Write for the magazine

Pitch us a Fort Collins story.

We publish reported, local writing about Fort Collins — and we pay for it. Students and freelancers welcome.

We actually payEvery accepted piece is paid — published rates below

Every pitch is readResponse in about two weeks

Clean clipsRankings & editorial are never for sale

Bylines in print & on the web.

Free digital weekly · printed quarterly.

What we publish

Fort Collins, page by page.

We report the city across five departments. A good pitch names the department, the story, and why it matters to people who live here.

News & Features

What's actually happening in Fort Collins.

Eat & Drink

Shops, kitchens, and the people behind them.

Adventure

Trails, water, and getting outside from here.

Culture

Art, music, makers, and local character.

Life in the Fort

Health, home, family — living here well.

Our published rates

We pay writers. Here's the card.

Flat rates, agreed before you write. Unpaid-only asks lose good writers, so we don't make them — the only unpaid path is a for-credit CSU internship (below), and even those earn a byline and portfolio page.

Front-of-book short

300–600 words

$75–$125 flat

News briefs, quick guides, one-shop dispatches.

Feature

1,500–2,500 words

$250–$450 flat

Reported stories with a real point of view.

Student non-credit short

300–600 words

$40–$75 flat

For students pitching outside a for-credit internship.

Photo assignment

Paired to the piece

Set at assignment

Photographers: pitch with a portfolio link.

CSU students

Earn credit and a byline.

We take JMC students two ways. You can do a paid one-off feature at the rates above, or a credit-bearing editorial internship through JTC 487 (Internship) or JTC/LB 386 (Practicum) — structured briefs, real edit passes with an editor, and published bylines in print and on the web.

Every contributor — paid or for-credit — gets a contributor archive page that collects your clips. That page is your portfolio.

Credit is arranged with CSU's JMC internship coordinator; register at least ten weeks before the term ends. Check the Interested in JTC creditbox below and we'll walk you through it.

Send your pitch

Tell us the story you want to write and where we can read your work.