October: Religious Education, Vocation, Personal Faith Journeys
November/December: Gratitude, Prayer, Thanksgiving, Advent, Christmas
3. U.S. Catholic
This website published by the Claretian Missionaries is for American Catholics and aims to help them keep the faith in their daily life.
Aside from Essays, Feature Articles and Reviews, it also accepts Original Unpublished Poetry.
Their response time is six to eight weeks.
Pay: According to their site, “U.S. Catholic offers financial compensation for both commissioned and on spec content.”
Other info: $300 according to an article from The Quick Brown Fox website.
Relevant links:
https://uscatholic.org/writers-guide/
4. America Magazine
America Magazine was founded in 1909 by the Jesuits. According to their website, they are “a forum for discussion of religion, society, politics and culture from a Catholic perspective.”
You also need to use Submittable for article submissions.
Relevant links:
https://www.americamagazine.org/submissions
https://americamedia.submittable.com/submit
reviews@americamagazine.org (for pitches on book reviews)
Pay: Competitive rates, paid on acceptance.
Other info on payment: $0.38 per word for a 2,000 word feature and $0.25 for a 1,000 word news story according to Whopayswriters
According to their guidelines, they are looking for:
Pitches for feature-length reported pieces, essays and analysis. Feature-length pieces should be approved as a pitch and discussed with editors before a full manuscript is prepared and submitted.
“Faith in Focus” essays starting from personal faith experience
"Faith & Reason" essays, more scholarly treatments of theological or philosophical topics.
“Short Take” opinion essays
Short poems of forty or fewer lines
Response time is not indicated but when I submitted a poem to them, the response time was about three weeks.
Final Thoughts
I hope that you were able to get an idea on the usual rates and requirements for submitting your articles to Catholic publications. Please stay tuned as I write more articles on other publications that pay freelance Catholic writers.
As a paid subscriber, you also have full access to our Writer’s Resources.
However, if you wish to stop receiving emails about our Writer’s Section, simply “turn off” the notification settings for Writer’s Section at your account page. Click here.