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NUJ Rate for the Job:
Words, other / mags
Updated: 2025-07-09
These rates have been reported by members of the National Union of Journalists and others, and printed in the Freelance, newsletter of London Freelance Branch. They are sorted by publisher/publication, then by date (most recent first). TIP: Use the "Find in page" command under your browser's "Edit" or "Search" menu to be sure of finding all occurrences of a publication/publisher. AND do note the year in which the rate was reported! See also the Freelance Fees Guide, which gives general recommendations. And read the disclaimer and the key to exactly what the entries mean.
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Work for which we have no rate-per-thousand-words, whose primary use is in a magazine. If you are interested, the archived rates are here. | ||||||
Tell us what you've been paid for Words, other / mags |
Freelance Fees Guide
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| Publication / Programme - details & terms | Group | Year |  |
Total paid | GR |
XXXX |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aesthetica 2000 word article (art/photography/film/architecture feature including interview) | __misc | 2016 |  |
95.00 | GR | XXX |
| After Nyne 600 words, offered and refused! | 2016 | |
6.00 | |||
| Art Basel roundup of arts events in UAE - reported on Twitter - 800 Swiss Francs = | 2023 | |
717.00 | |||
| Artforum review of art exhibition in Dubai - reported on Twitter | 2023 |  |
200.00 | |||
| Artforum roundup of arts events in Saudi Arabia - reported on Twitter | 2023 | |
250.00 | |||
| Artforum review of art exhibition in Saudi - reported on Twitter | 2023 | |
200.00 | |||
| Artsy short profile of an artist - reported on Twitter | 2023 | |
400.00 | |||
| Barrister magazine per job; 750-1250 words | 2025 | |
120.00 | XX | ||
| BBC Good Food top 10 list feature, 600-700 words all rights | _BBC | 2014 | |
150.00 | GR | |
| BBC Good Food top 10 list feature, 600-700 words all rights | _BBC | 2014 | |
150.00 | GR | |
| Betches online magazine (reported to journoresources.org.uk) candid essays and humour pieces, up to | 2025 | |
400.00 | |||
| British Medical Journal 1300-word feature - | 2018 | |
395.00 | |||
| Building Products researching and writing an article about construction materials | 2022 | |
200.00 | XXX | ||
| Business Insider (reported to journoresources.org.uk) per story? | 2025 | |
249.00 | |||
| Bustle Twitter call for personal essays and reported features about living with recurring MS - stated minimum | 2024 | |
500.00 | |||
| Canvas piece on performance art in UAE - reported on Twitter | 2023 | |
700.00 | |||
| Canvas On jinn - reported on Twitter | 2023 | |
700.00 | |||
| Chatelaine feature for Canadian magazine - CA$4000 = | 2022 | |
2473.00 | |||
| CNET (reported to journoresources.org.uk) review antivirus software and monitors, from | 2025 | |
250.00 | |||
| CNET (reported to journoresources.org.uk) review antivirus software and monitors, up to | 2025 | |
2000.00 | |||
| Computer Weekly (TechTarget Inc.) Top-performing bloggers - paid according to number of page views - per month | __misc | 2014 | |
300.00 | ||
| Computer Weekly (TechTarget Inc.) Top-performing bloggers - paid according to number of page views - per month | __misc | 2014 | |
300.00 | ||
| Condé Nast Traveller 200-word review | _CondN | 2016 | |
100.00 | ||
| Country Music album review, 90 words | _Anthem | 2018 | |
9.00 | XXXX | |
| Courier London feature based on interview with one business owner, flat rate (via #FreelancerPayGap) | 2020 | |
100.00 | |||
| DJ magazine album reviews of unspecified length member remarks "kinflints & didn't pay" | 2016 | |
20.00 | |||
| Economist online feature flat rate (via #FreelancerPayGap) | 2020 | |
400.00 | |||
| Economist Pieces of varying length for various online sections - flat freelance rate with no expenses | __misc | 2020 | |
100.00 | XXXX | |
| Empire 70 word dvd review | _Bauer | 2014 | |
