Freelance Pitches

Bay Nature magazine is published quarterly, and BayNature.org features new pieces every week. We welcome pitches from freelance journalists, writers, thinkers, scientists, photographers, conservation leaders, artists, cartographers, and infographic designers.

Both in print and online we’re always looking for new environmental science to explain, species to understand, important conservation issues to tackle, new lands, trails, and activities to explore, and interesting people working with nature to feature. But here’s the challenge: Nature in the Bay Area is a narrow beat and we’ve covered A LOT of the basics in 25 years. Before pitching us, please research whether we’ve already published stories on a subject. Please use this pitch form, which will send your idea to an editor’s email, ensuring a quicker response.

Visual (art, design, cartography, etc.) portfolios should go to images@baynature.org. If you would like to receive our quarterly photo bulletin, where we detail our photo needs for a coming issue, send an email to images@baynature.org and we’ll sign you up.

We pay contributors based on their experience, but as a nonprofit, independent media organization, we don’t pay as much as we’d like to. There are very few people on staff at Bay Nature, so it can take us up to six weeks to respond to pitches.

Op-Eds

We welcome op-ed pitches from the conservation, science, naturalist, environmental education, and nature hobbyist communities. Before pitching us please see the general guidelines below and what will ultimately make for a successful op-ed.

  • Must have a named contributor or contributors.
  • Represent original work.
  • Offer a perspective. Pieces must use the contributor’s expertise in the subject area to provide insight and help readers better understand something they don’t already know.
  • Be free of jargon and academic language. We think of this section as like any op-ed page, a place to find ideas expressed with incisive writing and strong voice.
  • Bay Nature reserves the right to decline pitches for any reason, and edit all pieces to achieve the above goals.

Send op-ed pitches to this pitch form, which will send your idea to an editor’s email, ensuring a quicker response.