[PAY MKT] The Good Life

Writers' Guidelines

The Good Life is both for and about the people of Central Texas who live and work in the five counties (Travis, Williamson, Hays, Bastrop and Caldwell) that make up the Austin metropolitan area. We do not publish articles about folks who don't live in this area. All the articles we publish must have a local focus and cite local sources.

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We publish a wide range of feature stories, from hard-hitting articles about weighty topics to pieces designed for sheer entertainment. Adventure, the arts, democracy, fitness, health, hobbies, investigative reports, local history, overcoming adversity, parenting, profiles of interesting local people, relationships, spirituality, volunteerism, wellness, and many other topics—from the extraordinary to the off-the-wall—are good topics for features in The Good Life. The features we publish must be written in the style of journalism, that is, to include multiple points of view from a variety of knowledgeable sources.

We rarely publish fiction. We do not publish reprints. We do not publish travel articles. We do not publish question-and-answer interviews. We do not publish stories about businesses (except in our regular short monthly feature called Austin Originals; these pieces are scheduled months in advance and are written by a regular contributor). We do not publish essays except those produced by our regular columnists. We have a talented team of regular columnists covering a variety of topics and we do not envision adding more columns.

PAYS: month of publication

Health, wellness and fitness features that are published in the Gusto section of the magazine are usually assigned at a length of 1500 words and The Good Life pays $150 to $250 for these features, with the higher fees paid to people who have been writing for the magazine regularly or are widely published.

For all other feature stories, The Good Life pays from $100 to $600, depending on the writer's experience, the assigned length of the article, and the degree of difficulty. The higher fees go to people who have been writing for The Good Life regularly, or are widely published, and who take on more challenging assignments. Features that earn the highest fees address complex topics, require a demanding amount of research and interviews, and provide comprehensive, in-depth coverage.