40.00 | ||
| English Language Gazette 900 words + photo | 2017 | |
160.00 | |||
| English Teaching Professional (Pavilion) 1400 @ £80 = FBS | 2014 | |
57.00 | XXXX | ||
| English Teaching Professional (Pavilion) 1400 @ £80 = FBS | 2014 | |
57.00 | XXXX | ||
| Fabulous Real Life piece - | 2018 | |
350.00 | |||
| Fair Planet 100 lines + interactive | 2016 | |
100.00 | |||
| Forbes magazine online Seven short items for online edition - plus per-hit add-on (not lucrative!) | 2020 | |
500.00 | X | ||
| Fortean Times 1600 words + pics , prod/exes + pics fee yet to be negotiated rate is above new standard rates which have fallen even lower | _Dennis | 2016 | |
100.00 | XX | |
| Fortean Times 3000 word feature + pics + (limited) exes, pics still to be negotiated, talked up even worse per word rate offered | _Dennis | 2014 | |
225.00 | XX | |
| Fortean Times 3000 word feature + pics + (limited) exes, pics still to be negotiated, talked up even worse per word rate offered | _Dennis | 2014 | |
225.00 | XX | |
| Forum New York £20 offered to Virginia Woolf, for controversial articles only, in 1938 = in 2024 money | 2024 | |
1130.00 | |||
| Frieze piece on Berlin Biennale - reported on Twitter | 2023 | |
175.00 | X | ||
| Frieze review - reported on Twitter | 2023 | |
300.00 | |||
| Frieze on Istanbul biennale - reported on Twitter | 2023 | |
227.00 | |||
| Glamour feature says "Rights" - all? | _CondN | 2014 | |
700.00 | O | |
| Glamour feature says "Rights" - all? | _CondN | 2014 | |
700.00 | O | |
| Green Parent article (no pics demanded) | 2015 | |
75.00 | |||
| Harpers Bazaar Virginia Woolf - last reported rate, for story Lappin and Lapinova - US$600 in 1939 = now approx. | _CondN | 2022 | |
12400.00 | ||
| HuffPost 3-4 edits took months and was a very dispiriting experience. Commissioned in February, paid in November? - | 2021 | |
101.00 | XX | ||
| In These Times short dispatches and op-eds | 2024 | |
375.00 | |||
| Interweave Knits 1500 word feature including a few pics (sourced from interviewees) would have better if the USD exchange rate was better | 2016 | |
600.00 | |||
| Ireland's Eye feature story interviewing three people , - no expenses (further work declined) | 2025 |  |
15.00 | GR | XXXX | |
| Love Magazine feature, 500 to 1000 words (via #FreelancerPayGap) | 2020 | |
200.00 | |||
| Lussorian reviews | 2019 | |
100.00 | X | ||
| Marketing USA magazine 1600 words, pics, stats, research interviews | 2016 | |
500.00 | O | ||
| mbr (Mountain Bike Rider) per piece? All rights | _IPC | 2015 | |
75.00 | ||
| Metropolitan Restaurant review | _Ink | 2016 | |
100.00 | ||
| Middle East Eye feature | 2018 | |
350.00 | GR | ||
| Modern Farmer* flat rate (2015) | 2023 | |
250.00 | |||
| Mojo album review | _Bauer | 2019 | |
43.00 | X | |
| Mojo re-use of article from 2005 - | _Bauer | 2018 | |
100.00 | ||
| Mosaic Science (Wellcome Trust) 5500 words @ £1800 for extensive formal fact-checking, interview transcripts required, a very lengthy process but one-to-one comprehensive editorial input with enthusiastic collaborative ethos. Issued under Creative Commons so artic | 2017 | |
327.00 | |||
| Motley Fool Offered per article - and refused | 2021 | |
45.00 | XXX | ||
| Mousse magazine essay on an artist - reported on Twitter | 2023 | |
500.00 | |||
| New Internationalist feature plus photo (2022) | 2024 | |
225.00 | |||
| New Internationalist unspecified wordcount plus photos | 2017 | |
400.00 | |||
| New Statesman news story (1200-1500 words - spiked) (via #FreelancerPayGap) | 2020 | |
90.00 | XXX | ||
| New York Herald Tribune Review Virginia Woolf records in September 1927 reviewing Ernest Hemingway, Men Without Women for £120 - in 2019 money | 2020 | |
7600.00 | O | ||
| Notebook Celebrity Q+A - | 2018 | |
250.00 | |||
| Planet Rock 170-word album review | _Bauer | 2017 | |
40.00 | ||
| Politico Europe News feature, foreign reporting, flat rate for 1000 to 1500 words (via #FreelancerPayGap) | 2020 | |
450.00 | |||
