Freelancing for the Reader
The Chicago Reader is primarily a staff-written publication, but occasionally we'll run a great feature that comes to us from a freelancer. Here are answers to the questions freelancers most commonly ask:
We usually answer this with a list of what we're not looking for: hard news (What the Mayor Said About the Schools Yesterday), commentary and opinion (What I Think About What the Mayor Said About the Schools Yesterday), poetry, humor, travel pieces. We don't often run national stories unless there's a local angle. We have annual special issues focusing, among other things, on food and dining, retail, books, fiction, and stories from around the region.
Please do. Feel free to e-mail us with a query anytime.
It depends. How long does it need to be? Our feature stories generally start at around 2,500 words and can run longer. Arts reviews are generally 600-1,200 words.
All freelance contributors are required to sign the Reader's freelance contract prior to publication of their work.
In general, our freelance fee for articles includes first-time serial rights, nonexclusive Web use, archival rights, and the right to publish in archival collections and anthologies. Following our first publication of the work, you will have the right to republish the work provided that it does not appear in a publication or Web site that is competitive with the Reader, without our written consent. A full description of the rights we are buying and your rights after first publication are included in the freelance contract.
Usually pretty quickly, but if you don't hear back from us right away, feel free to follow up (especially if the piece is time-sensitive). If you know that you'll need a response in a hurry, inform us in a cover note.
We prefer to take care of art in-house.You're welcome to submit photos, drawings, diagrams, etc. Photographers and illustrators who want to contribute to the Reader should send a link to samples. Occasionally we publish photos uploaded to our Flickr groups.
Yes, but please inform us in your cover note that you’ve submitted elsewhere as well.
We prefer e-mail (mail@chicagoreader.com) with text pasted into the message rather than sent as an attachment.
Feel free to e-mail us if you have any further questions. And thanks for your interest in the Reader.
