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[title]Thanks for your interest in writing for Time Out Chicago! We’re always looking for smart, thoughtful pitches from Chicago-based writers—but before you send in your ideas, please 1.) Take a look at these guidelines and 2.) Read through our archives to get a sense for Time Out’s areas of coverage. Have additional questions? Feel free to reach out to Jeffy Mai at jeffy.mai@timeout.com.
What we’re looking for
- Trend stories (especially food and drink trends): Noticing a certain cocktail popping up over and over again on local drink lists? How about a food craze that’s all over Instagram? We want to hear about it!
- New list features: Time Out curates best-of lists (example here and here) and how-to guides (example here and here) on a number of topics. If you have an idea for a list we haven’t covered yet, send it in!
- City identity listicles: Funny, niche and pride-filled breakdowns of things only Chicagoans would understand—from 16 things Chicagoans do that are absolutely disgusting to 20 Chicago slang words you should know.
- Glimpses into Chicago-specific internet culture: Like Goth Target.
- Reported features
- Deep dives/cultural histories
What we’re not looking for
- Repeat stories: Look up your story idea using our search bar to see if we’ve published something similar.
- Reviews: Sorry, but all of our reviews are conducted by staff writers at the moment.
- Time-sensitive news posts
- Interviews
How to pitch
Send your pitches to Time Out Chicago editor Jeffy Mai (jeffy.mai@timeout.com) with “PITCH:” in the subject line. Please include the following details in the body of your email:
- A short biography and links to clips
- Potential headline(s)
- A brief (i.e. no more than two paragraphs) description of your story idea including news peg/why it’s timely
- Sources you’d talk to (when applicable)
- Ideas for imagery
Time Out also works with a number of regular freelancers to help update our existing list features. If you’re interested in joining that pool, get in touch with a bio including relevant experience and 3–5 clips.
Rates
Rates may vary depending on workload and word count, but here’s a general breakdown:
- New list features: $250
- Reported features/trend stories (600-1,250 words): $0.25-$0.40 a word