| Pro Sound News Europe preparation of 1500-word convention report all rights, no expenses | _Intent | 2017 | |
300.00 | GR | |
| Pro Sound News Europe preparation of 300-word feature profile all rights, no expenses | _Intent | 2017 | |
75.00 | XX | |
| Pro Sound News Europe preparation of 500-word feature profile; all rights, no expenses | _Intent | 2017 | |
100.00 | GR | |
| Project (Association for Project Management) a one-off last-minute commission when another writer proved unavailable - flat freelance rate with no expenses | 2020 | |
250.00 | X | ||
| Protean magazine soliciting criticism, news analysis, reviews, and essays at a per-piece rate of | 2023 | |
300.00 | |||
| Q album review, down-page (same as a decade ago) | _Bauer | 2019 | |
42.50 | X | |
| Quietus lead review (album) | 2015 | |
50.00 | |||
| Reader's Digest news feature (length unspecified) | _Vivat | 2018 | |
450.00 | ||
| Readers Digest profile piece - FBS | _Vivat | 2024 | |
400.00 | ||
| Resident Advisor feature 5000-7000 words (via #FreelancerPayGap) | 2020 | |
600.00 | |||
| Rewire News review 1100 words - told this was a flat fee (via #FreelancerPayGap) | 2020 | |
250.00 | |||
| Rock Hub UK album review of unspecified length | 2016 | |
20.00 | XXX | ||
| SHINDIG! (Silverback Publishing) ten-entry listicle & intro, 1100 words overall, suggested might lead to "the odd £50" in future - refused! | 2015 | |
0.00 | GR | XXXX | |
| Shindig feature, flat rate no matter what length (could be thousands of words) | 2025 | |
150.00 | GR | XXX | |
| Skin Deep submitted an article around 1500 words | 2014 | |
150.00 | |||
| Skin Deep submitted an article around 1500 words | 2014 | |
150.00 | |||
| Songlines review | 2019 | |
15.00 | XXX | ||
| Spectator live music review, 600 words @ £150 for print use only = | 2020 | |
250.00 | |||
| Star Trek List, 1000 to 2000 words (via #FreelancerPayGap) | 2020 | |
250.00 | |||
| Studio International 2000-3000 word interview | 2020 | |
250.00 | GR | X | |
| Studio International interview / video review | 2014 | |
250.00 | |||
| Sunday Times Magazine article on cave paintings in the Colombian Amazon - easily a week of work | 2020 | |
1000.00 | O | ||
| Take a Break Real Life page - | _Bauer | 2018 | |
350.00 | ||
| Take a Break Real Life double-page spread - | _Bauer | 2018 | |
700.00 | ||
| Teen Breathe 800 to 1000 words (via #FreelancerPayGap) | 2020 | |
100.00 | |||
| Teen Vogue article, length unspecified | _CondN | 2025 | |
350.00 | ||
| The Adelphi article in a former highbrow magazine about appearance and reality, by Joan Easdale, reported by Virginia Woolf; 5 guineas in 1937 = | 2021 | |
366.00 | |||
| The Atlantic reportage | 2017 | |
250.00 | XX | ||
| The Atlantic* news flat rate (2015) | 2023 | |
100.00 | XXX | ||
| The Atlantic* news flat rate (2015) | 2023 | |
200.00 | XX | ||
| The Atlantic* news flat rate (2015) | 2023 | |
150.00 | XX | ||
| The Break Down (reported to journoresources.org.uk) per piece | 2025 | |
900.00 | |||
| The Culture Trip feature/listicle 600 words up to (via #FreelancerPayGap) | 2020 | |
60.00 | XX | ||
| The Cut website feature (via Freelancer Solidarity Project) | 2023 | |
1500.00 | |||
| The Ecologist magazine news and op-ed writing - no terms agreed no exes | 2020 | |
0.00 | XXXX | ||
| The Guardian (a magazine fot the clergy) Virginia Woolf, first published reviews - 2 pounds 7 shillings and 6 pence for three in 1905 = now, each | 2022 | |
102.00 | |||
| The Media Line 800 word article plus stills | 2025 | |
400.00 | XX | ||
| The Quietus feature | __misc | 2021 | |
100.00 | GR | X |
| The Quietus a Quietus Interview | 2016 | |
50.00 | XX | ||
| The Rugby Paper 250-word on-the-whistle match report, national leagues | 2021 | |
25.00 | XX | ||
| The Trade News article, 500 words-ish | 2014 | |
130.00 | |||
| The Trade News article, 500 words-ish | 2014 | |
130.00 | |||
| The Week Junior longer-form pieces in 2018, length unspecified | 2022 | |
200.00 | |||
| The Wire 600-word review | 2015 | |
42.00 | |||
| Tricycle (Buddhist magazine) pitched 1200w Q&A with questions agreed in advance, supplied with photo | 2024 | |
224.00 | GR | ||
| Uncut album review, 100 words | 2018 | |
25.00 | |||
| Vice UK investigative news story | 2018 | |
250.00 | |||
| Wired feature, 1200 words @ £400 - all rights | _CondN | 2021 | |
333.00 | GR | |
| Writers Forum features, FBS | 2019 | |
120.00 | X | ||
| An American online music magazine features, 2000 to 3000 words - One use for a while, then all-rights contract presented to writer and rejected | 2021 | |
500.00 | X | ||
| B2B (business-to-business) articles on pitching and writing - not taxed at source; individual article; no expenses involved | 2022 | |
600.00 | GR | ||
| Japanese magazine translation rights in 1988 Joni Mitchell feature - paid £500 to syndication agency - | 2021 | |
250.00 | |||
| Local magazine article for a local monthly magazine 1200 words with images | 2023 | |
80.00 | |||
| military.com (reported to journoresources.org.uk) movie column from | 2025 | |
400.00 | |||
| Music magazine payment for article re-used without permission - 75 per cent of original fee - | 2022 | |
300.00 | |||
| Music magazine negotiated payment for article re-used without permission - 75 per cent of original fee | 2022 | |
300.00 | |||
| Novara Media 1000 words plus video (via #FreelancerPayGap) | 2020 | |
150.00 | XX | ||
| Scholastic 4-page classroom magazine feature (via Freelancer Solidarity Project) | 2023 | |
1200.00 | |||
| Sporting magazine features (Schedule D taxed - at source) | _Future | 2014 | |
400.00 | GR | |
| Trade magazine Re-use of text from an email newsletter | 2020 | |
200.00 | |||
| Trade magazine Re-use of text from an email newsletter | 2020 | |
400.00 | |||
| Travel magazine feature on whether (and when) an airline branded-credit card is worth it - offered on Twitter | 2023 | |
600.00 | |||
| Travel magazine feature on ways to keep track of your rewards credit cards and benefits - offered on Twitter | 2023 | |
500.00 | |||
| Unnamed magazine writing 580-1000 words - half page | 2022 | |
150.00 | |||
| Unnamed small trade publication 400-word investigative story | 2015 | |
100.00 | |||
| US magazines Virginia Woolf records that in July 1923 - before she was famous - US magazines were offering her £25 for reviews - in 2019 prices that is: | 2020 | |
1523.00 | |||
| Key to the rates, by column: |
||||||
| 1 Publication / Programme, any details of work and licence | ||||||
| 2 Owner at the time the rate was reported, where known | Group | |||||
| 3 The year in which the rate was reported | Year |
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| 4 Currency: either or or (US) | |
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| 5 Amount paid (total of basic licence and extra licences for web use, database resale...) | Amount |
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| 7 "Going Rate" according to experienced NUJ members - do try to better it: | GR |
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| or Minimum rate set out in NUJ House Agreement: | HA |
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| 8 Underpaid, in the fallible opinion of the Freelance editor: | | 50.00 | X |
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| or Just sometimes we're pleasantly surprised: | | 1500.00 | O |
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Other rates:
| Type of work: | In the "sector": (click or tap below!) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Words, per 1000 | News | Local | Mag | online | Book | PR | Other |
| Words, other | News | Local | Mag | online | Book | PR | Other |
| Photography | News | Local | Mag | online | Book | PR | Other |
| Broadcasting | News | Local | Other including podcasting | ||||
| Shifts | News | Local | Mag | online | Book | PR | Other |
| Other: | Cartoons | Crosswords | Illustration | Punditry | Retainer | Teaching | Tip-off | Translation | ||||||
| Recently reported rates | all from the past few months |
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